CLEVELAND -- The bulletin board in Hollie Vise's room is so crammed with medals she's had to start storing some in drawers and a closet.

Better clear more space, because she's adding to the collection.

The 14-year-old from Dallas won the uneven bar and balance beam titles in the junior division Thursday at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships.

"I felt very good. My goal was to hit all four of my events and place in the top three in bars and beam, which I did,'' Vise said.

She's also in second place heading into Saturday's all-around finals, trailing World Olympic Gymnastics Academy teammate Carly Patterson by 0.450.

"It would mean a lot,'' Vise said of the all-around crown. "I got second last year, and if I could get first, that would be great.''

Patterson, of Baton Rouge, La., finished the preliminaries with 37.200 points, while Vise had 36.750. Chellsie Memmel of West Allis, Wis., is third and Tia Orlando of Souderton, Pa., is fourth.

Regardless of who wins Saturday, the country will have a new junior champion. Kristal Uzelac, who owned the juniors the past three years, turned 16 in June and moved up to the senior level.

"Really, really bad,'' Patterson said of how much she wants the all-around title. "I really want to win it.''

Patterson finished second on the uneven bars and beam and was third on floor. Kristina Comforte won the vault, while Orlando won the floor.

Good genes
Anna and Valeri Liukin didn't push their daughter Nastia to be a gymnast.

But when your mother is a former world rhythmic champion and your father is an Olympic gold medalist, the sport tends to be in your blood.

"It happened by itself,'' said Valeri, who coaches 12-year-old Nastia at the World Olympic Gymnastics Academy in Plano, Texas. "When she was little, she was rolling over in the gym and copying routines.

"People say, `Why would you do that to your daughter? The sport is so tough,''' he added. "God gave her that talent. It's not good to take it away.''

Valeri won two golds and two silvers at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. He was part of the mighty Soviet team that won gold, and added a silver in the all-around. He also won gold on the high bar and a silver on parallel bars.

Anna was the world rhythmic champion in 1987.

"At our house right now we have in a picture frame thing his Olympic medals and his grip,'' Nastia said. "I see it every day.''

Nastia -- short for Anastasia -- was born in Moscow, but the family moved to the United States before she was 2. Her parents worked at a gym in New Orleans before they moved to Texas, where Valeri opened WOGA.

"When I was little, my dad was always at the gym coaching, and I went with him,'' Nastia said of how she got started. "I used to play on the bars and stuff.''

Nastia has her mother's flexibility and grace and her father's power. She's just 4-foot-5 and weighs 60 pounds, so tiny she makes the other gymnasts look like basketball players.

Competing in her first U.S. Gymnastics Championships, she was 21st in the preliminaries of the junior division after taking a nasty fall off the uneven bars.

She won't be old enough to compete in the 2004 Olympics, but already has her sights set on Beijing in 2008.

"As long as she does her best, that's all I really care about,'' Valeri said. "That's what I did, that's what her mother did. It doesn't matter if she's a world champion or not.''

Blaine and blue
Blaine Wilson was still limping Thursday, a day after he hyperextended his left knee in the preliminaries at the U.S. Gymnastics Championships.

"It's bruised,'' he said. "I'm bruised and battered.''

But it's not bad enough to keep him out of Friday night's all-around finals. Wilson, who is in second after prelims, is trying to become the first U.S. man to win six national titles.

He missed last year's nationals after tearing a rotator cuff.

"I love it. It's even more fun now for me than it was before,'' he said. "Even though I'm injured at the moment, I'm still going to go out there Friday and have fun. That's the main thing. You have to enjoy what you're doing and I enjoy gymnastics.''

Wilson, who turned 28 last Saturday, plans to keep competing through the Athens Olympics in 2004. He will, however, skip the individual world championships Nov. 20-24 in Debrecen, Hungary. He's having surgery Aug. 22 to clean out his shoulder and the recovery time is about 3½ months.

Notes
Former Olympian John Macready is acting as the meet's master of ceremonies again. ... Three-time Olympian John Roethlisberger judged the parallel bar competition Wednesday night. ... Next year's nationals are in Milwaukee.