Spring thing

Vercruyssen represents Hawaii at the Pacific Alliance championships

NANI Vercruyssen is used to bouncing around the globe from one trampoline event to another.

But competing in her hometown this week will be new territory for the Honolulu teenager.

PACIFIC ALLIANCE CHAMPIONSHIPS When: Tomorrow-Saturday Where: Blaisdell Arena (artistic), Hawaii Convention Center (rhythmic, trampoline) TV: NBC, Sunday, 10 a.m. Tickets: Available at the Blaisdell Center ticket office, ticketmaster.com or charge by phone at 877-750-4400.

Vercruyssen's proficiency on the trampoline has taken her to Japan, Canada, Russia, Belarus, Sweden, Denmark and Germany as well as various points on the mainland. And this week's Pacific Alliance Gymnastics Championships offers her a rare opportunity to perform in front of family and friends.

"It'll be a different atmosphere," Vercruyssen said prior to the U.S. trampoline team's practice yesterday at the Hawaii Convention Center. "When I heard about it I just wanted to be in it because it would be an honor and just a spectacular event, and I wanted to shoot for this."

Trampoline was added to the schedule for this year's Pacific Alliance meet and Vercruyssen, who tops the current junior women's rankings, was chosen for the eight-member U.S. trampoline team competing in the meet.

The event features the top gymnasts from 14 Pacific Rim countries and opens tomorrow with the rhythmic and artistic gymnastics competitions getting under way at Blaisdell Arena.

The trampoline preliminaries are set for 10 a.m. Friday at the convention center. The top scorers advance to the finals at 4 p.m. on Saturday.

Vercruyssen, 14, often spends the days leading up to an event getting over jet lag following a lengthy flight. This week, the eighth-grader at Kaimuki Intermediate School is adjusting to life in the spotlight as a local athlete participating in an elite-level event in her hometown.

But her father and personal coach, Dr. Max Vercruyssen, is confident in her ability to focus once she starts her routine.

"Nani's strength comes from being able to think well under pressure and being able to hit when the pressure is on," he said. "She's always been that way and that's made her do well in many of the international tournaments. So she's just hoping to go out and do her thing."

Nani Vercruyssen started out in the more well-known arena of artistic gymnastics at Hawaii Academy, where she continues to train, and began on the trampoline four years ago. She's spent the years since working her way up the junior rankings in the sport, which made its Olympic debut at the 2000 Games in Sydney.

"I would transfer my skills and learn them on the trampoline, and I just loved bouncing and I just had fun with it," she said.

Max Vercruyssen credited Nani's background in artistic gymnastics for setting the foundation for her success on the trampoline.

"She's very, very strong and her strength has given her an advantage over many of the athletes," he said. "Strength, flexibility, balance, alignment, all of these things come from artistic."

Vercruyssen was the 2005 U.S. junior trampoline champion and won gold in the double mini at the International Age Group Competition, the equivalent of the world championships. She also won the Scandinavian Open and placed second at the Canadian Championships.

"She's a coordinated girl and she's very polite and good-mannered and she's a very hard worker and I think those are the most important things," said U.S. national team coordinator Dmitri Poliaroush. "She's a very hard worker and she always listens."

Vercruyssen isn't the only gymnast with local ties in town for the meet. Shantessa Pama, a member of the artistic U.S. junior women's team, who now lives in Dana Point, Calif., was born in Kona and visits every summer.

Vercruyssen has become friends with gymnasts from other countries during her travels to various competitions and is looking forward to having them visit here.

"She was just thrilled to have her U.S. teammates here so they can experience some of Hawaii," Max Vercruyssen said.

"She's proud of Hawaii. She sees this as an opportunity for them to come and see why she likes Hawaii so much."

Catching the rhythm: As trampoline looks to gain a wider audience, rhythmic gymnastics has also been largely overshadowed by the more familiar field of artistic gymnastics.

The U.S. won the team title at the 2005 Pan American Championships, but winning over fans to the sport -- in which gymnasts perform with a ribbon, ball and hoop -- has proven even more challenging.

"Sometimes I feel like it is (gaining popularity)," said Olga Karmansky, the 2005 national champion. "If I'm carrying a hoop to the airport, people know what it is. And then there's times where I walk into the airport and they're like, 'Are you going to a Hula-Hoop contest?' And I'm like, 'I thought this was done with.' It's not, so we have a while to go."

Schedule TOMORROW 10 a.m.: Junior rhythmic all-around, team and event qualification (HCC) 1 p.m.: Junior women's team and all-around finals (Blaisdell) 4 p.m.: Senior rhythmic all-around, team and event qualification (HCC) 7 p.m.: Senior women's team and all-around finals, (Blaisdell) FRIDAY 10 a.m.: Junior rhythmic all-around, team and event qualification; junior men's and women's trampoline preliminaries (HCC) 1 p.m.: Junior men's team and all-around finals (Blaisdell) 4 p.m.: Senior rhythmic all-around, team and event qualification; senior trampoline preliminaries (HCC) 7 p.m.: Senior men's team and all-around finals (Blaisdell) SATURDAY 1 p.m.: Junior men's and women's event finals (Blaisdell) 4 p.m.: Junior and senior rhythmic event finals; junior and senior trampoline finals (HCC) 7 p.m.: Senior men's and women's event finals (Blaisdell)