Do the names Scott Keswick, Chris Waller or Dominick Minicucci ring a bell?
Didn't think so.America's best male gymnasts admittedly haven't done much to garner a following the last few years. The U.S. men finished a disappointing 11th at the 1988 Olympics, four years after collecting eight perfect "10s" and the team gold medal in Los Angeles.
Mitch Gaylord went on to an acting career after the 1984 gold. Bart Conner became a network broadcaster. Peter Vidmar retired and got married. The state of U.S. men's gymnastics plummeted with their departure.
But the drought might be over.
The U.S. men's team placed fifth at the 1991 world championships without their anchor, Lance Ringnald, who withdrew after tearing a shoulder ligament.
"This 1992 team will be better than people are giving us credit for," said Keswick of UCLA, who leads after Friday night's compulsory round of the U.S. Olympic trials at Baltimore Arena. "It is the deepest team we've had in a long time, and we can legitimately win the bronze."
Coach Francis Allen said unlike years past, there are "10 to 12 legitimate Olympians" trying out for the 1992 squad. "We have so much balance with these guys, and this is a group that can get us a medal," he said.
Keswick, a three-time U.S. rings champion, was first in three of six required events Friday. Compulsories account for 60 percent of the total score, and tonight's optionals are 40 percent.
Waller, the 1991 national champion, is in second place going into optionals and 1988 Olympian Minicucci is third. Reigning U.S. champion John Roethlisberger dropped to fourth after falling off the parallel bars.
Jair Lynch, Trent Dimas, Ringnald and Patrick Kirksey are close behind.
The men's and women's six-member Olympic teams will be named tonight. Two alternates will also be chosen. Team selection is based 70 percent on results here and 30 percent on last month's nationals.
One gymnast who probably won't make the team is three-time world champion Kurt Thomas, 36, coming back after a 12-year layoff. Thomas placed 16th Friday out of a field of 20. His scores ranged from 9.25 on floor exercise to 9.45 on rings and horizontal bar. But Thomas wasn't disappointed. His compulsory score of 56.25 was his best since returning to the sport in late 1990. The crowd was with him all night.
"I've always said I'm a long shot, but getting this score helps my confidence," he said. "Compulsories were always my weakness, and I was always behind even when I was on top of gymnastics. I've got some new dismount twists in my optionals, and if I put up my best performance, anything can happen. I know one thing, there are a lot of people over 30 out there cheering for me."
Perhaps the biggest surprise Friday was Lynch, at 20 the youngest gymnast at the trials. Lynch's 9.9 in vault was the highest score of the night, and he sits in fifth place. Lynch, a civil engineering major at Stanford, placed 16th and seventh at the past two U.S. championships. His biggest victory thus far was a gold at the 1991 Olympic Festival.
"As long as I'm in the top five, I feel my optionals are strong enough to keep me up there," Lynch said. "I've been working real hard and hoped to be up there. But I plan to be around at least another four years. My body is just blooming now."
Keswick is all but assured a spot on the team, but he isn't taking anything for granted. "I have to go all out every night because we have so many talented guys out there," he said. "It doesn't hurt being in the lead, but it doesn't guarantee anything."
It was not a good night for 1988 Olympians Tom Schlesinger and Charles Lakes, who finished 19th and 20th, respectively. Schlesinger was second after Round 1, but he dropped to 14th with a 9.0 on the pommel horse in Round 2. Lakes' scores ranged from 8.75 on rings to 9.55 on high bar.