GYMNASTICS / U.S. CHAMPIONSHIPS : Roethlisberger Leads Senior Men

DENVER — John Roethlisberger scored 9.8 on the horizontal bar and added a solid 9.7 in the floor exercise to claim the lead after the compulsory phase of the senior men’s competition at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships Thursday.

In the junior division, 4-foot-8, 76-pound Hilary Grivich, 13, took a commanding lead among the women after the compulsories, and Jair Lynch, an 18-year-old rising sophomore -to-be at Stanford, paced the junior men.

With compulsories counting 60% toward the point total, Roeghlisberger, 19, a University of Minnesota sophomore-to-be had an adjusted score of 68.34. Chris Waller of Mt. Prospect, Ill., stood second at 67.86.

The optionals on Saturday will make up the remaining 40% of the point total.

In the junior women’s competition held earlier, Grivich, of Huntsville, Tex., totaled 37.575 points, compared to 36.850 for Larissa Fontaine of Deerfield, Ill.