Twelve Bermuda girls took part in the competition, earning the praise of coach Walid Mustafa.

This was only Bermuda's third time at the US championships -- they sent just two gymnasts two years ago and seven last year -- and "for one of our girls to make the finals is like a dream,'' Mustafa said.

He was referring to Murphy, who returned a score of 35.675 in the Intermediate Optional Senior Level to advance to the main competition today. The 16-year-old earlier won three medals, placing fifth in Floor (9.175), eighth in Beam (9.0) and 15th in Bars (8.950) to earn All-American honours.

Christina White also received an All American award, placing 27th overall in the IO junior girls (Level 9), winning a medal for her floor routine with a score of 9.1 Sasha Christensen won the fifth medal for Bermuda, also in the IO junior girls division with a 9.050 on the beam.

Some 1,300 gymnasts are taking part in three levels of competition.

In junior girls (Level 8), Sara Cox led Bermuda with a score of 33.625, followed by 10-year-old Maria Darby (33.550) and Latoya Brunson (32.875).

SQUASH SQU Two of the Island's most promising young squash players have been included in a Caribbean squad that will compete in the North American Team Championships in Denver, Colorado next week.

Sixteen year-old Nick Kyme and 13-year-old James Stout were named as members of the Caribbean's two four-player teams -- Kyme in the Under-19 squad and Stout in the Under 16s.

Play begins next Thursday against teams from the US, Mexico and Canada.

Both Kyme, who attends Taft School in Connecticut, and Saltus student Stout have represented Bermuda in previous international tournaments.

But according to Kyme's mother, Denise, who was a member of the Caribbean selection committee and hopes to travel with the squad, the Denver event offers the two Bermudians a rare opportunity.

"Our players just don't get to compete in team tournaments as much as those in Europe or Asia,'' she said. "This is a chance to bring them up to speed.

"For squash players in this part of the world, there's the Caribbean Championships and the World Championships, and nothing inbetween. So this tournament is an important new addition.'' The event runs from June 26 to June 30.

ANGLING FSH More than 250 anglers in 71 boats will compete tommorrow in the biggest local fishing tournament of the year, the Bacardi Rum Tournament.

Fishing gets underway at 8.00 a.m.

This year a significant change in format has been made with a separate class establishsed to accomodate all professional boats. This means a boat owner with any type of commercial licence will be entered in the professional class `C'.

Organisers believe this offers the bona fide amateur a better chance in the other classes, `A' and `B', for a shot at top boat in their class.

Another important change affects the species. As yellowfin tuna and wahoo generally dominate the weigh-in, it has been decided to give yellowfin its own category. This then means that a good blackfin tuna is eligible in the other new category, `all other BGFA species.' Meanwhile, tomorrow's crews will no doubt be pleased to learn that the weigh-in should proceed faster with the introduction of an IGFA certified digital electronic scale.

Fishing ends at 4.00 p.m. and all boats intending to weigh-in must be in sight of the weigh-in station by 6.30 p.m.

Results of the tournament will be announced on Monday night.