Naperville's Caquatto helps Team USA win Pan Am Games gold

After helping her U.S. gymnastics teammates grab a gold medal at the Pan American Games, Naperville Central senior Bridgette Caquatto will be trying to grab some more honors today.

Monday in Guadalajara, Mexico, the United States Women's Team scored 219.75 points to soar past silver medalist Canada (217.45).

And 17-year-old Caquatto, who reportedly had developed a sore knee before the Games, turned in the highest score on the uneven bars and the fourth-best all-around score overall to help the American team.

Not a single member of the U.S. team was on the squad that won a gold medal at the World Championships in Tokyo.

Team captain Bridget Sloan of Pittsboro, Ind., told the Indianapolis Star that there were some worries after she cut her left foot in training (11 stitches) and Caquatto's knee became an issue. But her teammates “were able to pull together.”

Sloan and teammate Shawn Johnson competed in the 2008 Olympics.

Based on scores in the team finals, five members of the U.S. Women's Team qualified for the all-around and individual finals at the 2011 Pan American Games at the Nissan Gymnastics Stadium in the Lopez Mateos Sports Complex.

The women's all-around is at 1 p.m. today, and the individual event finals are Thursday and Friday.

Here are the U.S. women's gymnasts who will be competing in the individual event finals:

All-around — Bridgette Caquatto, Naperville/Legacy Elite Gymnastics LLC; Brandie Jay, Ft. Collins, Colo./GK Gymnastics

Vault — Brandie Jay.

Uneven bars — Bridgette Caquatto; Shawn Johnson, West Des Moines, Iowa/Chow's Gymnastics and Dance Institute.

Balance beam — Third reserve athlete Jessie DeZiel, Rogers, Minn./Twin City Twisters.

Floor exercise — Jessie DeZiel.

Here are the top five qualifiers in the all-around competition:

1. Ana Sofia Gomez, Guatemala (55.425)

2. Christine Lee, Canada (55.325)

3. Kristina Vaculik, Canada (54.625)

4. Bridgette Caquatto, USA (54.300)

5. Brandie Jean Jay, USA (54.150)