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Gymnastics is as hazardous as anything in the X Games. There was ample evidence of that Thursday in junior women's competition at the Visa Championships at Conseco Fieldhouse.
There was Ashley Priess, who won last month's prestigious U.S. Classic, tearfully clutching her right leg after striking a metal side support on the uneven bars.
There was Samantha Peszek, coming up on the same calamitous apparatus. She had a costly deduction on bars at the Classic, and she missed one of her moves Thursday in warm-ups.
But when Peszek landed the dismount to punctuate a crisp routine, coaches Peter Zhao and Tom Strange raised fists in triumph. That completed a "fantastic" day, Zhao said, for the 13-year-old from McCordsville, Ind.
"She is a mentally tough girl," Zhao said.
Peszek, who started 14th after shakiness on the balance beam, is fourth heading into Saturday's 1 p.m. competition. The second day will decide an all-around champion, individual medalists and 16 members of the junior national team.
"I thought I could have done a lot better, so that's what my goal is on Saturday -- to do a lot better on beam and to clean up everything," Peszek said.
Peszek, the youngest to make the junior national team a year ago, is the youngest in the top seven of the standings. Ivana Hong, 12, Blue Springs, Mo., is eighth.
The leader is Natasha Kelley, 15, Katy, Texas, with 37.365 points. This meet represented the first time she had competed in all four events since breaking her hand a few months ago.
Bianca Flohr, 14, Creston, Ohio, is second at 37.165. Monica Shoji, 14, Cincinnati, is third at 36.648.
Peszek's score of 36.332 featured a 9.466 on vault (second) and 9.300 on floor exercise (third). Two bobbles and an extra step lowered the score to 8.683 on beam (13th). She scored 8.883 on bars (fifth).
She is 0.266 ahead of fifth-place Shayla Worley, 14, Orlando, Fla.
Also in contention for a spot on the junior team is Bridget Sloan, 13, Pittsboro, Ind. She is 17th with a score of 34.032.
"This was my first time, and I'll do a lot better on Saturday," Sloan said.
Peszek was eighth among juniors in last year's nationals, and three of those ahead of her have moved into seniors. Worley was second in 2004, Priess fourth, Flohr sixth and Kelley seventh.
Peszek shepherded nervous colleagues in her rotation group who had never competed in a nationals before.
"I felt like I'd been there," she said, "to be a little less nervous than I was last year."
Among those in Peszek's group was a teammate, Elizabeth McNabb, from DeVeau's School of Gymnastics in Fishers. McNabb had a fall in uneven bars and is in 22nd place.
The DeVeau's duo had about 200 teammates, friends and family cheering for them.
"It just got me more excited that people came to watch and enjoy what I do," McNabb said.
Priess, 15, Hamilton, Ohio, withdrew from the meet. Her coach, Mary Lee Tracy of the Cincinnati Gymnastics Academy, coached two members of the 1996 gold-medal-winning Olympic team.
Priess' six-inch wound cut "all the way to the bone," Tracy said.