standards for the Pan-American Games at the Bermuda Triangle Challenge yesterday.

Twelve-year-old Froncioni scored just over 33 points for her team on the third and final day of the tournament at the Southampton Princess, in a performance which showed maturity beyond her years.

Bermuda coach Walid Mustafa was delighted with his team and their third place overall finish and especially with Froncioni.

"Alex is really starting to come into her own now,'' said Mustafa. "I was hoping she would qualify for the Pan-Ams, but this is only her second meet at Level Nine and I am so pleased for her.

"She is turning out to be a child with a lot of drive and focus. She was showing a level of maturity I was not expecting to see from her until later in the year and I am absolutely thrilled for her.'' Mustafa said the team for the Pan-Ams in Winnipeg, Canada, this summer was taking shape and he expected Froncioni, Leila Wadson, Jenny Wright, Christina White and Laura Murphy to travel, with Sasha Christensen a contender to make the grade.

"Sasha has an Achilles problem which is just part of her make-up and we will have to try and overcome that through stretching,'' said Mustafa.

He added that Christensen had impressed with her uneven bars exercise yesterday and that discipline was a traditional weakness of Pan-Am teams, so he hoped she would qualify.

Bermuda's third place was a good effort against strong opposition from more than 80 gymnasts from seven American teams.

Mustafa said: "The gap between us and the strong American teams is closing quickly and if we can keep progressing we could make an even bigger impact at the Bermuda Triangle next year.

"Our younger girls look up to people like Leila, Alex and Christina and they strive to be like them. And that will raise the overall standard of the gym.'' Officials were unable to supply full results yesterday.