Random Thoughts on Men’s Gymnastics 12/21/09
Posted on 21 December 2009 by admin
It’s been a long time since we’ve reported. The ’09-’10 season was officially kicked off with the 2009 Valeri Liukin Invitational, hosted by WOGA. 2009 World Team members Jonathan Horton and Danell Leyva placed 2nd and 8th in the AA, respectively. The young compulsory team from Vitaly Scherbo School of Gymnastics was very impressive, even without nine-year-old Level 7 phenom Nikita Bolotsky. It appears that Universal Gymnastics’ Yin Alvarez just might have another prodigy on his hands, as seven-year-old Anthony Palacio took the Level 5 (7-8) title with a blistering 92.60.
The Big 10 coaches have weighed-in on the upcoming season. Michigan is the pre-season favorite to win the Big 10 title. Not many can argue with that, but Illinois will turn that challenge into a serious battle. Afterall, those two teams tied for the title last season. We wouldn’t want to bet against either team. It appears that Michigan has the strongest one-two punch in the AA (Thomas Kelley and Chris Cameron), but the Illini will be tough to beat with Paul Ruggeri, Daniel Ribeiro, Luke Stannard, et al. Look for the Illini to get some help next month with the addition of Yoshi Mori, who finished third in the AA at the ’09 JO Nationals.
Stanford is the consensus pick to repeat as national champions. The Cardinal lose Sho Nakamori, Bryant Hadden and Jason Shen, but gain a nice freshman class led by Eddie Penev. Oklahoma gains with their top-ranked freshman class, but they have to deal with their steep graduation losses, at least in the short term. Cal has a nice freshman class, led by Donathon Bailey, which should keep them in the hunt. The Bears will be formidable, especially with Glen Ishino and Kyle Bunthuwong being arguably the nation’s top two AA tandem. As Ishino continues to add more difficulty to his routines, he will be especially fun to watch. This young man is on track to have a record collegiate career. The 2010 season is a legitimate five-team race.
Alex Powarzynski, formerly of Black Hills (Lacey, WA), is now training at SCATS. Powarzynski is a former Junior National Team member (Level 9) and placed 15th AA (Level 10 14-15) at the 2009 JO Nationals.
