Anne Phillips, founder of Gymnastike, continues a series of gymnasts to watch on each apparatus.
I like this pick:
Another bar routine that caught my eye at Nationals last year was Elise Wheeler of Southern Utah. She qualified as an individual All Arounder again this year as she is very pleasant to watch on bars. Here is a clip of Elise from bar training at last year’s Nationals:
Click PLAY or watch Elise on Gymnastike.
http://www.gymnastike.org/assets/portal/add_ons/mediaplayer-4.2/player.swf
That was one year ago today, podium training. And this year podium training is actually on podium.
Aunt Joyce (who’s here at Championships) calls Elise Someone To Root For:
… Gifted with beautiful lines, a natural dance ability and great athletic ability, Elise Wheeler came back to the sport and has now qualified to the NCAA Championships as an individual all-arounder for the third consecutive year. Elise embodies the perfect combination of beauty, grace, precision and power. …
It would be wonderful to see an athlete from a smaller program, the Southern Utah Thunderbirds, win a medal.
Click through to see Anne’s other strong College Bar routines: Gymnastike – Uneven Bar Routines to Watch for at the 2010 NCAA Championships
Anna Li is the routine to beat, most agree.
=== Update:
Here are Anne’s Beam routines to watch. I’m not really loving any of those linked, aside from Vanessa Zamarripa.
McCool has the experience and rock solid routine to win this apparatus, IF she qualifies for the Final.
Coach tweeted: “She’s got nothing to prove.”
True. But I don’t know whether that helps, or not, as an apparatus specialist.
Gymnastics Coaching.com 