My concern for the future of NCAA Gymnastics by Greg Marsden:
… We may soon find ourselves in a battle for our continued existence. Since we can never win the sponsorship numbers game, we must find some other way to distinguish ourselves. The only way I can see to do that is to put more people in the stands and have higher television ratings than other sports. If we’re filling the stands and television wants us, we might have a chance. If television doesn’t care, we may not.
Lindenwood University, a small school nestled by the Missouri River on the outskirts of St. Louis, did not even have a gymnastics program three years ago. Now, they are USA Gymnastics Collegiate National Champions.
This meteoric rise to a national title, led by Head Coach Jen Kesler who is just 25 years old, was punctuated at the USA Gymnastics Women’s Collegiate National Championships in Philadelphia by a resounding team score of 195.550, the second-highest in the program’s three short years. …
Stanford team member and former elite gymnast, Tabitha Yim, has been named as the Arizona Wildcats women’s gymnastics Head Coach, following the retirement of former head coach and successor, Bill Ryden. …
… The 29 year old has said “I’m excited to join the Arizona family and am looking forward to building off of the tradition of success that Coach Gault and Coach Ryden started here. …
I still remember fondly the first time I visited Stanford. Everyone had forgotten I was coming. Tabitha Yim, a gymnast on the team at the time, was the one who came over to introduce herself and welcome a strange visitor.
II. Pommel Horse- circles and flairs to handstand (dismounts and returning to the horse)
There is no deduction for bending of the hips while attempting to reach a handstand from circles or flairs. Deductions can be taken for hesitation, strength, bent arms, lowering of the hips, and unsteadiness.
In contrast scissors to handstand do have a deduction for bending of the hips.
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IV. Handguard (grip) Break during an Exercise (Rings or Horizontal Bar)
A gymnast with a significantly torn handguard (grip), causing a fall or interruption, may repeat the entire exercise without deduction at the end of the rotation with approval by the Superior Jury or, if they are the last gymnast in the rotation, at a time at the discretion of the Superior Jury.
The gymnast must immediately show the broken handguard (grip) to the D1 judge before leaving the podium in order to receive permission to repeat the exercise.
recall Zhang at Worlds 2014?
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V. Falls (time permitted to restart exercise)
Gymnasts receive a -1.0 deduction for all falls from the apparatus and have 30 seconds (after the gymnast is on his feet) to restart their exercise. If the gymnast exceeds the allowable time to resume their exercise, an additional -0.3 N.D. for excessive time will be applied if the gymnast continues their exercise. The exercise will be terminated if the gymnast has not resumed within 60 seconds.
No salute is necessary to resume an exercise from a fall. The exercise officially resumes when the feet leave the mat.
