HARTFORD, Conn. — Refusing to fall or falter, Rebecca Bross powered through another impressive performance Saturday, winning the national gymnastics title in a runaway over Mattie Larson.
Bross, the 17-year-old coached by Olympic champion Nastia Liukin‘s father, scored 120.3 points to outdistance Larson by the margin of 3.3.
Bross went through finals without a fall, making her 8-for-8 for the two-day meet and answering one of the few questions left about America’s top up-and-comer: Could she close out a major meet after letting leads at last year’s nationals and worlds slip?
The answer: A resounding yes. All business when she’s on the equipment, she finally let her guard down when she completed her final routine, slapping the sides of her legs, then folding into coach Valeri Liukin‘s embrace like a rag doll, happy and relieved.
Nationwide: Keselowski wins
BROOKLYN, Mich. — Brad Keselowski grabbed the lead on a restart with eight laps to go and pulled away to win the NASCAR Nationwide race at Michigan International Speedway.
Carl Edwards finished second, barely edging out a charging Kyle Busch.
• Todd Bodine led the final 47 laps at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway to take his second consecutive victory in NASCAR’s truck series.
Bodine held off polesitter Timothy Peters through two restarts to win in the Camping World Truck Series’ first appearance at the “Lady in Black” in six years.
• Doug Kalitta took the top qualifying spot in top fuel at the NHRA Nationals in Brainerd, Minn.
His pass of 3.842 seconds at 305.49 mph moved him past overnight leader Brandon Bernstein.
Ashley Force Hood (funny car), Mike Edwards (pro stock) and Andrew Hines (pro stock motorcycle) top their divisions.
Clijsters reaches final
MASON, Ohio — Kim Clijsters reached the final of the Cincinnati Open when Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic hurt her left foot 12 minutes into their match.
Maria Sharapova beat fellow Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 in the other semifinal.
• Roger Federer advanced to the Rogers Cup final today in Toronto with 6-1, 3-6, 7-5 victory over Novak Djokovic.
Federer will meet Andy Murray, who beat top-ranked Rafael Nadal 6-3, 6-4 in the first semifinal.
Footnotes.
Allyson Felix and Jeremy Wariner of the United States won 400-meter races in the Diamond League meet in London.David Oliver, a Denver East graduate, won the 110-meter hurdles in 13.06.
• Olympian David Boudia scored 605.40 points to set an American record and win the 10-meter title at the U.S. national diving championships in College Station, Texas.
• Danny Granger scored 22 points to lead the U.S. basketball team past China 98-51 in a scrimmage at Madison Square Garden.
• Jockey Russell Baze won the 11,000th race of his career aboard Separate Forest in Santa Rosa, Calif.
