Burnett, MacLennan lead Canada to ten medals on final day of Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships

EVERETT, WASHINGTON (March 18, 2012 --  Jason Burnett and Rosannagh MacLennan won the men’s and women’s individual trampoline titles and Peng Peng Lee, all of Toronto, placed second in two women’s gymnastics event finals on Sunday to lead the Canadian team to ten medals on the final day of the Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships. In men’s trampoline Burnett got off to a shaky start but bounced back with the most difficult routine of the competition in the final to claim the gold with a score of 59.215. Steve Gluckstein of the U.S. placed second with 58.325 points and Russia’s Aleksey Ilichev was third at 57.825. “I hit a really good routine in the final,” said Burnett, a silver medal winner at the 2008 Olympics. “It was high, clean and under control and they gave me a good score. In finals I increased my difficulty a little to 17.3 and did four triples instead of one or two that I normally do.” In the women’s competition, Maclennan took the gold with a score of 53.890, followed by teammate Karen Cockurn in second with 52.215 points. Alexandra Freeman of Australia was third at 49.800.Burnett, MacLennan and Cockburn all used the competition to work on new routines as they prepare for the 2012 Olympics.MacLennan and Cockburn have already locked up two spots and Burnett is expected to punch his ticket to the Games next month.“It’s really nice that Rosie and I don’t have any pressure any more to qualify for the Games,” said Cockburn, who is aiming for a record fourth straight Olympic medal this summer in London.“ I just wanted to test my routine here, see what the judges would give it and also what my flight times would be like because I’m really focussing on improving my flight times.” Cockburn said everything is on track for the Olympics, despite a “dumb” mistake in the final when she repeated a skill while trying to get back into the middle of the trampoline after getting to close to the side. “I’m kind of angry with myself but it was good to learn from the mistake and I’m overall was happy with the way things are going right now.” Cockburn and MacLennan also teamed up to win gold in the women’s synchro event and combined with junior Lexi Geisbrecht of Calgary to win the team title. In women’s gymnastics Lee followed up her all around bronze medal from Friday with silver medals in the floor and beam finals on Sunday, earning rave reviews from many of the bloggers who tend to give more attention to international competitors at major meets in the U.S. that the mainstream American media. The Couch Gymnast blog says Lee’s beam routine is “stupendous and she goes into it in full attack mode. Even in things that plague her in warm-ups - like a twice missed Jaeger on uneven bars don’t cross her mind when competing. It’s like she wants revenge for missing it earlier in the day and so makes it a priority to attack in competition.” In other women’s senior event finals Lee was fourth on uneven bars and Kristina Vaculik of Whitby, Ont., tied for 6th on uneven bars and was seventh on beam and Victoria Moors of Cambridge, Ont., was 6th on floor. The U.S. swept all four senior finals. In the women’s junior finals Victoria Kayen Woo of Montreal won the silver medal on uneven bars and  Maegan Chant of Waterdown, Ont.,  took the bronze on vault. In the men’s finals, Scott Morgan of Vancouver won Canada’s lone medal, taking the bronze in the senior vault.