July 2, 2008: We've added 120 pictures from US Championships to the photo gallery!

June 12, 2008: Samantha recently returned from Boston, MA where she competed in her third Visa Championships! Samantha started the first day of competition on balance beam where she completed her side aerial, switch leap to a back tuck combination, and stuck her round off double pike dismount for a score of 15.750. She moved to floor next where she hit her Arabian double front, 2 ½ punch front tuck, and double pike for a score of 15.200. Samantha moved to vault where she nailed a gorgeous yurchenko full vault for 14.050. She finished off the day on bars where she struggled a little and scored a 14.850. Samantha finished the day just .1 behind the leader, Jordyn Wieber.

On day 2 Samantha started the competition on floor where she had a fall on her double Arabian and struggled to stand up her 2 ½ punch front tuck combination. However, Samantha bounced back with a clean yurchenko full on vault scoring a 13.950. She moved to bars where she improved from her prelims score to a 15.900. Samantha finished off the morning on beam where she hit her routine for a 15.550. Samantha finished the all around competition in 2nd place behind Jordyn WIeber of Geddert’s. Samantha also took first place on Bars and Beam and placed 6th on floor exercise.

April 1, 2008: Sami had a great competition this past weekend in San Jose! She contributed a 14.300 on vault, 15.225 on bars, 15.800 on beam, and a 14.775 on floor to the USA team, which finished 1st ahead of Canada and China. Her all-around total of 60.100 was good enough for silver behind teammate Rebecca Bross, who scored a 60.100. Due to her strong performances, Samantha earned a spot in all four event finals!

Event finals were held the next day and Sami started the night off by placing 7th on vault with a score of 14.050. Next she earned a 15.450 on bars to place first ahead of Peng Peng Lee and Brittany Rogers from Canada. A 15.175 on beam was good enough for 5th on that event, and she closed her weekend out with some mistakes on floor to finish 8th with a 13.450. Her USA teammate Rebecca Bross placed 1st on vault, beam, and floor. Her senior teammates also earned gold medals in event finals; Jana Bieger won bars, Nastia Liukin won beam, and Darlene Hill won floor. Congratulations on a great meet Sami and GO USA!

March 28, 2008: Sami is currently training in San Jose for the upcoming Pacific Rim Championships! This meet features several countries from the Pacific Rim, including China, Russia, Australia, Japan, Mexico, and many others. Three seniors and three juniors from each country make up a team, and the format will be 6-5-4 -- meaning five gymnasts compete on each event and four scores count toward the team total. The other members of the USA team include juniors Rebecca Clark (GAGE) and Rebecca Bross (WOGA), and seniors Nastia Liukin (WOGA), Jana Bieger (Bieger Int'l), and Darlene Hill (Will-Moor).

The team competition will be held on Saturday, the US competes in the second session that begins at 7PM local time. Event finals take place on Sunday at 6PM. For information, visit USAG's event website.

Pictures from podium training have been added to the photo gallery! Pictures have also been added from 2007 Nationals thanks to Heather Maynez.

March 3, 2008: The Gymnix International concluded yesterday after the event finals were held. Sami finished 3rd on vault (14.225) behind Canadian gymnasts Charlotte Mackie (14.600) and Brittany Rogers (14.375). She then handedly won the uneven bars gold with a score of 14.575 over Russia's Anastasia Grishina (13.950) and also took the beam gold with a score of 15.300 ahead of another Russian gymnast, Nailya Mustafina (14.575). She closed her competition out by placing 4th on floor (13.700). 

No other junior members of the American team took place in the event finals but senior member Chelsea Davis was 2nd on beam, 4th on floor, and 5th on bars; Sarah DeMeo was 3rd on floor; and Mattie Larson was 3rd on bars. Congratulations on a great meet Sami and the rest of the US team!

March 2, 2008: Sami won the junior international division yesterday at the 2008 Gymnix International! She won the all-around by nearly 3 points, with a total of 58.850 over Canada's Brittany Rogers, who scored a 55.925. Sami scored a 14.175 (5.0) on vault, 14.925 (6.4) on bars, 15.350 (6.4) on beam, and a 14.400 (5.6) on floor. Event finals will be held today! Full results are available here.

Samantha's senior teammates all finished in the top four in their division. Chelsea Davis was 1st with a 58.975, Mattie Larson was 2nd with a 58.625, and Sarah DeMeo was 4th with a 56.350. Former US National Team member Randy Stageburg was also competing for her hometown club of Excalibur, she finished third with a 56.525.

February 25, 2008: Thanks to Brian Jones, we have some beautiful pictures of Sami competing in the AOGC Invitational. 

Sami was also recently at a camp in Texas where several international assignments were given. Samantha performed well enough at the camp to get two trips: 

The Gymnix International is set for February 29-March 2nd in Montreal, Canada, and features a team/all-around, and event finals format. The rest of the USA team is Mattie Larson, Chelsea Davis (TX Dreams), and Sarah DeMeo (GAGE). 

The US will be sending a junior and senior team to Italy to compete against Italy, Poland (seniors only), Spain, and Romania (juniors only) on March 8th for the Jiselo Grand Prix. Traveling alongside Samantha is her club teammate Mattie Larson, Rebecca Bross (WOGA), Jordyn Wieber (Geddert's), Sherise Clark (Excalibur), Morgan Smith (Brandy Johnson's), Olivia Courtney (Orlando Metro), Amber Trani (Parkettes), Jana Bieger (Bieger Int'l), Bridget Sloan (Sharp's), and 2007 World Champions Shawn Johnson (Chow's) and Sam Peszek (DeVeau's).

February 19, 2008: Sami competed this past weekend in her club's invitational, the Lights, Camera, Action! All Olympia Invitational. She competed on bars and beam only. This meet was held in the famous John Wooden Arena on UCLA's campus in Los Angeles. 

Official scores have not yet been posted but we do have video clips of Samantha's routines so be sure to watch them!

February 3, 2008: Samantha competed in her first meet of the 2008 season this weekend at the WOGA Classic in Frisco, Texas. She only performed on bars and beam but placed on both! She won bars with a score of 15.800, a point higher than second-place-finisher Nailia Mustafina (Russia) and her 15.500 on beam was good enough for third behind Rebecca Bross (WOGA) and Mustafina. Congratulations on a great return to competition, Sami!

Her All Olympia teammates Mattie Larson and Hallie Mossett also competed. Mattie placed second on beam (15.400) and won floor (15.350) in the senior division and Hallie placed third on floor (14.350) in the junior ranks.

We will post videos and photos whenever they become available! Full results and more information about the meet can be found via International Gymnast's news article or WOGA's website.

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