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NCAA Gymnastics Championships
At exactly half way through the preliminary competition, the scoreboard is useful:
Of course only half the teams have done Beam at that point.
… Why don’t they average the scores and post a projected finishing team score, as well?
It’s been a dream season for the Kent State Golden Flashes.
Congratulations.
Ranked #24, they find themselves tonight at their first ever national team Championships. At home.
They beat out Stanford, Ohio State and Minnesota to get here.
Congratulations Brice Biggin and everyone in the program.
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Cleveland is a rare “neutral” site for the NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Championships.
The event is usually hosted on the campus of one of sport’s power teams. So all are anxious to see how Cleveland, Kent State and Cleveland State do as hosts of the event away from the Southeastern Conference, Big 12 or Pac-10 arena traditionally aligned with the event.
“I think it’s a positive thing for our sport,” Oregon State coach Tonya Chaplin said. “Whenever we are able to go into a [new] area, bringing NCAA gymnastics to a community that may not have it close, it is always exciting because it brings more interest and hopefully gets someone new hooked on our sport.
“Hopefully that will even help Kent State get more people in the future go watch the competitions there. …
Cleveland State received kudos for its Wolstein Arena setup for the event from Georgia coach Jay Clark.
“The arena is fantastic,” he said. “It is the right size for this event. It appears to be something that will feel full, based upon what we know about ticket sales. ..
According to the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission, more than 12,000 tickets have been sold for the weekend, and a strong walk-up crowd is expected throughout the event. …
The Qualifiers (and First Team All-Americans) From Session 1 are:
Vault
1. Brittani McCullough- 9.950 (UCLA)
2. Kylee Botterman- 9.925 (UMich)
3. Amy Borsellino- 9.900 (Arkansas)
3. Lindsey Cheek- 9.900 (UGA)
3. Katie Zurales- 9.900 (UMich)
3. Madison Mooring- 9.900 (Oklahoma)Uneven Bars
1. Trish Wilson- 9.925 (UMich)
1. Monique DeLaTorre- 9.925 (UCLA)
3. Kat Ding- 9.900 (UGA)
3. Brittnee Martinez- 9.900 (UMich)
3. Kayla Nowak- 9.900 (Oklahoma)
3. Megan Ferguson- 9.900 (Oklahoma)
3. Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs- 9.900 (UCLA)Balance Beam
1. Megan Ferguson – 9.925 (Oklahoma)
2. Natasha Kelley- 9.900 (Oklahoma)
3. Sam Peszek- 9.875 (UCLA)
4. Melissa Fernandez- 9.850 (Illinois)
4. Kylee Botterman- 9.850 (UMich)
4. Aisha Gerber- 9.850 (UCLA)Floor Exercise
1. Jaime Pisani- 9.950 (Arkansas)
2. Kylee Botterman- 9.925 (UMich)
2. Brittani McCullough- 9.925 (UCLA)
4. Katherine Grable- 9.900 (Arkansas)
4. Cassidy McComb- 9.900 (UGA)
@gymnastike
…Looking over the score sheet I see that Jaime Pisani of Arkansas scored a 9.95 on Floor! Awesome! She told me yesterday she wants to win FX
Click PLAY or watch her routine from Regionals on the Arkansas site.
The “defacto theme song” of the “mistake by the lake”.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame tomorrow …
(via Rick McCharles)
… qualified for the Super 6 Team Final. Congratulations.
University of Oklahoma 196.775
University of Michigan 196.700
UCLA 196.500
No controversy. Three teams clearly deserved to advance. Three did not.
… UCLA nearly lost it on Beam, though. McCullough and Frattone, a last minute replacement, fell.
full results from Session 1 of two at NCAA Championships 2011.
Kylee Botterman had a very good day. She is the girl to beat 39.525. I was impressed with Cassidy McComb 39.400, who was superb despite her team collapse.
I’ll be at Starbucks between sessions, 1400 Euclid Avenue, within walking distance of the venue. Meet-up.
@gymnastike is doing a great job on Twitter. If you don’t use twitter, the same content is posted here.
I’ll post just a few notes.
Georgia – starts on Bars.
Shayla Worley is cursed in College gymnastics. She nicked the low bar on giant, and under-rotated double layout dismount.
… Georgia had looked great on Bars up to that point. Happily, Kat Ding saved the rotation (whew) as anchor, sticking double layout (9.90). I hope she wins Bars finals. She’s a rock star.
Love UCLA Floor NCAA Champion 2010 Brittani McCullough as anchor goes 9.925, the girl to beat in Finals. EHH was terrific too, but took a big step on her first tumbling pass.
Both Georgia and Michigan are unhappy with how this meet has started for them.
McCullough stuck vault in warm-up. And stuck in the competition for 9.95. … And she’s only 4th in the UCLA line-up, after Peszek.
@gymnastike: “This looks like the UCLA of last year.”
Michelle Stout is crooked on Blind change, and, as a result, misses Jaeger. What a shame. She’s a wonderful gymnast. … With 2 falls on Bars now, I predict Arkansas is OUT of the Super 6. Too bad. They are such a pretty, petite team.
Wow. Nice vault for Michigan’s Joanna Sampson (9.90)
Oklahoma looking strong on Bars. Fantastic landings. They and UCLA have the momentum … but both are yet to get to BEAM.
Surprise, surprise … Shayla Worley falls on Floor. I’m starting to feel rotten for her, one of my favourite gymnasts, as an Elite. Nuccio’s OOB and near fall. Mauro falls on double front. Georgia will not move on. McComb (9.90) had an excellent routine and has a shot to win the Floor final.
… Kat Ding misses vault, badly. Georgia really has to do something for next season. This is a terrible day for a talented team. Winners ‘find a way to win’.
Kylee Botterman’s looking like the AA Champion, so far.
Barring disaster on Beam (always possible) I see UCLA, Oklahoma and Michigan getting through to the Super 6. Four of the six flights are complete.
9.925 for Monique DeLaTorre was too high. But UCLA did keep it rolling on Bars. Hit 6 for 6.
Peszek’s Geinger is monster HIGH.
Oklahoma 6 for 6 on Beam. They are through to the Super 6 for sure. (196.775) … I’m surprised that number’s not higher.
Lukewarm response to ‘colour’ commentary by Dominique Moceanu from the small, very knowledgeable crowd at prelims. She’s a bit of a polarizing personality.
Hello from Cleveland.
Friday, Apr. 15
Semifinal 1 (Noon ET)
Semifinal 2 (6 pm)
There’s PLENTY of coverage online. I’ll not be posting from the meet LIVE (likely) as I don’t have a media credential this year. There are pros and cons with that … the NCAA imposes all sorts of rules and restrictions. UPDATE: There’s free wifi in the arena – what a nice surprise.
Who will win team?
Aunt Joyce likes Alabama, and thinks UCLA could finish high, if they HIT.
Others are predicting Oklahoma.
I still think this meet is Florida’s to lose. But really anyone who qualifies to the Super 6 could win if they have a perfect meet.
… First priority, however, is finishing top 3 in today’s qualification preliminaries.
I love these viral videos. Supposedly informal camcorder footage … where Beckham happens to be holding a Pepsi.
Click PLAY or watch David Beckham on YouTube.
Why can’t we have more featuring gymnasts?
The best special effects gymnastics commercial so far has been the Adidas Impossible is Nothing ad featuring Nastia and Nadia.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Tumblr is a microblogging platform that allows users to post text, images, videos, links, quotes and audio to their tumblelog, a short-form blog. Users can follow other users, or choose to make their tumblelog private. The service emphasizes ease of use …
Tumblr makes a painfully limited alternative to WordPress, but a fantastic alternative to Twitter.
People love it.
As of January 7, 2011 Tumblr included more than 2.6 billion total posts and nearly 12 million total blogs. …
Gymnastics Tumblrs (there are many) pass on interesting videos and photos. This one of the Russian women’s team, for example:
I tracked back that image to see where it had come from via WHAT MY REVERIES ARE MADE OF and aliyamustafina and It’s About Artistic Gymnastics. And others on Tumblr.
Turns out it was originally taken from AliyaMustafina.ru. (not online as I post)
Tumblr looks like fun. But very quickly the original source of material will be lost.
It’s free if you want to try it – Tumblr.com
Gymnastics Coaching.com 