… prediction by site editor Rick McCharles:
UCLA will win the Team competition. Vanessa Zamarripa will win the all-around.
This is the most difficult College Gymnastics Championships season to forecast, in years.
If all 12 teams at nationals hit, I feel that UCLA, Florida or possibly even Georgia would score highest.
Florida could benefit from “home court advantage”.
But it may well be that, under pressure, consistency will turn out to be more important than the potential for really high scores. A safer bet to hit near perfectly would be Oklahoma or Alabama.
As Oklahoma coach K.J. Kindler said, the team competition is wide open.
The first challenge will be getting through to the Super 6. Any team in Finals could win it all. I could see Stanford or Oregon State atop the podium, no problem.
Best for the sport would be to have a new team win Championships. Anyone but G.A.U.U. (Georgia, Alabama, Utah, UCLA).
The all-around competition at NCAA Championships is far less important than Team. I recall when Tasha Schwikert won in 2008. She looked despondent because her team had a disappointing meet.
At the beginning of the season I would have predicted Shayla Worley or Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs to be the top AA gymnast of 2010. But that title is really up for grabs, too.
Many feel that Vanessa Zamarripa has momentum and the kind of star quality needed to be named National Champion. She was finally ranked #1 on GymInfo March 29th.
Here’s little Vanessa as a Level 10 in 2005, representing Midwest Twisters.
Region 5 has produced a lot of great gymnasts. Vanessa one of the best.
related – playlist of all 24 routines from UCLA at Pac-10 Championships 197.350.
Gymnastics Coaching.com 