The women's gymnastics preliminaries scheduled for tonight (Aug. 18) at Boston's FleetCenter launch 72 hours of a process U.S. coach Bela Karolyi calls "mental bingo." That process will conclude this Sunday night, when six competitors and two alternates will be named - by a committee made up of USA Gymnastics officials and Olympic coaches - to the U.S. Olympic team that will compete in Sydney, Australia.

	Tasha Schwikert of Nevada.

The battle for eight spots among the 15 gymnasts who qualified for this year's trials presents an interesting sub-plot. Three of America's most decorated and veteran gymnasts - Shannon Miller, Dominique Dawes and Amy Chow - are in the mix this weekend. Each competed in the Atlanta Summer Games four years ago when the U.S. won the team gold medal. Dominique Moceanu, who was scheduled to compete in the trials, dropped out yesterday (Aug. 17) due to a knee injury.

But there's a new group of talented young gymnasts also in the running for spots, led by recent Wilde Lake High (Columbia, Md.) graduate Elise Ray, who won the all-around title at last month's John Hancock U.S. Gymnastics Championships. She'll be joined by Central Christian Academy (Kidron, Ohio) junior Morgan White, Calvary Christian School (Bishop, Calif.) junior Rachel Tidd and home-schooled high school sophomore Tasha Schwikert of Las Vegas, Nev.

However, how those spots eventually get filled is anybody's guess.

	"Everything was clicking for me today," says White of her Sunday performance which earned her an Olympic berth.

"It's our responsibility to put the best on the floor," said USA Gymnastics president Bob Colorassi, simply and directly, in a pre-trials press release.

The selection process is as surprisingly complex as it is subjective. Not a single gymnast at this weekend's trials, male or female, will be jockeying for an automatic Olympic bid. On the women's side of the ledger, the three highest combined all-around scores from both these trials (60 percent weighted value) and last month's national championships (40 percent) will receive preferential treatment in the final selection process.

The 18-year-old Ray, for example, comes in with a considerable advantage, having secured last month's national all-around crown at the Kiel Center in St. Louis, Mo. But the selection committee will also consider petitions from senior national team gymnasts who were unable to compete because of injuries. The possibility of a roster spot going to such a petitioner dropped significantly when 1996 team gold medalist Jaycie Phelps withdrew her candidacy on July 29 because of a persistent knee injury.

Handicapping the other youngsters' chances may be more of a shell game than bingo. All three high schoolers qualified for the trials thanks to a top-12 finish at last month's nationals. White figures to be the trio's most promising entrant, having finished seventh at nationals. Only .018 points separated third from seventh in St. Louis.

"We have so many great athletes and it really shows with the standings being so close," said White.

Schwikert and Tidd finished 11th and 12th, respectively, last month - better than two points behind White.

White, 17, began competitive gymnastics training in 1988. She won the 1998 Junior National Championship, earned a spot on the U.S. women's 1999 World Championships team and captured the 1999 Pan-American Games all-around title. She specializes in the uneven bars.

Tidd, 16, began her competitive gymnastics career in 1991 and is the sixth of 10 children. She tied for fourth in the vault at last month's national championships as a first-time member of the U.S. national team.

Schwikert, meanwhile, won't turn 16 until this November. She won the American Classic/Challenge all-around title in Reno, Nev., earlier this year, her third as a member of the U.S. national team.