Great photo by Grace Chiu. Sophie trains at Viagym.
Category: Gymnastics
Elise Ray – Pac 12 Coach of the Year
I attended Seattle Pacific at Washington State. Coach Ray looked very comfortable in her first season as Head Coach. She’s doing a terrific job.
Washington State is hosting the most interesting Regionals on April 1st. Attend if you can.
Oklahoma’s Mark Williams
The Sooners are undefeated in 2017, which would be their third such season in a row. They’re poised for a third straight national title, a first for the program and a nod at Williams’ top-flight coaching. Under Williams, the Sooners have finished no lower than third in the national championship aside from his first season, where they finished fourth.
Oklahoma men’s gymnastics: Sooners’ coach Mark Williams in the midst of legendary career
A good article. But you know the author doesn’t understand Gymnastics by this tell:
“Williams’ road to coaching history began long before he made it to Oklahoma. It began behind another legendary men’s gymnastics coach — former Nebraska coach Francis Allen. Williams competed under Allen from 1977-80 and was a part of two national championship teams, earning All American honors on the high beam in 1978.” 🙂
Catalina Ponor – Beam
Hao Weng – Baku Pommels
NCAA Regional Championships set
Maryland just missed with a #37 ranking. 😦
Get to one of the 6 host Universities for April 1, 2017 if you can.
See the qualifying teams on Tumblr. It’s going to be a battle to see who loses to Oklahoma for the second berth to Championships.
FloGymnastics has a list of the individuals who qualified from outside the top 36 teams.
beware the “cult” of Gymnastics
Over and over again people keep asking how Larry Nassar got away with what he did for so long.
Many elite gymnasts are irrationally dedicated. They are literally brainwashed.
Recall Goldman’s dilemma? Athletes were asked if they were willing to die in 5 years for sporting success NOW. Many said yes.
1992 Olympian Wendy Bruce Martin (who never worked with Nassar) reflects back on what she was willing to do for Olympic qualification:
I was willing to give anything to gymnastics and I was willing to give everything. …
As long as I could perform my skills, I was willing to ignore the advice from my Doctor. When my Doctors told me to take time off of gymnastics to heal, I didn’t. …
There wasn’t much I wouldn’t do to make the Olympics. When I needed to lose a little weight, I took the cheap and easy way out. Bulimia was my little secret. I was Bulimic for about a year and a half before the Olympics. …
Parents and coaches need be aware that dedication can be psychosis. Mental health is as important as physical health.
Conference Championships wrap-up
NCAA Gym News posted a summary of the many NCAA Championships this weekend.
The Dismount: Conference Champs
LSU wins SEC Championships
Congratulations. It ain’t easy.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
I’m enjoying watching UCLA most this season. But — once again — I’ll be cheering for LSU to win their first National Championships. It would be good for the sport to have another team join the very short list of Championship teams.
Ashleigh Gnat 10.0 Vault
Looks fantastic in full speed. But check the slow-mo.
Still, I’ve got no complaint with that score.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Gymnastics Coaching.com 