This is a huge loss for the Air Force Academy and our condolences go out to Torkelson’s loved ones. Torkelson was recently awarded the Bronze Star for his meritorious service in Iraq.

Thornton also went on to analyze Ishino’s achievements over the past few years at the club level.  He puts things into perspective when comparing his 2008 VISA junior performance to the seniors…

…”his performance at USA’s was so dominant that he managed to win FOUR out of the six events, and placed 2^nd on the other two!  Just as I did with some of our junior women stars, I decided to compare his scores to the senior competitors, since they were competing under the exact same rules.  The junior men just compete one day, but if we doubled Glenn’s all-around total of 87.15 from USA’s, his two-day total would have placed him 11^th in the senior division…”

This is good stuff, Andrew.  Thanks for posting your story.

We encourage our readers to submit interesting stories and/or interview opportunities. We want to hear from everybody in the club community. Club gymnastics is the lifeblood of men’s gymnastics, and is the natural pipeline to our Olympic program. Despite the sad, continued dwindling of men’s Division I gymnastics programs, club gymnastics continues to thrive. These young men deserve expanded opportunities beyond their club years. They are after all among America’s hardest working athletes. They deserve to have their stories broadcast to the sporting world. We’re not knocking whatever coverage they are receiving now, but they certainly deserve to receive more than the very modest existing coverage.

To submit interesting stories, and we know there are plenty out there, please click here to go to our contact us form. StickItMedia is only interested in positive stories about our young gymnasts: obstacles overcome, interesting meets, funny happenings, gentleman rivalries, amazing scores, awesome coaches. Send us a suggestion and we’ll do the rest. We wish all the nation’s club gymnasts much success in the 2009 season. We know you all won’t disappoint.

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Meanwhile, Iowa also landed a huge recruiting class. Anton Gryshayev, Matt McGrath and Broderick Shemansky have been signed for the 2010 season.  All three gymnasts were top 30 all-around finishers at the 2008 J.O. Nationals.  Gryshayev currently trains at 5280 in Littleton, CO.  McGrath is from Bartlett Gymnastics and Shemansky trains at Champions Academy in Los Gatos, CA.  This is a very impressive class, and perhaps ranks as one of Iowa’s finest ever.

The early fall signing period is producing incredible new talent that will be unveiled in 2010.  This impressive group of signees nicely complements the new crop recently announced by Oklahoma.

The stated purpose of the PCC is to provide direct assistance in preserving men’s collegiate athletic programs and increase scholarship and competitive opportunities in the United States. Proceeds from the PCC benefit organizations that significantly impact the expansion of men’s sports opportunities. One such organization is the newly formed Fairness in Sports Foundation , which is dedicated to addressing the elimination of collegiate men’s athletic programs. Its purpose is to restore the original intent of Title IX and to stop and reverse the decimation of men’s sports.

The 2008 PCC collegiate all-around champion Jonathan Horton won’t be back, however, one of Oklahoma’s top 2010 recruits, Alex Naddour, will be back to defend his Level 10 all-around title. This should be an interesting preview of the NCAA championships, with five of the top eight Division I teams battling it out.  The 2009 PCC is shaping up to be one of the premier meets of the season.

Jake Dalton of Gym Nevada has been a fixture the past few years as one of the top performers at the J.O. Nationals and is a current Junior National Team member. Dalton was runner-up at the ‘08 JO Nationals. Alex Naddour of Arizona Flairs, placed fourth in the all-around at the ‘08 JOs and is also on the Junior National Team.

Naddour’s brother, Anthony, is transferring from Chandler-Gilbert CC. He led Arizona State’s club team to a national collegiate title last season. Cypress Academy’s Chris Stehl, another solid all-arounder, was a member of the Junior National Team in ‘05-’06.

This is what’s called reloading, folks.  Despite the losses of Jonathan Horton and Taqiy Abdullah-Simmons, this incoming 2010 freshman class will keep Oklahoma in the national title hunt for years to come.

The 2009 Stanford Open will be held January 23-25. 41 men’s club gymnastics teams have confirmed their participation, along with Cal, Stanford and Nebraska. The three-day meet will be dominated by club competition, but the highlight of the weekend will be the Saturday night NCAA, elite and Level 10 competition. The Level 10s will square off in Friday night’s qualifying round, with the evening’s qualifiers advancing as an all-star team to compete against the collegiate teams.

Wouldn’t it be great if this event were to be televised? This event would be a natural for either ESPNU or CBS College Sports Network. Viewers would get to see an early glimpse of two of the top Division I teams in the country (Stanford and Cal) and they would see some great club gymnasts who will undoubtedly end up competing at the collegiate level and possibly beyond.

Some of the nation’s top club gymnasts who will be competing at the Stanford Open include Christopher Turner (WCOGA), Donothan Bailey (Azarian) and Jake Dalton (Gym Nevada). Black Hills will be sending a very strong contingent featuring Konner Ackerman, Dominic Morris and Alex Powarzynski. Black Hills won the J.O. Nationals Level 9 team championship the past two seasons. SCATS will be well represented by Jordan Gaarenstroom and Adrian de Los Angeles.

Men’s gymnastics received wide media coverage just a few months ago at the Beijing Olympics. Televising the 2009 Stanford Open would be a great way to keep the sport in the public’s eyes. Viewers would get to see some of America’s top male collegiate gymnasts and they would also get a great glimpse of the sport’s future. There is no other sport that offers a joint competition between collegiate and high school gymnasts. This unique competition deserves nationally televised coverage. ESPNU or CBS College Sports Network need to be challenged to step up to the plate.

Click on the links below to issue the challenge. Please ask these networks to televise the 2009 Stanford Open.

ESPN

CBS College Sports

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StickItMedia is not about to be political this early…Obama is 75 days away from being sworn in. It’s better to get off on the right foot, as Saving Sports says. Obama is a big sports fan. He loves to play basketball and he recently voiced his advocacy for a playoff system for college football. Since he’s such a big sports fan, perhaps he should take a serious look at a premier Olympic sport like men’s gymnastics. Title IX’s effects on men’s gymnastics is huge. The number of men’s Division I programs continues to dwindle.

Obama’s hometown, Chicago, is angling for the 2016 Olympics. We should all assume that he will be the biggest hometown homer for delivering the games to Chi-town. We wish him much success. We should also wish that his administration will take a serious look at helping to prop up men’s gymnastics to maintain our nation’s world competitiveness.

Obama’s backyard is home to some of America’s best gymnasts. You would think that he would bend over backwards to help keep our gymnasts world competitive. He should be asked whether or not he would support Title IX waivers to help out men’s gymnastics. We need more collegiate opportunities for male gymnasts.

Men’s gymnastics is not a "minor sport." It is always granted prime-time Olympic television coverage every four years. Chicago is one of America’s hotbeds for gymnastics. Barack Obama should jump on the bandwagon, especially since he will be America’s number one advocate for hosting the 2016 Olympics.

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2009 is going to be a great year for the men. We’ve got some great clubbers and incoming college freshmen who are going to make some serious waves. 2008 J.O. Nationals all-around champions Danell Leyva and Glen Ishino will challenge the nation’s best next year at the U.S. Championships. Incoming Cal freshman, Ishino, will also compete for the all-around championship at the 2009 NCAA championships.

As for our Olympians, Sasha Artemev is blossoming into one of the world’s top all-arounders. Joey Hagerty, aka the hardest working man in gymnastics, has plans to be in London in 2012. Justin Spring, likewise, has 2012 aspirations. Raj Bhavsar is giving no indications of hanging up his grips just yet.

Will David Sender defend his VISA all-around title? Nobody knows for certain. Sender came so close to making the ‘08 Olympic team that it would be a major disappointment for gym fans if he were to retire. He has many good years left if he decides to come back. Meanwhile, the college ranks are burgeoning with talent. Stanford’s Sho Nakamori is back, along with the Bunthuwong brothers from Cal. Oklahoma’s super soph, Steven Legendre, will be back to defend his floor and vault titles.

2009 will likely be a benchmark year that will provide great insight into who will end up being America’s best going into 2012. America has a great pipeline of club talent. Don’t be surprised if at least two current club gymnasts end up being among the six athletes who will make the trip to London.

Valdez, Justin Spring’s personal coach, resigned on October 17 for “personal reasons.” Among those interviewed to replace Valdez is Ivan Ivankov, the former two-time world all-around champion from Belarus. Paul Hamm’s name has been tossed around as a possible replacement, but there appears to be no interest on his part.

Let’s hope there’s nothing more to this story. Developing.