The gymnastics week in review

American Cup invitees: Rebecca Bross and an as-yet-named American woman will contend for the 2010 American Cup title, as will Jonathan Horton and Tim McNeill. The list of international competitors has not yet been released, but includes gymnasts from Romania, Russia and Japan, among other countries. (Examiner.com)

This week in bizarre mental imagery: Bela Karolyi and Valeri Liukin. Hunting. Together. (Examiner.com).

Corrigan new assistant coach at Michigan: Former Michigan standout Geoff Corrigan has been hired as the new assistant men's coach at his alma mater. Since leaving Michigan, Corrigan, who placed seventh at the 2006 U.S. Championships, has been coaching gymnastics in Colorado Springs and training at the U.S. Olympic Training Center. (MGoBlue.com)

Alex Croak is scared of heights: But that didn't keep the two-time Australian Olympian from winning the NSW 10 meter this week. Croak, who represented Australia as a gymnast at the 2000 Olympics before converting to diving, is in full preparation for the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, India. Croak won a silver medal in diving at the 2006 Commonwealths in Melbourne and represented Australia as a diver in Beijing. (Sydney Morning Herald)

Calling potential gymnastics sponsors: British Gymnastics has hired sports marketing and events agency Fast Track to help it explore how to maximize gymnastics profits and exposure for the 2012 London Olympics and 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games. In other news, Glasgow is apparently hosting the 2014 Commonwealth Games. (British Gymnastics)

Future champions?: An Ohio paper profiles Michael Burns, who won the 12-year-old division of the Future Stars Nationals at the U.S. Olympic Training Center last month. Cory McFann and Trevor North, Burns's teammates at Hocking Vallery Gymnastics Center (who were both top 10 in the 11-year-old division) also contribute to the article. Coincidentally, the piece was penned by a reporter named Sean Golden. (Lancaster Eagle-Gazette)

The Olympic Promised Land: An inspirational article by 1990s Olympic hopeful and former Stanford gymnast Tim Dalrymple, touching on faith and the things that gymnastics gives -- even if the Olympic dream never materializes. (Patheos.com)

Pommel horse rivals: A great interview with U.S. pommel champ Luke Stannard of Illinois, who dishes on maintaining his focus in competition, his new NCAA coach Justin Spring and the Illini's chances at winning the 2010 NCAA title. (BigTen.org)

Pegg wins Elite Canada: Ontario's Dominque Pegg bagged her first major senior title at the low-scoring 2009 Elite Canada in Oakville, Ont. Pegg topped the resurgent Kristina Vaculik, back from a leg injury sustained in 2008, Charlotte Mackie and Brittany Rogers in the all-around (scores: Pegg 54.6, Vaculik 52.95, Mackie 52.9). The more mature-looking Vaculik came back to win bars and tie Pegg for the floor title in event finals. Madeline Gardner won balance beam, and World vault finalist Rogers took the title on vault. (Gymnastics Coaching)

Two teams, one goal: The Cal State Fullerton and UCLA gymnastics teams, with special guests Nastia Liukin and Kyla Ross, held a fundraiser over the weekend to support CSUF Gymnastics, which has to raise its entire $280,000 budget this season. The Cal State Fullerton Daily Titan, the student newspaper at CSUF, reports that Liukin denied having a boyfriend during a Q and A with the Olympic champion. The event raised about $15,000 for the team. CSUF is planning another fundraiser in February. (The Daily Titan)

Former Southeast Missourian named assistant: Ashley Lawson (formerly Ashley Godwin) will join Southeast Missouri State as an assistant coach this season. As a Redhawk, Lawson was arguably the best ever to compete for the university -- she still holds school records on bars, beam, floor and in the all-around. (Southeast Missourian)

Interviews with Liukin, Shannon Miller, Alicia Sacramone and Jonathan Horton: Notes and quotes from Inside Gymnastics Radio's December broadcast. (Examiner.com)

Mustafina, Sasaki win (a lot) in Doha: 15-year-old Aliya Mustafina, Russia's most accomplished junior, and Brazil's up-and-coming men's star Sergio Sasaki won the all-around titles at this week's Doha Gymnasiade in Qatar. The Russian women dominated the meet, with Mustafina winning everything but vault, which was won by teammate Tatiana Nabieva. Sasaki took home golds on vault, floor and high bar. (International Gymnast)

Look who's training now: Sacramone told Inside Gymnastics Radio hosts John Roethlisberger and Brian Jones that she was working her way back on vault and beam and hopes to add in floor at some point. But the bigger news was the new skills she intends on throwing: A double twisting front layout and an Amanar on vault. (Examiner.com)

Who's going to win the Big 10 Championships?: Early bets are on Penn State, followed by Illinois and Michigan, according to the first Big 10 Gymnastics Preseason Poll. Penn State senior Brandi Personett, who threw a full-twisting double layout on floor at last year's NCAA Championship, was named one of 14 Big 10 Gymnasts to Watch. Michigan is expected to take the Big 10 men's title, followed by Illinois and Minnesota. Gymnasts to watch include Illinois's Paul Ruggeri and Ohio State's Brandon Wynn. (GoPSUsports.com and MGoBlue.com)

There she is...: Shawn Johnson be a judge at the Miss America Pageant, which will be televised live Jan. 30 from Las Vegas. Other judges include actress Vivica A. Fox, actor Paul Rodriguez, and most bizarrely, conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh. (OK Magazine)

10 thoughts on '09: International Gymnast Magazine editor Dwight Normile writes about Yin Alvarez, China's men's all-around prospects and explosive bananas, among other things. (International Gymnast)

Catching up with Ariana Berlin: The fifth-year UCLA Bruin shares what she's been up to now that she's no longer in the gym quite so often. (Inside Gymnastics)

Shatilov named Athlete of the Year: 2009 World floor bronze medalist Alexander Shatilov was chosen Athlete of the Year by the Olympic Committee of Israel. Shatilov's coach, Sergei Wiesberg, was named Coach of the Year. Shatilov's award came with a cash prize of 40,000 New Israeli shekels (about $10,560), which will assist Shatilov in his training. (Haaretz.com)

Japanese dominate Toyota Cup: The Japanese men split the medals with three Chinese World Champions, while the Japanese women won three of four event titles at last weekend's Toyota Cup in Toyota City, Japan. Among the winners: 2009 World all-around champion Kohei Uchimura, 2009 World all-around bronze medalist Koko Tsurumi, Takuya Nakase, Yuko Shintake and Kyoko Oshima. (Examiner.com)

Senior-less in Seattle: The still-rebuilding University of Washington Huskies have no seniors but are hoping for success this season. They'll be tested early -- their first five opponents, including Utah, UCLA, Stanford and Oregon State, are all ranked top 20. (The Daily of the University of Washington)

Britain pulls its best from 2010 Commonwealth Games: You won't see Beth Tweddle, Louis Smith or Daniel Keatings in New Delhi next October. British Gymnastics fears fatigue and food poisoning, and has already announced it will bench its best gymnasts in favor of the 2010 World Championships in Rotterdam, Holland later the same month. (The Daily Telegraph)

Cheng Fei update: China's best ever female gymnast is recovering from a torn ACL sustained at the National Games this fall, but head coach Lu Shanzhen said he is optimistic about the possibility of her returning for a third Olympic run. Noted that women's team standouts Li Shanshan and Xiao Sha officially retired after the National Games. (International Gymnast)

Follow Gymnastics Examiner Blythe Lawrence on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GymExaminer.