Random Thoughts on Men’s Gymnastics – 02/23/10
Posted on 23 February 2010 by admin
Once again, the team of Japanese collegiate all-stars easily prevailed over Stanford and Cal at the 2010 Pacific Coast Classic. The Japanese tallied 358.80, as Stanford (354.20) remained unbeaten over Cal (349.45) this season. Iowa (331.05), Arizona State (318.75) and Washington (282.75) rounded out the rest of the field. For the first time this season, Cal’s Glen Ishino competed in the AA (86.85), but the AA title went to Cal’s Kyle Bunthuwong, who posted a sizzling 90.50. Bunthuwong’s score is the highest in the country so far. Stanford’s Tim Gentry had personal season-high 88.50 to take 2nd place. Danell Leyva competed in this session and placed 4th (86.30). His 15.90 on high bar was the most impressive score of the evening.
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.
