1997: As a rookie, competed on the floor exercise, pommel horse, vault and horizontal bar scored a career-high of 9.55 on the floor in a tri-meet with Army and Navy... in the outing with Ohio State and Iowa, he recorded a personal best of 9.00 on the high bar and had his all-time high of 9.20 on the vault against Michigan...took third place on the floor exercise at the National Independent Championships with a 9.50...had UIC's second-best score on the floor at the NCAA Regionals with a 9.15...saw limited action on the pommel horse with his season-high of 8.85 coming in the tri-meet with Ohio State and Iowa
Personal/Prep: Competed in club gymnastics for nine years was a member of the Cascade Elite Gymnastics Club and qualified for the Junior Olympic Nationals from 1993 through 1996in '96, he was a finalist on the floor exercise and still rings...ranked 17th in national testing at the Olympic Training Center and 38th for the Winter Cup Team ...earned Academic All-America Honorable Mention in '93, '94 and '95...an honor roll student at Ballard High School... majoring in Kinesiology...born November 15, 1976...son of Bill and Nancy van Amerongen.
club coach Wayne Kerr
Pommel Horse 8.850 - 2/8/97 8.850 - 2/8/97
Vault 9.200 - 3/14/97 - 9.200 - 3/14/97
Horizontal Bar 9.000 - 2/8/97
9.000 - 2/8/97