Random Thoughts on Men’s Gymnastics – 01/24/10
Posted on 24 January 2010 by admin
The second weekend of NCAA men’s gymnastics is now in the books. Michigan showed great improvement over last weekend and ended up with the young season’s highest team score (355.65) in their easy romp over Penn State. The Wolverines’ top performers, Chris Cameron and Thomas Kelley, put it together to enable an early showcase as to why Michigan will contend for the NCAA title. Cameron scored an 88.75 to take the AA, while also notching the top score on floor (15.40). Kelley posted individual titles on rings (15.20) and high bar (14.70).
Stanford took down Cal for the second straight weekend in relatively lackluster fashion 349.65 to 340.85. Although Cal’s Glen Ishino did compete on pommel horse, he was once again unable to provide his usual big AA punch due to injury. Cal’s only individual titles came from Ishino on pommel horse (14.00), Kyle Bunthuwong on parallel bars (15.25) and Bryan Del Castillo in the AA (86.90). Stanford’s Tim Gentry had the most impressive score of the night with a 15.70 on rings. Freshman Eddie Penev continued to impress by tying Stanford teammate Alex Buscaglia for the floor title (15.15). Both teams will go at it again next weekend at the Stanford Open. If Ishino is good to go, Cal should be able to give Stanford more of a battle.
The highlight of the weekend was Oklahoma’s Jake Dalton, as he once again had the NCAA’s top AA score (89.60). Oklahoma coasted to an easy 349.50 to 340.95 victory over Iowa. Dalton posted the day’s highest scores on floor (15.75), rings (15.00), vault (16.00) and parallel bars (15.05). Oklahoma freshman Alex Naddour won his second consecutive title on pommel horse (15.00). These two freshmen have made a huge impact on their team so far.
The first telecast of the season for NCAA men’s gymnastics will take place next Saturday (January 30) at noon (Eastern time), as the Big 10 Network will air coverage of the January 24 Michigan-Penn State meet.
USA Gymnastics recently announced the field for the 2010 Winter Cup Challenge (February 4-6) that will be held in Las Vegas, NV. 2008 Olympians Jonathan Horton, Kevin Tan and Sasha Artemev are part of the field of 136 gymnasts. 2009 World Team members Tim McNeill, Steven Legendre, Jake Dalton and Danell Leyva are also part of the impressive field. The Winter Cup will determine the makeup of the 2010 Senior National Team through this summer’s VISA USA Championships. Thirteen members of the Junior National Team are also expected to compete, led by John Orozco, CJ Maestas and Sam Mikulak. The eventual makeup of the 2010 Senior National Team is entirely up for grabs, and don’t be surprised if a few current juniors end up making the squad.
