The U.S. contingent of Junior National Team gymnasts prevailed in a tri-meet against host Great Britain and Switzerland. The meet, held at the Lilleshall National Sports Centre this past weekend, was the culmination of a week-long joint training session among the three teams. Coached by Orlando Metro's Cas Suarez, the U.S. team was led by Orlando Metro's Sean Melton and South Coast's Timmy Wang, who placed 1-2 in the All-Around. Wang placed [...more]
Chancellor Robert Birgeneau lowered the boom on Cal's prestigious men's gymnastics program today by officially announcing the sport has been de-funded effective upon completion of the upcoming 2011 season. Birgeneau also gave the heave-ho to men's baseball, men's rugby, women's gymnastics and women's lacrosse. Yes, thanks to Title IX, the men had to be cut for quota purposes.
It's a sad day for Cal gymnastics, whose demise was [...more]
Sadly, this week we marked the passing of one amazing grandmother, who just happened to be a staunch supporter of the sport of gymnastics. Rita Jennings died on Monday, September 20 at the age of 70. Rita was wife to Sheldon, mother to Patsy, mother-in-law to Scott and grandmother to Jon and Nick Spiro. Jon and Nick, of course, are elite gymnasts who train at New Hope in Fountain Valley, CA. Rita was a Region I icon. She worked her charm, supporting Region I gymnastics for the past 32 years. As well as being Jon and Nick's grandmother, [...more]
In Part 2 of our preview of the 2010 VISA U.S. Championships, guest blogger Matthew Rusk explores Glen Ishino, Steven Legendre, Danell Leyva, John Orozco, Paul Ruggeri, Alex Naddour, Kevin Tan, Brandon Wynn and Tim McNeill. Matthew leaves no stone unturned as he analyzes each gymnast's chances for making the 2010 World Team. As is customary for Matthew, he unveils his predictions for medal winners at VISAs and the makeup of the team that will represent the United States at the 2010 World Championships, which will be held October 16-24 in Rotterdam. [...more]
StickItMedia is once again pleased to have our brilliant young guest blogger Matthew Rusk analyze 12 of our top gymnasts vying for the highly coveted six spots on the 2010 U.S. World Championship team. Matthew outdoes himself in this, our 2nd annual installment. Only 17 and a resident of Houston, TX, Matthew is now a crafty media veteran, whose refreshingly candid, technical approach endears him to serious gymnastics fans. Part 1 of our series focuses on Jonathan Horton, Chris Brooks, Chris Cameron, Wes Haagensen, Kyle Bunthuwong and Joey Hagerty. In Part 2, Matthew will analyze the chances for [...more]
USA Gymnastics hosted a media tele-conference this morning featuring Jonathan Horton, Chris Brooks and Danell Leyva. The 45-minute conference offered the first soundbites from prominent gymnasts about Paul Hamm's comeback announcement. Horton and Brooks had nothing but glowing things to say about Hamm, and they expressed a lot of excitement about the [...more]
Paul Hamm has rocked the men's gymnastics community by announcing that he is back to training full time with aspirations of making the 2012 Olympic Team. While he definitely kept the door open to a potential return to the sport, his announcement will likely send shockwaves to our current crop of Olympic hopefuls. If his comeback is successful, Hamm will be America's only gymnast capable of scoring [...more]
We've been hearing rumblings about the possible demise of the Cal Men's Gymnastics program. Even the women's program is also presumedly on the chopping block. In light of all the budget cuts and the state's overall fiscal degradation, both programs' subsidization is ruffling the tender feathers of the more militant, sports-averse members of the school's faculty. Apparently Cal's athletic department racked up a $1.7 million deficit this past year and received a loan from the school's general fund. We've heard that the guillotine is poised over [...more]
Sam Mikulak and Jesse Silverstein put on another show for the ages in today's Level 10 (16-18) All-Around finals. After Thursday night's showcase, we figured that would be hard to top. Well, they did it again. With four events in the books, a mere five tenths of a point separated the two. Both gymnasts set things up nicely by nailing their fifth events. Silverstein's outstanding 15.50 on rings was countered by Mikulak's explosive 16.75 on vault. Leading by 1.45 going into the final rotation, Mikulak undoubtedly knew he needed to do something special on parallel bars to have a shot at winning. After all, Silverstein was [...more]
Today, Michigan finally made a highly anticipated announcement. The Wolverines have pulled off one of the top 2010-2011 recruiting hauls in the country by signing SCATS' Sam Mikulak and Jordan Gaarenstroom, Surgents Elite's Alex Bubnov, All American's Mike Myler and Josephson Academy's Dylan James. The prize nugget, of course, is [...more]
