BELGRADE, Serbia, May 8, 2022 – Natalie de la Rosa (Woodland Hills, Calif./Burlo Gymnastics) claimed the pre-junior division all-around title Saturday at the 16th International Tournament Ritam Cup in Belgrade, Serbia, while U.S. National Team members added all-around silver and bronze medals Sunday in both the junior and senior divisions.

De la Rosa garnered pre-junior-division-high scores of 25.300 on hoop and 27.600 on ball to secure the gold medal with a combined 52.900. Montenegro’s Aglaya Triputen (49.250) and Serbia’s Masa Nikolic (46.850) were second and third. Pre-junior athletes showed two chosen apparatus from among the five available to them – rope, hoop, ball, clubs and ribbon – Saturday to open competition at the USC Vozdovac.

Rin Keys (Porter Ranch, Calif./Burlo Gymnastics) led all U.S. junior competitors. She posted a 110.250 en route to the all-around silver medal. Megan Chu (San Diego, Calif./Emerald City Academy of Rhythmic Gymnastics) rounded out the top-three with a 107.800. The Americans were outpaced only by Italy’s Tara Dragas. Due to the two-athlete-per-country limit, Jaelyn Chin (Aventura, Fla./Bessonova’s School), who is a U.S. Junior National Team member, was omitted from the all-around standings despite posting a top-six score of 104.800. However, the combined efforts of Chin, Chu and Keys captured the U.S. the junior team title, a distinction that was only bestowed at the junior level.

Club athletes Isabella Chong (Mission Viejo, Calif./Burlo Gymnastics) and Olivia Fischer (Denver, Colo./Zara Rhythmic Gymnastics Academy) were also in action in the junior competition. Chong, the 2021 pre-junior division champion, had another successful showing in Belgrade. Her 107.900 was the third-highest junior all-around total of the weekend, but as a club competitor, she was not included in the official event standings. Fischer earned a 97.450.

Dragas notched high scores on all four apparatus: 27.800 on hoop, 30.900 on ball, 30.400 on clubs and 29.550 on ribbon. Keys snagged two more silver medals on ball (28.800) and ribbon (28.400) and added a bronze on clubs (27.150). Chu collected the silver on clubs (27.200) and was third on ribbon (27.800). Chong’s 26.900 on hoop was the division’s second-highest showing, but as with the all-around, her scores were not included in the official record.

In the senior division, Alexandria Kautzman (Simi Valley, Calif./California Rhythms) and Lily Avila (Highland Park, Ill./Vitrychenko Academy) earned all-around silver and bronze, respectively, behind scores of 108.600 and 105.400. Fellow U.S. National Team member Sarah Mariotti (San Diego,Calif./Emerald City Academy of Rhythmic Gymnastics) delivered the division’s sixth-highest score of 104.200 but, like her junior-division teammates, was not listed in the official event standings due to the two-athlete-per-country rule. Bulgaria’s Mila Robert Yanakieva claimed the top all-around spot with a 110.250.

Kautzman led the way on ball with a 28.000, while Avila topped the field on ribbon with a 26.600. Yanakieva posted the day’s high score on hoop with a 29.950. Hungary’s Luca Flora Lovasz’s 29.750 set the tone on clubs. Kautzman added bronze on clubs (28.050) and ribbon (25.950), and Avila picked up her second bronze of the weekend on ball (27.250). Mariotti’s 28.750 on hoop, which was the day’s second-highest score, was stricken from the scoresheet after she was eliminated from the official standings based on the aforementioned two-gymnast-per-country constraint.