By LYNN JACOBSEN World Sports Writer 
7/7/00

Down and out?
Upper Left: Shannon Miller lays on the mat after injuring her knee Thursday at the Mabee Center. Miller is likely to miss Saturday's competition.
STEPHEN HOLMAN / Tulsa World 

Lower Right: Kristen Maloney catches air during a U.S. Classic Gymfest training session Thursday at the Mabee Center.
JOE IVERSON / Tulsa World

Injury ends edmond native's Classic bid 

Shannon Miller suffered an injury during a practice session Thursday and will not compete in the U.S. Classic Gymnastics Festival at the Mabee Center this weekend.

 Miller was performing one of her final routines on the vault when she landed wrong and jammed both knees, causing swelling in the right knee.

 "I'm OK," Miller said in a phone interview from Edmond Thursday night. We had it checked out to make sure everything was OK. There doesn't seem to be any structural damage."

 Miller's coach, Steve Nunno, said an MRI was scheduled  Thursday night.

 "We went right to Dr. (David) Holden's office and they were waiting for us," he said. "Dr. Holden is pretty sure it is sprained, but we want to make sure. I feel good that we won't be two weeks trying to rehabilitate something that could have been a career-ending injury."

 Nunno confided that even though Miller is unable to compete, she is expected to cheer on her teammates from Dynamo Gymnastics.

 "I'm pretty sure she will be in Tulsa this weekend," he said.

 Miller said her workout had gone well until the vault.

 "I had had a good workout. I felt good about my routines," she said. "Everything was going well."

 Nunno agreed, saying, "Her workout went fairly well. She had a hard time adjusting to the floor and had some difficulty at the beginning of the floor program, but she had some nice bar routines and she looked great on (balance) beam."

 Miller said she simply landed wrong on the ill-fated vault.

 "It was just one of those things," she said. "It was a new vault, but not that new. My knee is a little stiff, but I'm sure it will be OK."

 Miller, who has already qualified for the U.S. Nationals later this month in St. Louis, Mo., said she had been looking forward to the Tulsa competition.

 "Absolutely. A hometown crowd and hometown meet. The last time I competed in Oklahoma was in 1989 at the Olympic Festival in Norman," she said. "I was really looking forward to it."

 Asked if the injury would prohibit her from pursuing a third Olympics berth, Miller said, "No, I don't think so. In 1992, I had a broken elbow (before the Olympics) and I don't have that. If I keep my body in shape, the soreness should go away pretty soon. Things are right on track."

 Nunno said he had no regrets about the decision to come to Tulsa.

 "We feel like we made the right decision," he said. "The people of Tulsa have been great. I think the people who saw her Thursday realized she wasn't going to have the problems she had in Canada (when Miller fell off the beam twice)."

 Lynn Jacobsen, World sports writer, can be reached at 581-8461 or via e-mail at lynn.jacobsen@tulsaworld.com.