*** UPDATED *** U.S. men's gymnastics is developing some very formidable athletes on pommel horse. One of those is Jacob Dastrup, a level 10 gymnast who trains under Coach Bob Gauthier at Arete Gymnastics in Lindon, UT. Dastrup placed 2nd on the event at the 2009 JO Nationals as a level 9, and was the 2008 Level 9 JO Nationals pommel horse champion. He's also an accomplished [...more]
Over the past several years World Olympic Gymnastics Academy (WOGA) in Frisco, TX has been a fertile breeding ground for many of the nation's top men's collegiate gymnasts. Just to name a few, WOGA has produced such stalwarts as Oklahoma's Steven Legendre, Stanford's Eric Hergenrader and Tim Gentry, Minnesota's Cole Storer and Colin McGuire, Nebraska's Cory Baumgarten and Ohio State's Phil Onorato. Last month, Nebraska announced the signings of [...more]
The Chicago area is a hotbed for men's gymnastics, and one of the top gyms in the country is Buffalo Grove Gymnastics. Former home of 2008 USA National Champion and Stanford All-American David Sender, Buffalo Grove is now home to one of the top men's club teams in the country. Head Coach Don Osborn is grooming an impressive crop of Level 10 (16-18) gymnasts that includes Wasef Burbar, Danny Berardini and Jacoby Rubin. Another important member of that team is Craig Hernandez. We have a soft spot in our heart for Hernandez because he happens to be [...more]
Max Mayr is known at Universal Gymnastics in Miami, FL as the "Training Machine." According to his coach, Yin Alvarez, "Max walked into the gym at the age of five and showed that he was a very mature boy. Believe it or not, at that age, Max knew what he wanted in the sport of gymnastics. He was like a little old man paying attention to everything I said and following instructions better than any of my older gymnasts. He is a very, very hard worker. He always wants to do everything perfectly. He is a perfectionist. He never gives up and gets upset when he doesn't do the skills how he wants to." Up until the 2009 JO Nationals, injuries had limited Mayr to only one [...more]
Six-time Olympic gold medalist, Vitaly Scherbo, opened his successful Las Vegas gym a little over ten years ago. Scherbo and compulsory head coach, Radi Shopski, have been very busy mentoring a tremendous pipeline of future optional gymnasts. The level 7 boys work out six days/week for a total of 18 hours, and the level 5-6 boys work out six days/week for a total of 15.5 hours. This schedule is above average for the typical gym, but it is paying off with handsome dividends. The Vitaly Scherbo School of Gymnastics (VSSG) is proud to have produced [...more]
Jonathan Horton can finally claim that elusive prize of U.S. Men's Gymnastics National Champion. The anchorman of our men's program ran away with the title by a margin of 3.4 points over surprise runner-up Tim McNeill. Running on sheer talent and adrenaline, Horton was easily able to absorb a fall on [...more]
What a night! Jonathan Horton launched a late drive to overcome David Sender's otherwise dominating performance. Horton's 15.90 on what else, high bar, did the trick. Didn't he do something similar about this time last year in Beijing? Horton posted an astounding 91.25 to take the lead after Day 1. Who said he wasn't ready? David Sender charged to a commanding lead after posting outstanding scores of 15.85 on rings and 17.05 on vault. Correct us if we're wrong, but [...more]
It was John Orozco Day in Dallas. The Bronx Bomber started out with great scores on pommel (14.70) and rings (14.55) and never looked back. Orozco won a staggering five out of six events and finished fifth on vault. Every score was over 14.00 in a fascinating display of power and consistency. His all-around score of 86.85 blew away the field. As Gymnastike's Anne Phillips tweeted after the meet, "seriously we should just go ahead and put him on the senior team." [...more]
Part 2 In part two of our series analyzing our top elite gymnasts, guest blogger Matthew Rusk examines Steven Legendre, Danell Leyva, Tim McNeill, Daniel Ribeiro, Paul Ruggeri and David Sender. Rusk goes into much detail as he explores the strengths and weaknesses of each gymnast. How well they perform at VISAs will determine whether or not they will be chosen to represent Team USA at the the 2009 London World Championships. Rusk wraps things up with his predictions [...more]
StickItMedia is pleased to have guest blogger, Matthew Rusk, present his pre-U.S. Men's Gymnastics Championships analysis of the major players vying to make the World Championships squad. Matthew is a 16-year-old gymnastics enthusiast from Houston, TX and is the former editor of the blog Polished Gymnastics 101. As you will see, he has very impressive writing skills for such a young man. He leaves no stone unturned as he diligently dishes out the details for the top 12 gymnasts he believes will be fighting it out for coveted spots on the World Team. In his first post, [...more]
