J.O. USA National Teams

Junior, 16-18
Adrian de los Angeles, Long Beach, Calif.
Jonathan Deaton, Longmeadow, Mass.
Jesse Glenn, Northridge, Calif.
Jake Martin, Oviedo, Fla.
Max Mayr, Miami, Fla.
Donnell Whittenburg, Baltimore, Md.
Alex Johnson, Marysville, Ohio

Junior 14-15
Sean Melton, Orlando, Fla.
Timothy Wang, Corona, Calif.
Akash Modi, Morganville, N.J.
Marvin Kimble, Milwaukee, Wis.
Daniel DiBenedetto, Vernon, Conn
Jesse Himmelsbach, Butler, Ky
Hunter Justus, Cypress, Texas
Allan Bower, Chandler, Ariz.

Team photos on Gymnastike

Gymnastics Examiner – Complete results: Junior men’s finals at the 2011 U.S. Championships

Danell Leyva VISA Champion

USAG:

Danell Leyva of Homestead, Fla./Team Hilton HHonors, captured the senior men’s all-around title tonight at the 2011 Visa Championships inside the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minn. Leyva wowed the crowned on the horizontal bar in the last rotation to claim the title with a two-day combined all-around total of 183.800. …

“It feels great – amazing,” Leyva said minutes after claiming his first U.S. national title. “To fulfill one of the goals you put on paper, to be able to scratch one of those off the list, it is an amazing feeling.” …

Two-time defending champion Jonathan Horton of Houston/Team Hilton HHonors, pushed Leyva the entire competition. However, a fall in the fifth rotation on his strongest event, the high bar, made it impossible to catch Leyva, who suffered no major mistakes during either night’s competition. …

USAG – Leyva captures first U.S. all-around title at the 2011 Visa Championships

That link gets you to full results, so far.

Update from USAG:

USA Gymnastics named 10 of the 15 members of the U.S. Senior National Team after the conclusion of the men’s competition at the 2011 Visa Championships. Ten gymnasts were selected to the Senior National Team based on a points system with five athletes selected by committee and announced on Saturday. In addition, the 2011 U.S. World Championships Team will be announced by Saturday night.

U.S. senior national team
Paul Ruggeri, Manlius, N.Y/University of Illinois
Sho Nakamori, Albany, Calif./Stanford University
Sam Mikulak, Ann Arbor, Mich./University of Michigan
Glen Ishino, Santa Ana, Calif./University of California – Berkeley
Donothan Bailey, Lake Forest, Calif./University of California – Berkely
Alex Buscaglia, Stanford, Calif./Stanford University
Jake Dalton, Reno, Nev./University of Oklahoma
Jonathan Horton, Houston/Team Hilton HHonors
Steven Legendre, Port Jefferson, N.Y./Team Hilton Honors
Danell Leyva, Homestead, Fla./Team Hilton HHonors
C.J. Maestas, Corrales, N.M./University of Illinois
Alexander Naddour, Gilbert, Ariz./University of Oklahoma
John Orozco, Bronx, N.Y., U.S. Olympic Training Center
Brandon Wynn, Voorhees, N.J./Team Hilton HHonors

Paul Ruggeri, Donothan Bailey, Sho Nakamori, Sam Mikulak and Glen Ishino were added.

Blythe Lawrence commentary …

more concussions to female athletes

So says Carol DeMatteo, an investigator with CanChild Centre for Childhood Disability Research at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario:

… “We’re seeing more and more girls with concussions,” she tells CTV News.

“Our clinics now are 50/50. And most of those girls have repeated injuries,” she adds.

Brantford, Ont. high school cheerleader Shannon Russell is one of those who’ve been injured. During practice one day in October, 2009, she got kicked in the back of the head and knocked unconscious. The hit left her with a concussion.

“I had short-term memory loss for a few weeks and major headaches,” she says. …

read more on CTV – Some worry girls’ concussions are being ignored

The article doesn’t mention Artistic gymnastics, yet includes this photo:

Mary Atkinson of Arizona State hits the vault during her exercise in the individual event finals during the NCAA gymnastics championships in Gainesville, Fla., Saturday, April 24, 2010. (AP / Phil Sandlin)

Aside from that vault, I’m happy to say that Artistic gymnasts are at lower risk of concussion than most other sports, … aside from swimming. 🙂

(via Gymnastics Examiner)

American gymnasts criticized

During podium training there was nothing but praise for the competitors at USAG VISA Championships.

… but after one (really) bad meet, the lasers are firing.

(via I Flip, You Flip, We Flip!)

What went down, will probably go up.

_____

Just the opposite buzz from the Moscow Cup:

… The Russians are not in as bad shape as previously thought. Losing Mustafina is a blow, but their World title is not necessarily gone. With Dementyeva, Ksenia Afanasyeva, Komova, Tatiana Nabieva and one or two less experienced but still capable gymnasts like Yulia Belokobylskaya on the team, they should make a formidable showing in Tokyo. …

Gymnastics Examiner – Must-sees: New floors from Anna Dementyeva, Ksenia Afanasyeva and Vika Komova

Having Komova back really does make TEAM RUSSIA much more competitive. Yet I still predict USA will be the team to beat in Tokyo.

coaching job at MEGA

Midwest Elite Gymnastics Academy (MEGA) has a team coaching position that could be full-time. And another job available in Rec.

Contact Bill Williamson – General Mgr.
bill.williamson AT megaofelgin.com

Russian Cup – Komova Bars

International Gymnast Magazine on Facebook is linking routines from Russian Cup – Vika Komova is back and looking pretty good just 3 months after minor ankle surgery!

Click PLAY or watch her on YouTube.

women with abs unhealthy?

Hardbody blasts GMA

Good Morning America (GMA) did a piece on Women who are toned or “too toned” in their words. Recently Cameron Diaz was seen rock’n a Hardbody and that has people up in arms. God forbid a woman eat healthy, workout and have abs. …

http://abcnews.go.com/assets/player/walt2.69/flash/SFP_Walt_2_69.swf

33.8% of American adults were obese in 2008, yet GMA green-lights a story about the less than 1% who are super lean, costing the health system almost nothing.

… Remind me never to watch Good Morning America.

P.S. There are old men. And fat men. But no old, fat men.

introducing straight body cast

Good drills. Good kids.

Click PLAY or watch them on YouTube.

The hands can be forward like that for beginners. Later, of course, the forward angle of the arms should approach 45 degrees as the gymnast gets stronger in the planche.

(via Video Tutorial Guide)

Mirela Pasca vs PRK gymnast

To take your mind off the awful VISA Sr Championships, check out how Romanian great Mirela Pasca handles an intruder on her Floor.

Click PLAY or watch Mirela on YouTube. (after 2nd tumbling pass)

Have you ever seen anything like that?

… and I’m not talking about the bizarre Romanian choreography of that era. (1987)

Thank gymnasticsstuff for the link.