tumbling, tramp, diving, acrobatics, circus, cheer, dance, martial arts, X sports … and more
Morgan Dennis from Alabama was “routine of the night” in my books.
Fantastic difficult tumbling. And a funky, wild crowd pleasing routine that really suited her.
Like so many NCAA gymnasts, she’s a top student as well. Four-year honor student. National Honor Society.
ROLL TIDE.
I told Grace’s father I could not sit beside him during the final.
It would be too tense.
She was great!
My favourite routine, again, was Corey Hartung. Silky smooth. (I’ll post that routine and other highlights over the next couple of weeks as they become available on YouTube.)
Overall beam is the best apparatus in the NCAA. Much more maturity than the young kids in age group gymnastics.
Kupets had the best routine with two huge releases. But she includes a low shoot 1/2 over low that really puts me off. It should be deducted.
Bars was very good at Championships. And in finals. Some great amplitude on releases and dismounts.
But this is one event final to judge yourself if you are lucky enough to see the TV broadcast. You will get a different ranking even using NCAA rules.
It’s a shame that girls who have great line, great technique, hit exact handstand, have perfect toe point passing the low bar on giants — seem to get no credit.
Tasha – ESPN
The girl to beat this year, was not beat.
Courtney Kupets is fantastic.
I hope she tries out for the American Olympic team for 2008.
However, vault finals were a “let down” for me.
Gymnasts qualified with one vault. Then must average two different vaults (not different families) in finals.
I’ve always disliked this system. It results in some gymnasts competing a weaker second vault. Or poor performance of second vaults. There were a number of falls tonight.
For example, here’s what the champion had to say in the post-meet interview:
Question: “Tonight you won with two different vaults. Do you or any other girls train using two different vaults?”
Courtney: “I don’t regularly train on two separate vaults. My second vault tonight I haven’t done in about 6-8 months. But your muscles know what to do, that’s what training is for. You always keep that second vault in the back of your head.”
Is that smart? Is that safe?
Finals should be the same format as preliminaries. It’s obvious.
Incidentally, there were only one or two forward approach vaults done in the entire Championships. It’s almost 100% Yurchenko right now.
Live from the 2007 National Championships …
Watching warm-ups I sat in the Georgia cheering section. Everyone is still incredibly psyched with the three-peat team win the night before. Excited to host Championships in 2008.
I spoke with the injured Georgia gymnasts — seniors Ashley Kupets and Kelsey Ericksen — as well, disappointed they couldn’t compete. But thrilled the team was still able to win without them.
The biggest knock against NCAA Women’s gymnastics in the past has been the high injury rate. This is well documented.
But here at Championships the girls look very healthy. Very fit.
Perhaps I am not seeing those who were injured and never made it to Salt Lake City.
The laser light show has begun.
It’s SHOW TIME!
Georgia’s planned Stegeman Coliseum Annex and Gymnastics Training Facility opens in the next few months.
Turns out I’m not the only one writing live (actually Neil was blogging from afar by watching live scoring on the internet) on the NCAA Championships.
For example, here’s a post by Neil:
Georgia wins third straight NCAA title
Katie Heenan, who had a 9.9 on floor and beam, and a 9.95 on vault, has three national championship rings and has already predicted winning another one next year, when Georgia hosts the 2008 NCAA Championships.
“I’m not leaving here without four championships,†she said. “I’m going out 4-and-0.â€
southchild » Blog Archive » Georgia wins third straight NCAA title
New European Champion men individual allround Maxim Deviatovski of Russia performs on the rings during the European Championships Artistic Gymnastics in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Saturday April 28, 2007.
Fabian Hambuechen of Germany won silver, Yuri Ryazanov of Russia bronze.
(AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
UPDATE: Check the comments on this post. They concern the number of men’s gymnastics teams cut using Title IX as an excuse.
The women’s NCAA Championships has only been held for 26 years. It started in 1982.
Very successful today, how much credit can be given to Title IX legislation?
From the NCAA website:
In June, we will celebrate the 35th anniversary of Title IX, the historic legislation that assured equality for men and women in education. In the 1950s, there weren’t many opportunities for women in higher education, but when Birch Bayh pioneered the legislation that prohibited gender discrimination in any federally funded education program, the world changed forever.
If you think my words are overly dramatic, think again. In the last 15 years, Stanford has added seven varsity teams in women’s sports, increased the number of its female student-athletes from 220 to 400 and more than doubled the amount of athletics financial aid provided to female student-athletes.
The advancements have occurred on campuses across the nation. Title IX alerted colleges and universities to blatant inequity, and in the last 35 years, significant progress has been made.
There is still a long way to go, however, and that’s why I’m on the campus of Stanford this morning, attending the “Title IX Today, Title IX Tomorrow†conference.
Some of the most influential people in women’s sports history are here, including Billie Jean King, Donna Lopiano, Anita DeFrantz and Judy Sweet. Today’s itinerary will serve as a celebration, but also an idea exchange, as we look for ways to progress women’s athletics in today’s world of college sports.
Sounds good.
So why do only 65 of 365 division 1 NCAA Universities have women’s gymnastics teams? When you add in division 2 and 3 schools, the total is still only 86.
Why are numbers still declining? (Though Arkansas added a team in 2003 and has been very successful.)
Other women’s sports are growing: rowing and bowling, for example.
Seems to me that economics at each University is a far more important factor than easily skirted Title IX legislation.
Leave a COMMENT if you have an opinion.
After having become all-around World Champion last year in Aarhus Vanessa Ferrari from Italy also won this competition today with the score of 61.075 and is the 2007 all-around European Champion!
The silver medal went to Sandra Izbasa from Romania (59.900) and the elegant Ukrainian Alina Kozich won the bronze medal (59.300).
Overall quite a few insecurities and falls were seen today, only the top 3 remained without falls or major mistakes…
descriptions of routines on GymMedia
After watching the rock solid consistent routines of the NCAA women, I suspect I’d be discouraged by the number of falls and errors seen at Europeans as those competitors struggle to meet difficult FIG requirements.
The most detailed article I’ve yet seen on the art of Parkour including Insightful personal interviews with the founder:
Parkour was created in Lisses, a medium prosperous suburb of Paris, in the early nineteen-nineties, by a reserved and restless teen-age boy named David Belle.
His father, Raymond, who died in 1999, was an acrobat and a hero fireman. In 1969, he appeared in newspaper photographs hanging from a cable attached to a helicopter above Notre Dame. The night before, someone had hung a Vietcong flag on the cathedral’s tower. Raymond was lowered like a spider on a thread, and he grabbed the flag.
David Belle is now thirty-three. …
The Sporting Scene: No Obstacles: Reporting & Essays: The New Yorker
from the movie District B13
Gymnastics Coaching.com 