Schwikert on top heading into finals

Nancy Armour

Friday, Aug. 9, 2002 | 10:56 a.m.

First-round leaders

Women's all-around leaders after Thursday's opening night of the U.S. National Championships: 1. Tasha Schwikert, Las Vegas

37.650

2. Tabitha Yim, Irvine, Calif.

37.275

3. Ashley Postell, Cheverly, Md.

36.475

4. Annia Hatch, West Haven, Conn.

36.250

4. Nina Kim, Houston

36.250

6. Elizabeth Tricase, Itasca, Ill.

35.950

7. Jordan Schwikert, Las Vegas

35.875

CLEVELAND -- Tasha Schwikert had the crowd rocking and swaying as she strutted across the floor to a sultry jazz number, pointing her toes and swaying her hips with attitude.

Other gymnasts were doing tricks and flips, but the Las Vegas native was putting on a show. And it wasn't even the best one she can give.

Despite a self-described "off" night, the defending champion cruised through the preliminaries at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships on Thursday night. Schwikert won the floor and uneven bars titles, and is in first place heading into Saturday night's all-around finals.

"I guess I can't be mad or anything," she said. "But it wasn't my best overall."

It was still good enough to give her a 0.375 lead over Tabitha Yim. Ashley Postell was third with 36.475 points.

Annia Portuondo-Hatch, who won a bronze medal on vault at the 1996 world championships when she competed for Cuba, is tied for fourth with Nina Kim.

"I didn't come just to win," said Portuondo-Hatch, who started training again last year after retiring in 1997. "I came to do four-for-four. I tried to do my best."

So did Kristal Uzelac, who made the surprise decision to compete despite a broken toe. Expected to challenge Schwikert, she struggled and finished eighth.

"I feel I did good for what I could do and not training (Wednesday)," she said. "I've been training really hard for this competition and I really wanted to compete."

Uzelac was supposed to be out 4-to-6 weeks after breaking the little toe on her right foot Tuesday night. She chose to tape it up and keep going after consulting with doctors, but had little time to adjust to having three of her toes bound together.

She fell off the balance beam and scored just an 8.575. On uneven bars, she wobbled while doing a pirouette on the low bar and ended up swinging down wildly, gripping the bar to keep from dropping off.

"What she showed me was her inner grit and her heart," said coach Donna Strauss, who left the decision on whether to compete up to Uzelac. "If she's ever faced with adversity for a bigger competition, she knows that she can handle it. I think it's going to make her mentally stronger."

While Schwikert's performance was good enough Thursday night, she knows that wouldn't cut it on the international scene.

She earned a 9.400 for her floor routine, the best score of the night. But she landed with one foot out of bounds on one of her tumbling runs, an automatic deduction.

For someone who considers floor her best event, that was inexcusable.

"My floor was not good for me," Schwikert said. "But I made it standing on my feet with no mistakes that big, so it wasn't that bad."

Her other routines were strong. On the balance beam, she did back handsprings with such ease she may as well have been on flat ground.

Her only other rough spot came as she warmed up on the uneven bars, her last event. Rushed by the warmup time limits, she missed the bar on a release move and plopped chest-first to the ground.

But warmups don't count, and Schwikert was almost flawless when it mattered. The crowd shrieked in delight as her feet slammed into the mat on her landing, and Schwikert stood up with a broad grin on her face.

"I won two events out there with me not having the best two routines I do," she said. "I was pretty consistent and hit everything, so I'm happy with that."

Jordan Schwikert, Tasha's younger sister, is seventh overall with 35.875 points.