Rogers, who trains under Coach Stass Savitch at Zenith Gymnastics in Charlotte, NC, is a three-time Junior National Team member who seems to have his future all mapped out.  Academics plays an important role in his life, as he definitely has big plans upon completion of his gymnastics career.  Already accepted into the bioengineering program at Illinois, Rogers will be ready to settle into a busy life as a scholar-athlete in the fall.  He figures to play a prominent role for the Illini next season under Head Coach Justin Spring.  The signing of Rogers and Maestas represents the best recruiting haul in the country for the 2010-2011 season.  Simply put, the Illini will be loaded next year.

According to Rogers’ parents, he was an early gymnast.  "He was constantly turning cartwheels as we would walk through the mall."  One of their favorite stories is when they were at a softball game when Cameron was four, and a little girl approached and claimed that she could do a cartwheel.  Cameron quickly exclaimed that he could do ten, and "then proceeded to tumble down the hill like a wheel."  At that point, Cameron’s parents knew they were on to something and quickly enrolled him into the local soccer program.  "We were very perceptive parents!  It took one of the other soccer parents, after observing Cameron doing one-armed cartwheels during the game, to advise us we had Cameron in the wrong sport!"  Wrong sport indeed.

The state of North Carolina has produced many elite gymnasts over the years.  Cameron Rogers will soon be joining an impressive list of gymnasts from his home state now competing in the Division I ranks.  Here are just a few:  Kent Caldwell (Michigan), Patrick Piscitelli (Oklahoma), Nic Blair (Cal), Cliff Kohut and John Robinson (Nebraska).

StickItMedia recently had the pleasure of interviewing Cameron Rogers.

SiM:  How did you get started in gymnastics?

Cameron:  I got started in gymnastics when my parents noticed I was doing more cartwheels on the soccer field than actually playing soccer.  They decided gymnastics might be a better sport for me than soccer.  That was when I was five, and I’ve been doing it ever since.

SiM:  What have been your biggest obstacles and challenges to remaining highly competitive?

Cameron:  Staying healthy is definitely the biggest challenge.  I think most gymnasts face this same issue.  If I can stay healthy and able to train, I feel like I can stay at a competitive level.

SiM:  Which events challenge you the most and why?

Cameron:  High bar is the most challenging event for me.  When I was younger I was extremely afraid of dismounts and high bar as a whole, so that set me back a lot.  Now it doesn’t scare me so much, but it is still the hardest event for me to learn new skills on.

SiM:  Region 8 has always been a highly competitive region. What’s it been like to compete in that region and what are your fondest memories?

Cameron:  I love my region!  We are always one of the most spirited teams at JO Nationals and often one of the most competitive teams as well.  My fondest memories are winning regionals last year and when our level 9 team, which included me, Danell Leyva, Max Mayr, Edward Mesa, Harris Coleman, and Alex Barerra, won the team competition at JO Nationals.  Region team competition is the closest we ever get in the JO program to competing in a real team atmosphere, and it’s a lot of fun.

SiM:  What are your goals for your final season of club competition?

Cameron:  Right now I am just trying to get healthy.  I had surgery on my hand in late January, and I want to get healthy for Visa Championships in August and then college next season.  If all goes well, I hope to be ready to compete at JO Nationals in May.

SiM:  What have been the highlights and proudest achievements of your club career?

Cameron:  My highlights have been making the Junior National Team.  I made it as a level 9 in 2006, as a level 10 in 2008, and then again as a level 10 in 2009.  Winning Visa Championships last year was definitely my proudest achievement of my club career.

SiM:  Explain the recruiting process which led to your decision to sign with Illinois?

Cameron:  Recruiting this year was crazy!  They were some of the most fun few months of my life, but the last few weeks before I signed were also the most stressful.  It is such a huge decision, so I wanted to make sure I made the right one.  I had lots of great choices for college, but after visiting Illinois, getting to know the guys on that team, and researching the academic opportunities it offered, and not to mention the awesome coaches, I knew it was the right place for me.  I’m really excited for college next year, and I am definitely glad I made the decision I made.

SiM:  What are your goals for your first season at Illinois?

Cameron:  I really want the team to win the Big Ten and NCAAs next year!  The team is already really strong this year, and we have a strong class of freshmen coming in next, so I think we have a really good shot at it!  I also hope to compete as much as possible and contribute to the team as much as I can.

SiM:  What are your academic goals?

Cameron:  I got accepted into the Bioengineering program at Illinois, so that is what I plan on studying for my undergraduate degree, but I am planning on continuing my education by going to grad school.  I either want to go to medical school or get my MBA; I haven’t decided which yet.

SiM:  Who are your role models and why?

Cameron:  Kohei Uchimura is an amazing gymnast, and I would love to make my gymnastics more like his.  Paul Ruggeri at Illinois is also a big inspiration.  I met him at my first camp at the Olympic Training Center when I was in middle school, and I have watched him improve to be one of the best gymnasts in the country.  I feel like we have similar backgrounds in the sport, and I would love to emulate what he has done with his career in college.  Not to mention, he’s also a really exciting gymnast to watch!

SiM:  What do you like to do other than gymnastics?

Cameron:  I like to hang out with friends and go to movies and other normal stuff like that whenever I can.  I like to wakeboard and water ski at a lake near my house.  I also like to play tennis with my dad.

SiM:  What’s the best advice you have ever received?

Cameron:  At the Olympic Training Center there are lots of quotes all over the walls in the gym, and all of those are really good.  My favorite one is probably the one over the door to the gym that says “If you’re going to be in the gym, be in the gym.”  Ron Brant used to always remind us to read that quote at National Team camps, and I try to remind myself of that every time I am in the gym.

SiM:  What is your favorite thing about walking into the gym every day?

Cameron:  I love that every day is different.  I am always working towards learning new skills or improving current ones.  It’s always so exhilarating to learn a new skill, so I always look forward to trying to do that everyday.

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Chris Brooks posted the day’s highest scores on floor (15.55), parallel bars (15.35) and high bar (15.80) to place third (89.90) behind Horton (90.15) and Devyatovskiy (90.60).  Although he only scored 13.10 on pommel horse, it was his sub-standard score on rings (14.25) that did in Brooks.  Otherwise, he likely could have taken home the title.  Brooks is really proving that he belongs on the world stage, especially coming off his strong performance in winning last month’s Winter Cup.  Germany’s Fabian Hambuechen ended up in 4th place with an 89.00.  The defending champ clearly wasn’t feeling it and was obviously not in the best of shape.  Still, this was a great meet with a very impressive field.

Stanford proved that last week’s 361.40 against Michigan was no fluke.  The Cardinal hung a 361.65 on yet another top-ranked team, Oklahoma (360.30), to position themselves at the top of GymInfo’s weekly rankings. Stanford had an absolute field day on vault with a staggering five gymnasts posting scores of 16.00 or higher.  The Sooners’ Steven Legendre (88.85), Alex Naddour (88.35) and Jake Dalton (88.25) had the top three AA scores, but it was Stanford’s all-around depth that made the difference.

Third-ranked Illinois (357.50) had no problem disposing of Iowa (346.60), as sophomore Tyler Mizoguchi tallied a season-high 88.85 in the AA.  Paul Ruggeri tied his career high on high bar (16.10) and also won on parallel bars (15.30).  Luke Stannard won his second pommel horse title in a row with the nation’s second-highest score so far (15.70).  Stannard and Daniel Ribeiro are once again leading the Illini’s dominance on the horse.

Fifth-ranked Ohio State (351.80) beat back a slumping Cal (346.00) in their dual meet in Columbus.  Now that Cal has a healthy Glen Ishino (89.05) and Dennis Mannhart (88.20) fully engaged in the rotation, it appears that the Bears are having issues with Kyle Bunthuwong and Bryan Del Castillo.  Nevertheless, the Buckeyes are showing signs that they think they belong in the NCAA title hunt.  Brandon Wynn won yet another rings title (16.00) and Steven Spencer posted one of the season’s highest scores on pommel horse (15.40).  Ohio State is ranked second on that event behind Illinois.

The top club meet of the weekend was the 2010 Houston National Invitational. Some of the top clubs competing there were Cypress, Buffalo Grove, WOGA, Queen City and Bartlett’s.  In the Open Team Cup, the team from Japan prevailed over USOTC and Buffalo Grove.  Some of the top elite competitors included Alexander Shatilov, Jake Bateman, Alexy Bilozertchev and Andrew Elkind.

USAG announced their spring international assignments. Jonathan Horton and Danell Leyva will represent the USA at the Paris-Bercy World Cup event (April 6-12).  Chris Cameron, Steven Legendre, Leyva and Tim Gentry (alternate) are going to Melbourne, Australia for the Pac Rim Championships (April 23-May 2).  The Junior Team will be represented by CJ Maestas, John Orozco, Dylan Akers and Sam Mikulak (alternate).  This will be the first international assignment for Akers.

When the smoked cleared, Stanford jumped up to number two in the lastest GymInfo rankings. As for Oklahoma, they breezed to another victory over Minnesota, and are now the number-one ranked team. The Sooners have two of the top four all-arounders in Jake Dalton and Steven Legendre.  They are also the top-ranked team on floor and vault.  Nebraska will host Stanford and Oklahoma on Sunday in arguably the biggest shootout of the regular season.

The 2010 Tyson America American Cup will be broadcast live on NBC on Saturday, March 6 at 1:00pm EST.  Also, Universal Sports will provide a live webcast on Saturday from 11:30 EST to 3:00pm EST.  Jonathan Horton and Chris Brooks will represent the U.S. in a very strong field.

Andy Thornton posted some great Winter Cup videos of eight of America’s best on pommel horse… Alex Naddour, Daniel Ribeiro, Steven Spencer, Luke Stannard, Chris Cameron, Mel Anton Santander, Dylan Akers and Craig Hernandez.  Notice that two of these gymnasts (Hernandez and Akers) are still in high school.  Hernandez, by the way, finished 4th.  Thornton’s observation reinforces our opinion that America is getting much stronger on pommel horse.  He is correct when he noted that "this group of guys blows the 2008 Olympic Trials guys out of the water on this event… exactly what our team needs."  Indeed!

The Japanese captured team titles on floor, pommel horse and high bar, while Stanford took rings and vault and Cal nailed down the parallel bars team title.  Cal is now starting to show signs of recovery from the slow start they have had.  Bunthuwong and Ishino are arguably two of the top all-arounders in the collegiate ranks, and their combined AA scores are the highest by any team in one meet.  Stanford’s improving overall depth will keep them in the title hunt.  Ex-Stanford gymnast Sho Nakamori writes about his reunion with the Japanese team on his blog. Sho recently returned from a three-month stay in Japan.

The club portion of the competition was very good as Jesse Silverstein’s 85.80 topped a quality field in Saturday’s event finals.  The actual all-around winners in the level 10 division went to those who competed in the two sessions of competition.  Dominic Morris (83.60) and Michael Strathern (83.95) were crowned the winners in the 14-15 and 16-18 age divisions, respectively.  Adrian de Los Angeles (83.95) posted the evening’s top score on Thursday night.  Many top clubbers competed in only a few events, as they were either recovering from injuries or simply resting from Winter Cup just two weeks ago.

Last weekend’s most exciting meet was easily the Oklahoma-Michigan affair which ended up with the Sooners eking out a 354.45 to 354.00 team victory.  The Sooners were led by all-arounders Jake Dalton (87.65) and Steven Legendre (86.95), while Michigan’s Thomas Kelley turned in his team’s lone AA performance (87.25).  Oklahoma’s Bobby Shortle and Michigan’s Mel Anton Santander turned in career-high scores on vault (16.10) and pommel horse (15.05).  It should be noted that Chris Cameron competed on only two events.  Nevertheless, this was a big road win for the Sooners, who remain undefeated at 7-0.

Top-ranked Illinois (8-0) posted the weekend’s highest team score (354.60) in their road victory over Penn State (345.95).  Paul Ruggeri put up some big scores for the Illini with his 15.55 on PB, 15.45 on HB and his 87.80 in the AA.  2009 NCAA pommel horse champ Daniel Ribeiro had a very nice 15.80 on his signature event and won his first ever title on vault as he shocked the field with a 16.15.  For his efforts, Ribeiro was named Big 10 Gymnast of the Week.

Nebraska (348.25) came up with a huge win over Ohio State (346.60) in a quad meet that also included UIC (340.20) and Air Force (332.70).  The Huskers’ Kyle Shanahan (86.60) and Andreas Hofer (86.20) posted the two highest all-around scores of the meet.  Nebraska posted team titles on rings, vault and parallel bars.  Ohio State was without Sr. National Team member Brandon Wynn, who is ranked number one on rings.

USAG announced that 2010 Winter Cup champion Chris Brooks has been added to the Tyson American Cup field. Brooks replaces World Team member Tim McNeill, who is still recovering from a recent medical procedure on his back.  The Tyson American Cup takes place on March 6 and will be broadcast live on NBC at 1:00pm EST.  Brooks, who trains at Oklahoma University, joins former teammate Jonathan Horton as the only two Americans in the field.  After Brooks’ outstanding Winter Cup performance, this was an easy decision to add him to the field.

World-class gymnast Charlie Tamayo has a new website, appropriately named Flip for Charlie. Tamayo, who defected from Cuba in 2003, is attempting to raise funds for his training.  He has legitimate aspirations to make the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team and needs help to make his dream become reality.  Tamayo, not yet a U.S. citizen, is scheduled to gain citizenship sometime in 2011.  Apparently, products will soon be available for purchase on his website.  Those Flip for Charlie t-shirts should sell like hotcakes!  We wish him luck.

The Sooners are setting up themselves nicely to be in an enviable position by the time the NCAA Championships roll around.  Nowhere near full strength, the Sooners have been dealing with injuries and suspensions.  That will change, and Oklahoma will be a bonafide player come April.  Read all about their victory over the Huskers here.

Cal is another team that has been dealing with injuries and such.  Glen Ishino is healing up from a back injury and has yet to compete in the all-around this season.  Swiss National Team member Dennis Mannhart competed in his first meet and won his first event title on PB in Cal’s narrow loss to Stanford. At full strength, Cal will definitely be in the running in April.  Cal will once again face Stanford this weekend at the Pacific Coast Classic. Iowa will also be in Saturday night’s field, which will include the Japanese Collegiate All-Star Team.

Illinois’ Paul Ruggeri was named Big 10 Gymnast of the Month after posting an 87.20 in the AA in the Illini’s win over Minnesota (350.65 to 342.15). Ruggeri also put up big numbers on vault (16.05) and high bar (16.10).  His high bar score was a career high and school record.  The Illini will face Penn State on the road this weekend.  The meet will be broadcast on the Big 10 Network on February 27 at noon EST.

Michigan competed this past weekend without the services of Chris Cameron and Thomas Kelley, which was evident in the final score of their meet against UIC (339.25 to 328.85). The Wolverines should be at full strength when they host Oklahoma on Saturday.

StickItMedia attended the Palm Tree Classic this past weekend.  The meet attracted a nice field and included such teams as Orlando Metro, WOGA, Parkettes and Azarian.  Orlando’s Jake Martin (86.80) and Sean Melton (85.20) took the top two AA positions, while Parkettes’ Sean Senters captured third place (84.15).  The performances by Martin and Melton were early indications that they will be two of the dominant competitors at nationals in the 14-15 age division.  Azarian’s Marty Strech posted the nation’s top Level 9 AA score (83.30) so far this season.  This meet is one of the few club meets, if not the only one, to be broadcast live on the internet this season.

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 all-arounder who finished 4th at the 2009 JO Nationals and 9th in 2008.

After completing his last year of level 9, Jacob, known by all his friends as Jake, turned a lot of heads last July at the VISA Qualifier.  He not only qualified for VISAs in the level 10 (14-15 age division), but he placed tied for 2nd AA in a crowded field.  Jake followed that up the next month at VISAs by placing 7th in the AA and taking 3rd on pommel horse.  A lot of hard work earned Jake a spot on the level 10 Junior National Team.

Starting out in baseball, Jake got his introduction to gymnastics back in 2004, just after Paul Hamm won the Olympic gold medal in Athens.  Jake’s best friend and next door neighbor, a level 5 gymnast at the time, invited him to his gym.  Shortly thereafter, Jake impressed the coach so much that he contacted Jake’s parents and asked if they would consider putting him on the team.  Initially a level 4, Jake was soon moved up to level 5, and by the end of his first season, he was one of the top level 5 gymnasts in the state.  According to Jake’s dad, Mat, "he has been hooked ever since."

Devoted gym parents, Mat and Kaylyn Dastrup have really enjoyed Jake’s impressive gymnastics career, especially all the faraway trips to the big meets.  One trip in particular really stands out for Mat, who recalled the flight to Oklahoma City for the 2007 JO Nationals.  That was the first time Jake had qualified for JO Nationals, and he was traveling with two other teammates who had also qualified.  Sitting a few rows behind the three boys, Mat decided to enlist the help of one of the Southwest Airlines flight attendants in playing a little prank on the boys.  He let her know that the three excited boys sitting just ahead were talented gymnasts on their way to a very important meet.

Mat and the attendant hatched a scheme to make it appear the boys were in trouble for making too much noise and disturbing other passengers.  The attendant obliged by scolding the boys and ordering them to the back of the plane.  Dumbfounded by all the commotion, they were assigned a punishment of passing out peanuts to all the passengers.  The boys soon figured out the ruse and ended up having a blast with the task.  They were each rewarded with a free deck of cards and a round of applause from throughout the cabin after the flight attendant announced over the PA system that the three young "troublemakers" were actually gymnasts on their way to an important national competition.

Coach Gauthier recalled when Jake first came to his gym at age ten.  He had just completed his first year of gymnastics and was moving up to level 6.  Jake had just started doing circles on pommels and was doing them everywhere.  Gauthier would say, "Jake, we’re not on the horse right now.  Can you concentrate on rings and save the circles for later?"  Gauthier also issued a challenge early on when he proposed that Jake skip Level 6 and move on to Level 7.  Jake replied that he wanted to remain a six and wanted no part of Level 7, because he wanted to "rule Level 6."  Gauthier relented, but insisted on Jake learning some Level 7 skills and playing around with both routines.

As the season drew near, Gauthier suggested that he compete Level 7 at the first meet to see how it goes.  As it turned out, Jake had a great meet and placed 3rd in the AA.  Seeing how pleased Jake was, Gauthier pulled him aside and said, "maybe you’re right, let’s just do Level 6 this year so you can rule it."  "No, Jake said, I like Level 7 now!"  Jake proceeded to have a successful season and things just got better after that.  According to Gauthier, "Jake is the one in the gym who will take your turn if you don’t.  So, if you’re in line and not ready, you will be watching Jake take your turn."

Jake was a top-10 fixture at Future Stars in 2006 and 2007, and is a promising rising star.  He is one of the best of this season’s new incoming group of Level 10s (age 14-15).  Anybody who thinks America is weak on pommel horse had better think again, and they had better take a look at all the talent lining up.  Jake Dastrup is one of those talents.

StickItMedia recently had the pleasure of interviewing Jacob Dastrup:

SiM:  How did you get interested in gymnastics?

Jake:  I had a friend who did four sports, and one that stuck out for me was gymnastics.  I begged my mom for weeks to try and she finally signed me up for a gymnastics class.

SiM:  What inspires you to compete?

Jake:  Thinking about doing well at big meets really inspires me.  Another thing that drives me is having the experience of competing at VISAs.  I think about VISAs every time I am having a bad day at the gym, and it really encourages me to do what it takes to be a good gymnast.

Jake:  My least favorite thing about gymnastics has to be the practices.  Practicing can be fun when you are learning new skills, but it’s the routines that I dislike.  My biggest challenges recently have been injuries.  I just want to get back to being healthy.

Jake:  My most challenging event would probably be parallel bars, because it’s my sloppiest event and it is difficult for me.

Jake:  My proudest gymnastics achievement is making the level 10 Junior National Team.  My proudest non-gymnastic achievement would probably be just doing well in school.

Jake:  Well, right now, i am recovering from a broken collar bone and from shoulder problems.  This season I really just want to get back to being healthy and getting ready for nationals.

Jake:  My gymnastics goals are to keep excelling and to represent the U.S. in competitions. Academically, I just want to graduate from high school with good grades.

Jake:  Well, I have a lot of role models, but I would say Paul Hamm and Kohei Uchimura.

Jake:  To always work hard.

Jake:  I personally think that Future Stars is a good program.  I went through future stars myself and it is a big stepping stone in gymnastics in my opinion.

Jake:  I enjoy spending time with my family, hanging out with friends, and drumming.

Jake:  I get excited when I’m working on a new skill.  I just can’t wait to get working on it.

Check out some great videos of Jake:

2008 JO Nationals 1st place level 9 pommel horse routine

2009 season montage

2009 VISA Qualifier

Brooks also took the high bar title over Leyva, despite Leyva’s outstanding 16.05 in the finals.  Leyva easily captured the parallel bars title with an tremendous score of 30.70 (15.40+ 15.30).  It was a big meet for the Oklahoma contingent as Steve Legendre posted the meet’s highest scores on floor (30.90) and vault (32.55), while teammate Alex Naddour won on pommel horse (29.90).  Ohio State’s Brandon Wynn took the rings title with a 30.55.

Ten gymnasts earned their way on to the Senior National Team as a result of their Winter Cup performances:

• Chris Brooks
• Chris Cameron
• Jonathan Horton
• Paul Ruggeri
• Danell Leyva
• Tim Gentry
• Brandon Wynn
• Tyler Mizoguchi
• Steven Legendre
  
• Jake Dalton
  

Seven additional gymnasts were added to the team by the Men’s Program Committee:

• Kyle Bunthuwong
• Glen Ishino
• Joey Hagerty
• Kevin Tan
• Wes Haagensen
• Tim McNeill
• Alex Naddour

The top club performance was put in by John Orozco, who ended up placing 8th in the all-around.  Orozco was the picture of consistency in the finals as his lowest score came on rings (14.10), as he tallied an 86.40 in the finals.  He narrowly missed out on a spot on the Senior National Team, but by the time VISAs are done, he just might earn that elusive spot.

Other top clubbers included CJ Maestas, Craig Hernandez and Jesse Silverstein.  These gymnasts, along with Orozco had top 5 individual event placements:

• Maestas - 5th on rings
• Hernandez - 4th on pommel horse
• Silverstein - 5th on parallel bars
• Orozco - 4th on parallel bars

All the club competition scores from the accompanying BlackJack meet can be found at MeetScoresOnline.

A total of seven club gymnasts made it to the finals:

• CJ Maestas - Gold Cup
• Jesse Silverstein - U.S. Gym. Dev.
• Chris Turner - WCOGA
• Craig Hernandez - Buffalo Grove
• Dylan Akers - Cypress
• John Orozco - World Cup
• Sam Mikulak - SCATS

CJ Maestas and Jesse Silverstein were the top two club qualifiers with 40 and 31 points respectively.  Maestas and Craig Hernandez both cracked the top five on rings (14.8 - 3rd place) and pommel horse (14.65 - 5th place).  Hernandez has a legitimate shot at winning pommel horse if he hits his routine.

Michigan and Illinois both had six gymnasts qualify for the finals.  Oklahoma and Stanford each had four qualifiers.  Once again, USA Gymnastics will provide live scoring for the finals.  USAG also had posted some nice videos from yesterday’s preliminaries.