Gymnastics Coaching.com

So much attention goes to Georgia, Alabama, Utah and the other BIG NAME schools, that great gymnasts in the rest-of-the-NCAA are overshadowed.

For example, I’d never heard of Elise Wheeler from Southern Utah. Nor met her great coaches until this year. (Watch an interview with Scott Bauman, Southern Utah Head Coach.)

Elise is the first gymnast in SUU history to collect All-American accolades, qualifying to 2 Finals.

… “This was just an amazing performance tonight,” head coach Scott Bauman said following the meet. “To qualify for one event was a big deal, but to qualify for two is absolutely huge! This is an incredible night for Elise and an incredible night for our program.” …

Southern Utah Thunderbirds – Elise Wheeler Advances to NCAA Finals on Bars and Beam – Earns All-American Honors

Click PLAY or watch her Bars in podium training on Gymnastike.

http://www.gymnastike.org/assets/portal/add_ons/mediaplayer-4.2/player.swf

Who says College gymnasts have bad line on Bars?

How many other wonderful College gymnasts do we never hear about?

With much speculation as to what 3 time NCAA Gymnastics Champion Courtney Kupets will do next year … whatever happened to her big sister, Ashley Kupets?

… Former UGA gymnast and USA National Team Member, Ashley Kupets is done with her competitive gymnastics career, but has found a way to take all her training and skills to a new level as a member of the cast of La Reve at the Wynn Theater in Las Vegas.

Ashley, the older sister of the newly crowned 2009 NCAA All Around Gymnastics champion Courtney Kupets, wasn’t sure what to do job-wise when she graduated from UGA. Even with a degree in graphic design, she just felt the need to act or perform – something she had been doing since she was a little girl in the gymnastics arena. …

read more – Sports Girls Play – Former Gymdog Ashley Kupets Flying High in Vegas

Circus is a great option for gymnasts who cannot retire from acrobatics.

TEAM RESULTS: 1. Stanford, 362.800; 2. Michigan, 361.5; 3. Oklahoma, 361.2; 4. Cal, 361.15; 5. Illinois, 359.3; 6. Ohio State, 355.95.

ALL-AROUND RESULTS: 1. Steven Legendre (OU) 90.5, 2. Glen Ishino (Cal) 90.0, 3. Paul Ruggeri (Illinois) 89.5, 4. Kyson Bunthuwong (Cal) 89.0, 5. Kyle Bunthuwong (Cal) 88.7, 6. Chris Brooks (OU) 88.45, 7. Casey Sandy (Penn State) 88.4.

Congratulations to #1 ranked Stanford who put it together when it counted after “strangling” this meet last year at home.

This article has great quotes from Stanford Head Coach Thom Glielmi.

It was supposed to be close. It was supposed to be a fight to the finish. And, while the winner was in question throughout the final rotation, when the dust settled, the Stanford Cardinal sat atop the leader board by a sizeable margin—a full 1.3 ahead of surprise second-place Michigan (362.8 to 361.5). …

Stanford’s unique audience participation wasn’t the only thing that made the night interesting. While the Stanford-Oklahoma rematch was supposed to be the storyline, with Illinois considered the dark horse, someone forgot to tell Michigan and Cal.

Both teams put together outstanding nights—Cal lead the field by more than a point heading into the sixth rotation—but it was Michigan who came out of seemingly nowhere to push past a shocked Oklahoma squad for second. …

Inside Gymnastics – 2009 MEN’S NCAAS: FINALLY, IT’S STANFORD

IG – Stanford Men Win Fourth NCAA Team Title

She’s so cute.

Everyone loves Grace Taylor, the defending NCAA Beam Champion.

In this post-meet interview Grace talks about how Georgia came back to win their the 10th Team Title.

Click PLAY or watch it on Gymnastike.

http://www.gymnastike.org/assets/portal/add_ons/mediaplayer-4.2/player.swf

From InsideGym on Twitter:

MEN’S NCAAS Super 6 FINAL:

1. Stanford 362.7
2. Michigan 361.5
3. Oklahoma 361.2
4. Cal 361.15
5. Illinois 359.3
6. Ohio 355.95

MEN’S NCAA AA:

1. Steve Legendre, 90.05
2. Glen Ishino
3. Paul Ruggeri

Performances tonight were much better than preliminaries, in general. The girls looked more relaxed.

Qualifying for the Super 6 Team final is the biggest pressure cooker of all. (Ask Oregon, Stanford, UCLA and the other 3 teams that did not make it in the preliminary round yesterday.)

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Congratulations to the Super 6 Gymnastics Teams 2009.

Georgia 197.825
Alabama 197.575
Utah 197.425
Florida 196.725
Arkansas 196.475
LSU 196.375

You are all awesome!

It’s amazing Florida was able to finish 4th despite all their injuries to key gymnasts. And Arkansas can be very, very proud of what they’ve done this year.

And they deserved it rocking Floor and Vault in the last 2 rotations.

It was obvious that Georgia was the best team.

All hail.

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It was a perfect start and finish for Courtney Kupets, and a perfect ending to Suzanne Yoculan’s 26-year career at Georgia.

The Gym Dogs sent out their retiring coach with a fifth straight national title and record 10th overall at the NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Championships on Friday night.

Kupets, who won her third all-around title in four years on Thursday, opened the evening with a 10 on the uneven bars and wrapped up her collegiate career with a 10 on the vault. …

Georgia finished with a four-event score of 197.825, easily beating the 197.450 it posted at last year’s national meet. Alabama, which upset Georgia at the Southeastern Conference meet, was runner-up with 197.575. Utah, runner-up the last three years, was third with 197.425.

Florida (196.725), Arkansas (196.475) and LSU (196.375) followed as the SEC sent five of its seven gymnastics programs to the Super Six, an unprecedented feat for a conference.

NY Times – Georgia Sends Yoculan Out With 10th Gym Title

Some day someone will beat Georgia at Championships.

But don’t count on it next year. They are very deep.

He tied the highest score in the NCAA this season with a 16.0 on the pommel horse at NCAA Men’s Championships preliminaries.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

(via Stick it Media)

Team Finals go tonight in Minnesota.

… Featuring five teams from the SEC, the women’s championship in Lincoln, Nebraska will also feature Utah, who won a tiebreaker against UCLA in the second session to advance. Led by second-overall finished Kristina Baskett, with an all-around of 39.60, Utah won an individual tiebreaker over UCLA, who also scored 196.625 overall. The final teams joining the Utes include Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida and LSU. …

College Apparel – Competition Heats up in NCAA Gymnastics Championships

Here’s a promo for the competition.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

It’s going to be thrilling.

Kylie, from Calgary, Canada, had a fantastic season. But her team did not qualify for Championships … even though they are hosting.

She was the only Husker to qualify to the meet, in the all-around.

… Junior Kylie Stone, Nebraska’s lone qualifier for the NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Championships, injured her calf four days ago. She was supposed to compete as an all-arounder, but decided Thursday that she would only be able to compete in the uneven bars.

“Yesterday at practice, I couldn’t really do anything,” Stone said. “My calf was still hurting to run, well, to walk, actually. I figured if you can’t run, you can’t really do anything else.”

Despite the injury, Stone was able to give Huskers fans a show. She finished tied for seventh with a 9.85 score. …

Stone competes in just one event – Husker Extra

Kylie did not make the Bars Final.