Find out from an interesting article in her local paper:
Ten years after Elise Ray and the U.S. women’s gymnastics team finished fourth in Sydney, Ray and her teammates are being awarded a bronze medal after an age infraction by the Chinese was discovered by the International Olympic Committee.
“At first I thought, ‘There is no way this is going to happen,’” said Ray, who coaches with Hampstead-based Carroll Gymnastics. “I was just shocked. It’s pretty wild.” …
Missing out on a medal was heartbreaking for Ray, who was 18 at the time. She nearly gave up the sport.
“I was very deflated,” she said. “I didn’t know if I wanted to do it anymore.”
Ray didn’t let up, however, and continued her career at the University of Michigan, where she became the most decorated Wolverine gymnast of all time.
Ray captured the NCAA all-around national title her freshman year. She then flipped, twisted and spun her way to national titles in the beam in 2002 and the bars in 2004. In 2005, she led the Wolverines to the Super Six finals where she took home a silver medal on the beam.
“Michigan was a healing experience for me,” Ray said. “It brought the fun back to it.”
Ray, a 14-time all-American, graduated with an English degree, but she wasn’t ready to give up gymnastics. She spent the next two years performing in Las Vegas for Cirque Du Soleil.
“I loved performing. The work was unbelievable, but Vegas was not my city,” Ray said with a laugh.
So she went from the neon lights of Vegas back to Maryland. She has been with Carroll Gymnastics, which practices at Four Seasons Sports Complex, for more than two years.
Nebraska grad J.D. Reive, who spent six years as an assistant at Stanford, will replace Tom Dunn, who retired after 29 years at the Hawkeye helm, as the University of Iowa’s men’s gymnastics’ head coach.
“We are very excited to announce J.D. as our new head men’s gymnastics coach,” U of Iowa A.D. Gary Barta said of today’s announcement. “J.D. brings a wealth of coaching experience from the Junior Olympic and senior National Team ranks, as well as from a highly successful and academically demanding Division I institution. He shares our Iowa values, is a proven winner and a tireless advocate of men’s gymnastics. We are very confident in his ability to develop our student-athletes and move our men’s gymnastics program forward.”
At Stanford, Reive, a former U.S. National Team member, helped led the Cardinal to a National Championship in 2009, as well as a runner-up spot in 2008 and two third place finishes in ’06 and ’07. He was named “NCAA West Regional Assistant Coach of the Year” in 2006 and was the National Assistant Coach of the Year in 2009. He has also been the College Gymnastics Association’s “Assistant Coach of Year” three times (2006, ’09, ’10).
“I am extremely excited about the opportunity to represent the University of Iowa,” Reive said in a statement released today by Iowa. “The athletic department’s continued support of men’s gymnastics is a testament to the great legacy of Hawkeye gymnastics; a legacy that I fully intend to build upon. There is a great deal of potential in this program that will soon be realized. It’s great to be a Hawkeye.”
Reive and his wife, former U.S. National Team member and UCLA star Doni Thompson, have one son, Dante, 2-1/2. …
This week’s gymnastics technique video features a low impact yurchenko full vault drill used by the University of Minnesota women’s gymnastics team and Coach Jim Stephenson …
They have a traveling rig connected to a twisting belt set up above their trampoline. Jim takes us through the drills they’re able to do on the station to teach all types of vaults: yurchenkos, tsukaharas, and even handspring entry vaults. The biggest advantage of a drill like this is that it’s low impact for the gymnast meaning they can do high reps of them without the pounding on their bodies.
Dwight Normile informs there’s still hope for Cal Men’s Gymnastics:
… “No announcement has been made about program cuts here at Cal,” said head coach Barry Weiner (shown here), who just completed his 19th season with the Golden Bears. “However, with the poor economic climate in the state of California, our athletic director, Sandy Barbour, has clearly stated nothing is off the table, including program cuts. Therefore, the Cal men’s gymnastics family is asking for letters of support.”
… The cuts are slated for late July or early August. If you are a supporter of Cal gymnastics—or simply a supporter of gymnastics—log on to calgymnasticsforever.com to see how you can help. It would be a shame to lose a program that enhances both the NCAA and USA Gymnastics. …
Aunt Joyce has resumed blogging. He has 13 posts up already on the fresh start version of Aunt Joyce’s Ice Cream Stand.
For example …
… The NCAA conferences have been doing some major realigning over the last few days. Nebraska is leaving the Big 12 to join the Big 10 and Utah is finally joining the Pac 10. For gymnastics, this is definitely a boost for both the Big 10 and the Pac 10. While these changes are mostly the result of football, they will impact gymnastics.
The Pac 10 now has 15/29 NCAA Titles in gymnastics and 1/2 of the Super Six. This may end some of the SEC gloating. Utah will be aided by competing in a conference meet against tough opponents, and the rest of the Pac 10 will benefit from the strengthening of the field. …
He’s been even busier over on Formspring – Aunt Joyce
What is Formspring? … click through to see.
… formspring.me is a questions and answers website, launched on November 25, 2009. The site, which links to Facebook and Twitter, became popular in early 2010. …
… “I have decided to retire from coaching after a 30 year career in gymnastics, to pursue other career opportunities,” said Shephard. “It has been my great honor, and privilege, to work with all of the gifted young people associated with this program over the last 21 years. …
In 18 years as the head coach, Shephard, the eighth coach in Penn State women’s gymnastics history, amassed a career record of 256-144-2 while guiding the Nittany Lions to eight NCAA Championship appearances. …
Stick It Media posted a rumour that Men’s Head Coach Coach Barry Weiner has retired, his Assistant Coach Aaron Floyd resigned:
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 five men’s sports programs right now, making us wonder why men’s sports are being singled out. If only it were Title IX’s ugly head on the block. …
We hear a decision about men’s and women’s gymnastics will be made next month. Elimination of Cal’s men’s gymnastics would be devastating for the team, the state, and NCAA men’s gymnastics as a whole. Locally, it would have a huge negative affect on Stanford’s program. It would leave Stanford as the only men’s Division I gymnastics program west of the Rockies. …
… From 1966 through 1999, when the program was dropped along with wrestling and men’s swimming, Mitchell’s Lobo men’s gymnasts were among the most consistent winners the University of New Mexico has produced in athletics. His teams won 11 conference titles and finished second on seven occasions. …
… Saturday, at the UNM Student Union Building, Mitchell will be the guest of honor at a UNM gymnastics reunion.
“This is amazing,” Mitchell said in a phone interview. “I can’t believe they’re doing this. I’ll be seeing people I haven’t seen in 20, 30 years.” …
For the third time in the last four seasons, the SCATS Men’s Gymnastics program (in Huntington Beach, CA) has produced a national champion. Last month, Sam Mikulak earned the Level 10 (16-18) all-around gold in a hard fought battle against Jesse Silverstein. Mikulak’s exploits were key to helping SCATS win the Level 10 national team championship as well. …
Coached by Grigor Chalikyan and Albert Avchian, Mikulak is capping off a remarkable club career as one of the sport’s most consistent competitors over the years. His 91.55 is the highest ever JO Nationals all-around score under the current scoring system. Along the way, he has become one of America’s best vaulters …
John Orozco (center) won his third consecutive U.S. junior title in Dallas. Sam Mikulak (left) finished second ahead of bronze medalist Christopher Turner.
Sam joins Michigan this Fall. … I’m thinking Michigan may be the team to beat in 2011 after that astonishing 2010 season.
Talking to the Canadian National team coaches last week, many raved about the up-and-coming MAG talent in the USA. … They raved about the Pommel Horse in the U.K., even more, though.
