Middlesex Gymnast Takes First At Junior National Championships

(Lauren Hernandez, center, and Jazmyn Foberg, New Jersey gymnasts who train at MG Elite in Marlboro, hold hands on the podium at the P&G Championships on Saturday. Ragan Smith from Texas was third. John Cheng photo used with permission of USA Gymnastics)

An Old Bridge Township girl is the new national junior all-around gymnastics champion, after edging her gymmate in the finals of the P&G Championships in Indianapolis.

Lauren Hernandez, 15, scored a 14.550 on the floor exercise to hold off her gymmate, Jazmyn Foberg of Berkeley Township, in the final event for an all-around score of 117.500, one-tenth of a point ahead of Foberg.

Foberg, 15, the defending national junior champion, scored a 117.400 all-around. The two train at MG Elite in Marlboro under coach Maggie Haney. Gymnastics watchers noted it is the first time two girls from the same gym had finished first and second at the championships since 2002.

Hernandez was injured last year and did not compete in the 2014 national championships.

The two. who finished first and third while leading the U.S. team to the team title at the Jesolo Cup, an international gymnastics competition, in March, are hoping to become part of the gymnastics squad that competes in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Both will be senior level gymnasts by then. The two along with Ragan Smith of Texas, Jordan Chiles of Washington, Christina Desiderio of Hackettstown and Sydney Johnson-Scharpf of Florida make up the junior national team.

Foberg led by four-tenths of a point after the preliminary competition on Friday, 58.350-57.950. On Saturday, Hernandez improved her scores across the board, with her biggest gains coming on the balance beam and the vault, where her scores improved .550 on each apparatus.

Foberg was strong as well and kept pressure on Hernandez the entire day.

Foberg and Hernandez were on the same apparatus throughout Saturday, and Foberg actually increased her lead to .500, despite Hernandez’s 15.100 on the vault.

On the bars, however, Foberg scored a 14.650, down from the 14.800 she scored Friday, and Hernandez took a .050 lead with her 15.200, a .300 improvement from her Friday score. Hernandez retained the lead after beam, matching Foberg’s 14.700.

On the floor exercise, both increased the difficulty of their routines, but Hernandez came out on top after Foberg stepped out of bounds twice, resulting in an automatic two-tenths deduction.

In addition to winning the all-around title, Hernandez also took first in the bars. Foberg earned silver in the vault, behind Jordan Chiles, who scored a 15.500.