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A talented tandem
By BRANT JAMES, Times Staff Writer SPRING HILL -- Dominic Esposito was so busy trying to keep up with his older brother's skate marks, it took Esposito a while to realize his older sister's footsteps were better.
Besides, Esposito said, "You don't get as sweaty." It turned out to be a pretty good idea. Esposito joins his sister this week as a Junior Olympian, participating in the AAU Games in Knoxville, Tenn. "I'm a little nervous, but I'll try my hardest and see how I do," said Esposito, who will compete in pommel horse and "mushroom." Angela Esposito probably is even more eager to complete the 13-hour drive in a mini-van with Dominic and their mother, Gail. A performer in the bars, beam, floor and vault, Angela qualified for the Junior Olympics two years ago, but could not participate because she fell during practice and broke her arm. "I've been coming to the gym from 1 til 4 every day other than weekends," Esposito said. "I've been training really hard for the last month to get ready. I'm excited to compete." Gail Esposito admitted she's more nervous for her daughter. "I'm nervous for Angie because I really want her to show what she can do," Esposito said. "She is so good, but there's no do-overs in gymnastics." On the girls side of the sport, the higher the class number, the more advanced the competitor and the more difficult the moves.
In boys competition, ratings go in descending order. Angela Esposito has progressed to Class 10, and her brother has gone from Class 7 to 5 in two years. The Knoxville Games are expected to draw 15,000 athletes and coaches, and will feature 26 sports from gymnastics to karate. Angela, though older and more advanced, is a little envious of her brother sometimes. Whereas she had to qualify for Junior Olympics and earned a spot on the top Florida team for her age group, he -- as a boy in a female-dominated sport -- was invited after winning 2002 Age Group Nationals in Orlando. Dominic scored an 8.5 on the floor exercise, 8.75 on the pommel horse, 8.35 on rings, 7.8 on vault, 8.1 on parallel bars and 8.75 on high bar. "I think that made Angie kind of mad," Gail Esposito joked. Not mad enough to withhold some of the tutelage that has helped improve Dominic as a gymnast. "Everything is based on the same thing," Angela said. "Not the rules, but the positioning, body-position-wise. He doesn't ask that often, though."
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From today's Hernando Times Letters |
