PHOTO GALLERY ADDITIONS // 070208

We've added 120 pictures from US Championships to the photo gallery!

RUNNER-UP AT JUNIOR NATIONALS // 061208

Samantha recently returned from Boston, MA where she competed in her third Visa Championships! Samantha started the first day of competition on balance beam where she completed her side aerial, switch leap to a back tuck combination, and stuck her round off double pike dismount for a score of 15.750. She moved to floor next where she hit her Arabian double front, 2 ½ punch front tuck, and double pike for a score of 15.200. Samantha moved to vault where she nailed a gorgeous yurchenko full vault for 14.050. She finished off the day on bars where she struggled a little and scored a 14.850. Samantha finished the day just .1 behind the leader, Jordyn Wieber.

On day 2 Samantha started the competition on floor where she had a fall on her double Arabian and struggled to stand up her 2 ½ punch front tuck combination. However, Samantha bounced back with a clean yurchenko full on vault scoring a 13.950. She moved to bars where she improved from her prelims score to a 15.900. Samantha finished off the morning on beam where she hit her routine for a 15.550. Samantha finished the all around competition in 2nd place behind Jordyn WIeber of Geddert’s. Samantha also took first place on Bars and Beam and placed 6th on floor exercise.

TWO GOLDS AT PACIFIC RIM // 060108

Sami had a great competition this past weekend in San Jose! She contributed a 14.300 on vault, 15.225 on bars, 15.800 on beam, and a 14.775 on floor to the USA team, which finished 1st ahead of Canada and China. Her all-around total of 60.100 was good enough for silver behind teammate Rebecca Bross, who scored a 60.100. Due to her strong performances, Samantha earned a spot in all four event finals!

Event finals were held the next day and Sami started the night off by placing 7th on vault with a score of 14.050. Next she earned a 15.450 on bars to place first ahead of Peng Peng Lee and Brittany Rogers from Canada. A 15.175 on beam was good enough for 5th on that event, and she closed her weekend out with some mistakes on floor to finish 8th with a 13.450. Her USA teammate Rebecca Bross placed 1st on vault, beam, and floor. Her senior teammates also earned gold medals in event finals; Jana Bieger won bars, Nastia Liukin won beam, and Darlene Hill won floor. Congratulations on a great meet Sami and GO USA!

PACIFIC RIM NOTES & PHOTO GALLERY ADDITIONS // 032808

Sami is currently training in San Jose for the upcoming Pacific Rim Championships! This meet features several countries from the Pacific Rim, including China, Russia, Australia, Japan, Mexico, and many others. Three seniors and three juniors from each country make up a team, and the format will be 6-5-4 -- meaning five gymnasts compete on each event and four scores count toward the team total. The other members of the USA team include juniors Rebecca Clark (GAGE) and Rebecca Bross (WOGA), and seniors Nastia Liukin (WOGA), Jana Bieger (Bieger Int'l), and Darlene Hill (Will-Moor).

The team competition will be held on Saturday, the US competes in the second session that begins at 7PM local time. Event finals take place on Sunday at 6PM. For information, visit USAG's event website.

Pictures from podium training have been added to the photo gallery! Pictures have also been added from 2007 Nationals thanks to Heather Maynez.

TWO GOLDS AND A BRONZE IN EVENT FINALS // 030308

The Gymnix International concluded yesterday after the event finals were held. Sami finished 3rd on vault (14.225) behind Canadian gymnasts Charlotte Mackie (14.600) and Brittany Rogers (14.375). She then handedly won the uneven bars gold with a score of 14.575 over Russia's Anastasia Grishina (13.950) and also took the beam gold with a score of 15.300 ahead of another Russian gymnast, Nailya Mustafina (14.575). She closed her competition out by placing 4th on floor (13.700). 

No other junior members of the American team took place in the event finals but senior member Chelsea Davis was 2nd on beam, 4th on floor, and 5th on bars; Sarah DeMeo was 3rd on floor; and Mattie Larson was 3rd on bars. Congratulations on a great meet Sami and the rest of the US team!

GYMNIX INTERNATIONAL ALL-AROUND CHAMP // 030208

Sami won the junior international division yesterday at the 2008 Gymnix International! She won the all-around by nearly 3 points, with a total of 58.850 over Canada's Brittany Rogers, who scored a 55.925. Sami scored a 14.175 (5.0) on vault, 14.925 (6.4) on bars, 15.350 (6.4) on beam, and a 14.400 (5.6) on floor. Event finals will be held today! Full results are available here.

Samantha's senior teammates all finished in the top four in their division. Chelsea Davis was 1st with a 58.975, Mattie Larson was 2nd with a 58.625, and Sarah DeMeo was 4th with a 56.350. Former US National Team member Randy Stageburg was also competing for her hometown club of Excalibur, she finished third with a 56.525.

SPRING ASSIGNMENTS & PHOTO GALLERY ADDITIONS // 022508

Thanks to Brian Jones, we have some beautiful pictures of Sami competing in the AOGC Invitational. 

Sami was also recently at a camp in Texas where several international assignments were given. Samantha performed well enough at the camp to get two trips: 

The Gymnix International is set for February 29-March 2nd in Montreal, Canada, and features a team/all-around, and event finals format. The rest of the USA team is Mattie Larson, Chelsea Davis (TX Dreams), and Sarah DeMeo (GAGE). 

The US will be sending a junior and senior team to Italy to compete against Italy, Poland (seniors only), Spain, and Romania (juniors only) on March 8th for the Jiselo Grand Prix. Traveling alongside Samantha is her club teammate Mattie Larson, Rebecca Bross (WOGA), Jordyn Wieber (Geddert's), Sherise Clark (Excalibur), Morgan Smith (Brandy Johnson's), Olivia Courtney (Orlando Metro), Amber Trani (Parkettes), Jana Bieger (Bieger Int'l), Bridget Sloan (Sharp's), and 2007 World Champions Shawn Johnson (Chow's) and Sam Peszek (DeVeau's).

VIDEO CLIPS FROM AOGC INVITE // 021908

Sami competed this past weekend in her club's invitational, the Lights, Camera, Action! All Olympia Invitational. She competed on bars and beam only. This meet was held in the famous John Wooden Arena on UCLA's campus in Los Angeles. 

Official scores have not yet been posted but we do have video clips of Samantha's routines so be sure to watch them!

TWO MEDALS IN SEASON OPENER // 020308

Samantha competed in her first meet of the 2008 season this weekend at the WOGA Classic in Frisco, Texas. She only performed on bars and beam but placed on both! She won bars with a score of 15.800, a point higher than second-place-finisher Nailia Mustafina (Russia) and her 15.500 on beam was good enough for third behind Rebecca Bross (WOGA) and Mustafina. Congratulations on a great return to competition, Sami!

Her All Olympia teammates Mattie Larson and Hallie Mossett also competed. Mattie placed second on beam (15.400) and won floor (15.350) in the senior division and Hallie placed third on floor (14.350) in the junior ranks.

We will post videos and photos whenever they become available! Full results and more information about the meet can be found via International Gymnast's news article or WOGA's website.

FIRST NATIONAL TITLE, SECOND NATIONAL TEAM // 082307

Samantha had an amazing meet in San Jose, finishing 2nd overall and on bars and floor. She was also crowned the 2007 Junior USA National Beam Champion! Photos have already been added from the meet with more to come soon! Videos will also be posted in the next few days.

Sami began her meet on floor, scoring a 14.800 for a very clean routine to "Blues for Klook." She added a 14.100 on vault, a 14.400 on bars, and a crowd-favorite 15.600 on beam! Her beam routine was flawless, earning a B score a 9.400 which is VERY high under the new Code of Points. She finished day one with an all-around total of 58.900, just .050 out of first place! 

On day two she started on vault with a 14.150 (9.150 B score) and improved her mark on bars with a 14.600. Unfortunately she fell on her beam dismount after over rotating it, which was an otherwise perfect routine! She scored a 14.800 despite the fall. She improved her floor routine from day one after the fall, scoring a 15.050 (9.350 B score) giving her a total of 58.600 for a combined total of 117.500 and 2nd place behind WOGA's Rebecca Bross. This total would've put Sami in 6th place as a senior gymnast. Not too shabby for her 2nd Nationals ever!

Along with Samantha, the Junior National Team includes Rebecca Bross (WOGA), Jordyn Wieber (Geddert's), Chelsea Davis (TX Dreams), Rheagan Courville (Elite LA), her AOGC teammate Mattie Larson, Olivia Courtney (Orlando Metro), Ashley Stott (SCEGA), Corrie Lothrop (Hills), Cassie Whitcomb (CGA), Rebecca Clark (GAGE), and Sarah DeMeo (GAGE). Also, a big congratulations to her teammate Hallie Mossett for placing 8th on floor exercise.

NATIONALS NOTES, PHOTO GALLERY ADDITIONS, UPDATED ROUTINES // 081207

The routines page has been updated with Sami's revised skills from the recent U.S. Classic and a new photo gallery from the meet is up! She now does a stalder 1/1 to her Pak salto, adding an extra 2 tenths to her start value on bars! On beam she replaced her 2 1/2 twist dismount with a double pike and removed her Yang Bo jump; she also now does a switch leap + back tuck + sheep jump combination instead of her front aerial + back tuck and front tuck + sheep jump combinations... for 1 tenth less than last year. Hopefully this will result in a more consistent routine! Finally, she re-arranged her dance elements and tumbling passes on floor and instead of doing a front handspring + double front, Samantha now does a running front layout 1/1. 

The 2007 USA National Championships in San Jose, California, officially begin on Wednesday with the junior and senior men's competitions. Thursday at 1PM marks the beginning of the junior women's preliminary competition and Saturday at 1PM is the start of finals. Just like last year, the top 12 gymnasts who score above a 54.00 qualify to the USAG National Team and there are also four open spots to be decided by the USAG National Training Camp staff. GOOD LUCK to Samantha and her teammate Mattie Larson!!

Visit the 2007 Championships home page or Inside Gymnastics for the latest news, quick hits, results, and photos. This website will not be updated until after the competition is over.

SECOND PLACE FINISH & VIDEO CLIPS ADDED // 080107

Samantha competed in the 2007 US Classic this weekend and won the silver in the all-around competition easily getting the qualifying score to proceed to the 2007 Visa Championships! Samantha competed a very clean yurchenko full on vault for a 14.05 and 7th place. She also hit an amazing bar routine good enough for the gold medal! Samantha unfortunately had to count a fall on beam scoring a14.50 and over rotated her double pike on floor for a 13.20. Samantha will be traveling to San Jose in two weeks to attend her second National Championships competition as will be vying for a spot on the junior national team.

Videos and full results from the US Classic have been added to the site.

U.S. CLASSIC UPCOMING // 072407

Samantha will be competing in the US Classic this Saturday, July 28th! Samantha will need to score at least a 54 in the all-around competition to qualify to the USA National Championships which will be held next month in San Jose, CA. For more information on the US Classic please visit the Branch Gymnastics Website. GOOD LUCK SAMI!

July 6, 2007: We are so sorry that the site has been down for so long, we have switched to a new server and hopefully we will no longer have these problems! We would like to send out another huge congratulations to Samantha's sister, Nicole, who won the level 7 State Championshps title back in March.

Samantha was also featured in Inside Gymnastics Magazine's 50 Most Photogenic Issue which can be seen here. Many new photos have also been added from 2006 US Nationals.

HOLIDAY ARTICLE, WOGA CLASSIC ROSTER // 011807

We hope everyone had a great holiday season! It's hard to believe it is already 2007 and time for another exciting season of gymnastics! Over the last few weeks, Samantha was featured in an article on International Gymnast's website about how gymnasts around the world spend their holidays: Shapiro Enjoys Snowy Holiday Weekend. She was also pictured in their 2006 Year in Review photo gallery doing her signature planche on beam!

Sam is one of many talented gymnasts headlining the roster for the upcoming WOGA Classic in February, which includes recent World Beam Champion Irina Krasnyanska, Alina Kozich, Mayu Kuroda, Karina Myasnikova, past US Nationals competitors Sarah DeMeo, Ivana Hong, Rachel Updike, Kayla Hoffman, Alaina Johnson, Randi Lau, Christa Tanella, and Katelyn Mohr - along with many others! If you live in the Dallas area, you should definitely consider attending this meet. For more information, visit WOGA.net. 

PHOTO GALLERY ADDITIONS, NICOLE WINS STATES // 111006

More new photos from Nationals have been added. We would also like to send a huge congratulations to Samantha's sister, Nicole, who recently won the level 6 State Championship Title! Samantha will be attending the upcoming National Team Training Camp, which starts on Wednesday.

PHOTO GALLERY ADDITIONS, INTL GYMNAST MAGAZINE PROFILE // 101006

Many new photos from both prelims and finals of Nationals have been added. Samantha was also recently featured in the "Shooting Stars" section of International Gymnast, the scan of that article can be seen here

VIDEO CLIPS FROM NATIONALS // 090106

Three videos are up from the first day of Nationals - vault, bars, and beam! Be sure to download them by following the links on the multimedia page.

PHOTO GALLERY ADDITIONS // 082806

A photo gallery has been added from Nationals! If you have any photos to submit to this website, please do not hesitate to send an email to got-chalk@hotmail.com! Thanks!

FIRST NATIONALS A SUCCESS // 082406

Samantha had a great first Nationals in St. Paul! She finished 13th in the all-around, with a combined total of 113.350. She was just edged out of qualifying for the National Team automatically, just .050 out of 12th place. But after the meet ended, Sam was selected as one of the additional three gymnasts to be added to the National Team. These athletes were personally selected by Marta Karolyi!

She finished 10th on bars (28.900), 12th on vault (29.000), 17th on beam (27.750), and 23rd on floor (27.700) with both scores from both days combined. She was in an impressive 11th place after prelims (56.850) despite two falls on floor, and was 10th on bars (14.700). She also had one of the highest B scores throughout the meet on her vault (9.500) - twice! During finals she scored very close to her marks from prelims (56.500), despite two falls on beam.

For full results visit the official USAG Event page. Pictures and videos will be added shortly! Congratulations on a great meet Samantha! We are so proud of you!

NEW WEBSITE & SAMANTHA QUALIFIES TO NATIONALS // 081206

This website has been released! Please look around and sign the guestbook.

After coming off her stellar 4th-place finish at the U.S. Classic, Samantha will be competing in her very first National Championships later this week in St. Paul, Minnesota! She will begin Thursday's preliminary competition on bars (9th up) and Saturday's finals on beam (1st up)! Also in her rotation will be Samantha Peszek (DeVeau's), Mattie Larson (All Olympia), Rachel York (Krafft), Madison Turchin (Brandy Johnson), Petra Matthies (Brestyan's), Randi Lau (HITS), Amy Borsellino (North Stars), and Shelby Salmon (DeVeau's). In order to make her first USA National Team, she must finish in the top 12. National Team members are eligible for international assignments throughout the next year!

For quick hits, results, and photos of the meet, be sure to visit USA Gymnastics, International Gymnast, or Inside Gymnastics! There will be no updates to the website until after the competition is over. Good luck Samantha!