D-III Women's NCAA Championships @ Springfield: Wisconsin-La Crosse 186.775, Brockport 186.200, Wisconsin-Whitewater 184.750, SUNY-Cortland 183.425, Springfield 182.425, Winona State 181.950.
Ursinus's Kira Oldham-Curtis won the all-around (38.375) at the Division III NCAA Championships last weekend, outscoring Wisconsin-Stout's Meghan Hargens (38.05) and Ithaca's Jessica Bolduc (38.0). Curtis also won balance beam (9.625), while Hargens took the championship on uneven bars (9.65). Wisconsin-Whitewater's Justine Heyer won vault (9.7), while Gabi Hooper of Wisconsin-LaCrosse was the top D-III gymnast on floor (9.725). (USA Gymnastics)
Men's Collegiate Championships @ U.S. Air Force Academy: The non-Division I NCAA Championships are divided into two divisions, one for "club" teams (which don't receive any funding from their universities) and one for "varsity" teams.
In the club division, Arizona State won the National title (326.2) over the University of Washington (295.8) and the College at Brockport (289.55). ASU's Riley Barclay won the all-around title (80.35), followed by teammate Stewart MacDonald (77.95) and MIT's Brett Lazarus (77.5).
In the varsity division, Air Force (342.25) defeated William & Mary (335.15) and Springfield College (329.35). Nissen-Emery nominee Derek Gygax was the star of the meet, tying Air Force junior Nash Mills for the national all-around title (85.45) and adding another four medals in event finals. Gygax won pommel horse (14.4) and finished second on floor and third on rings and parallel bars.
Navy's Dylan Parrott was the only double event winner during the apparatus finals. Parrott tallied victories on floor (14.75) and high bar (14.3), while Mills won parallel bars (14.5). William & Mary's Steve Deutsch won rings (14.15) and Air Force's Devin Menefee gave the host team another national title on vault (15.95).
Ty Evans of Springfield finished second all-around (83.65), followed by Navy's Andrew Faulk (83.1). (USA Gymnastics)
MAC Championships @ Bowling Green: Central Michigan 195.6, Kent State 195.025, Eastern Michigan 193.625, NOrthern Illinois 193.2, Ball State 193.1, Western Michigan 192.875, Bowling Green 191.85. Central Michigan's Katie Simon led a CMU sweep of the top three places in the all-around. Simon finished with 39.2, while teammates Andrea Delagarza, Brittany Taylor and Kent State's Christina Lenny tied for second (39.1). Taylor, Simon and Lenny also shared the vault title (9.825). Kent State's Erin Rothrock won uneven bars (9.875) and Central Michigan's Jessica Suder was the champion on balance beam (9.875). Six gymnasts -- Lenny, Simon, Delagarza, Bowling Green's Dawn Christman, Western Michigan's Kristine Garbarino and Central Michigan's Cheryl Conlin -- tied for the floor title (9.85). (USA Gymnastics)
WAC Championships @ Cal State Fullerton: Southern Utah 195.8, Boise State 195.7, Utah State 193.675, San Jose State 193.6, Cal State Fullerton 193.175, Sacramento State 192.65. Southern Utah star Elise Wheeler captured the WAC all-around title (39.375) and also led on uneven bars (9.875) as SUU topped challenger Boise State by a tenth for the team title. SUU's Melissa Johnson won vault (9.925) and Boise State's Hannah Redmon floor (9.9). SUU's Caitlin Kennedy, Sacramento State's Carla Boyce and Boise State's Amy Glass landed in a three-way tie for first on beam (9.875). (USA Gymnastics)
MIC Championships @ Texas Woman's: Texas Woman's 193.275, Illinois State 193.15, Southeast Missouri State 193.1, Illinois-Chicago 191.325, Centenary 189.525. Four Texas Woman's gymnasts captured first place honors to go along with their MAC title. Brittany Johnson won the all-around (38.85), while Marcella Fallon won vault (9.875) and Kristin Edwards floor (9.85). On bars, Rashonda Cannie tied S.E. Missouri's Emily Mann (9.8). Illinois State's Melissa Mann had the top score on beam (9.775). (TWUAthletics.com)
EAGL Championships @ North Carolina: North Carolina 196.025, North Carolina State 195.7, West Virginia 195.975, New Hampshire 194.7, Pittsburgh 194.4, Maryland 194.2, George Washington 193.575, Rutgers 187.65. North Carolina grabbed a share of everything except floor exercise at the EAGLs. Kara Wright tied for the all-around title (39.325) with Maryland's Abigail Adams and NC State's Taylor Seaman, who also shared the floor title with teammate Brooke Barr (9.925) and the vault title with UNC's Zoya Johnson (9.9). North Carolina senior Christine Nguyen won beam (9.875) and teammate Morgan Evans was the top finisher on bars (9.9). (USA Gymnastics)
MSPF Championships @ Seattle Pacific: Davis 194.15, Seattle Pacific 192.85, Air Force 192.5, Alaska 190.725. UC Davis took home its first ever MSPF title, winning by a healthy 1.3 point margin over Seattle Pacific. One of the reasons was a dominating performance on uneven bars, where Davis gymnasts, led by Lida Gehlen's 9.8, swept the top four places. Teammate Erika Van Dyke won balance beam (9.9) and Kendall McCann won the all-around title (38.575). Seattle Pacific's Sherah Veron won floor exercise (9.9), while Air Force's Jenna Dudley was first on vault (9.8). (USA Gymnastics)
ECAC Championships @ Temple: Towson 192.725, William & Mary 190.8, Temple 190.675, Cornell 190.3, Pennsylvania 190.225, Yale 189.5, Brown 189.1. Towson's Alise McDonald and her teammates gave coaches Dick and Linda Filbert a nice parting gift, sending them into retirement with the Tigers's sixth straight ECAC victory. McDonald won the all-around (38.95) and vault (9.85), while Penn's Dana Bonincontri took the bars title (9.8). Yale's Allison Mak was the top scorer on beam (9.775) and Temple's Corrine Williams won floor (9.85). (USA Gymnastics)
Other conference championships: UCLA, Oklahoma, Michigan and Florida won their respective conference championships this weekend. Summaries and commentary on what was and was not surprising can be found on this site. (Examiner.com)
On to Regionals!: Have a look at who's seeded where for the six regional championships, all of which will be held at 6 p.m. local time on April 10. (Examiner.com)
Utah vs. BYU: Utah 196.95, BYU 195.825. In the midst of conference gymnastics action, Utah met in-state rival BYU Friday night. In the end, 15,030 people crammed into the Huntsman Center (capacity 15,000 seats) to help Utah win the women's NCAA attendance award for the season. During the competition, junior Kyndal Robarts won the all-around (39.6) vault (9.925) and beam (9.925). Senior Annie DiLuzio won floor (9.975, tying her career high) and senior Daria Bijak took the crown on bars (9.925).
As a team, Utah almost broke 197, which has to make them happy heading into the NCAA Regional, while BYU posted a very respectable almost-196. If Utah wants to challenge for the NCAA title, however, it has to get better on beam. (UtahUtes.cstv.com)
"That was a meltdown": Arizona State head coach John Spini was horrified by his team's performance at the Pac 10 Championships. The Sun Devils finished seventh out of seven teams with the lowest score they've gotten in more than a decade. This was beyond bad for Division I program -- ASU's scores included a 7.75 on vault.
Among Spini's frustrated quotes to the media: “I am just absolutely fuming,” Spini said. “Not disappointed — I am actually mad. My coaching staff works very hard with these athletes, and to miss three routines or more on each event, that’s embarrassing," “I’m thinking, ‘What else can I do?’ I need to take some time off. I’ve always been told not to give very many interviews when you’re mad," "I’m going to pull a couple of them in the office and just say ‘Hey, do you want to do this?’" and "“Hopefully we’re still going to Regionals...I don’t know where our seeding will be. Hopefully this doesn’t have to be their last trip to the party, but if we don’t go, it’s their own fault.” Ouch.
ASU did make regionals -- the Sun Devils are seeded sixth at the Los Angeles Regional, which will be hosted by UCLA. (Arizona State Press)
Maike Roll leaves the German National team: The 16-year-old, notable for her exceptional form and line, has announced that she does not intend to compete internationally again at the moment, despite having qualified for three finals at the Cottbus World Cup in Germany earlier this month. Roll does plan to stay involved in gymnastics and domestic competitions, but announced that she has no further plans to do any of the big international meets "at this time," a great loss for Germany.
"I have come to the conclusion that the daily performance stress that is associated with international operations in Germany, can not be managed at the moment for me," Roll said in a statement. Roll's story reminds me a little of that of Hollie Dykes of Australia, who stopped training six months before the Beijing Olympics. Like Roll, Dykes had phenominally good form, and her depature was lamented by many fans. (Deutscher Turner-Bund)
Australian Gymnastics Blog goes to Waverley: A training report from Mez at AGB from the Waverley 9Advanced Gymnastics Club, training home of Emma and Rachel Collister, Georgia Bonora, Shona Morgan and Emma Dennis. One to watch, says Mez, is young Angela Donald, whom she describes as "a star of the future...She has impressive skills and impeccable form to boot." (Australian Gymnastics Blog)
A (sentimental) look at Michigan women's gymnastics: Michigan gymnastics media relations guy Richard Retyi's essay on mastering the names of skills, confronting stereotypes about women's gymnastics and the "little moments" that make his job awesome. (AnnArbor.com)
"It's more than I've ever expected": The reserved Ashanee Dickerson on her freshman success at Florida. (Florida Times-Union)
Raisman rakes it in in Jesolo: The new senior, fresh off her second place finish at the American Cup, won the senior title at the Trofeo di Jesolo in Jesolo, Italy. Russia's Anastasia Grishina won the junior title, bolstered by an enormous score on bars. (Examiner.com)
Koval to skip Euros, prep for Worlds: Anastasia Koval, a finalist on bars at the 2008 Olympic Games and one of the best in Ukraine, will not attend the European Championships next month but hopes to be ready for the Rotterdam Worlds in October. She is presently dealing with a shoulder injury. (International Gymnast Magazine)
France-Romania-Great Britain: FanGymnastics reports on the friendly meet between three countries that will be in the hunt for medals at next month's European Championships. (FanGymnastics)
The World Championships are coming...: Full Twist linked to an excellent article from the organizers of the 2010 World Championships in Rotterdam. Includes updates on Yuri van Gelder, Oksana Chusovitina, Celine van Gerner, Igor Cassina and Peggy Liddick. (2010 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships)
Morgan Hamm has a new job: Mr. Airflare is easing into his new position as a boys team coach at Wisconsin's M & M Gymnastics, the gym owned by Chellsie Memmel's family. (Gymnastics Coaching)
This week in creative headlines: Read "The sleep of warriors," a story about the Chinese delegation's day at the beach after success at the Doha World Cup in Qatar. (FIG)
Larissa Miller hoping for success at Pacific Rim: Or, rather, success at Australia's Pacific Rim trials. Miller, a bars finalist at the 2009 World Championships, had surgery late last year for Haglund's disease, or abnormal bone growth in her heel. (Gymnastics Australia)
A happy homecoming for Jennifer Khwela: South Africa's first ever World Cup gold medalist was honored with a triumphal welcome at the Durban International Airport after returning from Doha, Qatar World Cup, where she won vault. (FIG)
Repeats at the Greek Championships: The new Greek champions are also old Greek champions. Vassiliki Millousi and Christos Lympanovnos won all-around titles at the 2010 Greek Championships in Athens. It is Millousi's third Greek title (her first came in 2002), and Lympanovnos's second (he also won in 2007). (International Gymnast Magazine)
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