Gymnastics Coaching.com

He qualified #1 into the all-around final.

But the defending NCAA 2008 champion is recovering from a sprained toe he suffered less than two weeks ago at the Big Ten Championship.

On Wednesday night, Penn State’s Casey Sandy won the Nissen-Emery Award, given annually to the top senior.

“It is a great honor for Casey,” Penn State head coach Randy Jepson said. “There are so many complimentary things I can say about him but there is one thing that epitomizes his success at Penn State. He is the only athlete I have ever had who has never uttered a complaint or spoke an ill word about anything we have done with our program. He has always been the consummate worker who brings out the best in those around him. I couldn’t be happier for his success.” …

read more – Amanda Turner on IG – Stanford Leads Qualifying at Men’s NCAA Championships

Good luck Casey.

Here are the Super Six qualifiers to the Men’s NCAA Gymnastics Championships Team Finals tomorrow:

Stanford – 361.10
Oklahoma – 360.95
Illinois – 359.30
Michigan – 358.30
Cal – 357.55
Ohio State – 354.30

Top All-Arounders:

Casey Sandy (Penn State) – 90.50
Paul Ruggeri (Illinois) – 90.45
Glen Ishino (Cal) – 90.15
Steven Legendre (OU) – 90.10
Jake Bateman (OSU) – 88.80

For more commentary and full results click through to Stick It Media – Super Six Advance to 2009 NCAA Men’s Gymnastics Championships

Gopher Sport

Hey … I just bumped into Jon Horton in the elevator at the Women’s NCAA Championships. Why isn’t he at Minnesota cheering on his Oklahoma Sooners?

Jon’s here supporting his fiance Haley DeProspero, of course. This is her last NCAA competition.

Jon couldn’t be in two places at once.

What a shame the two Gymnastics Championships meets were not scheduled on two different weekends, as they normally are.

Utah’s Kristina Baskett scored 39.60. Not enough to overtake Kupets.

While Georgia’s preliminary competition in the NCAA Gymnastics Championships was far from flawless Thursday, senior Courtney Kupets was perfect as she scored a 10.0 on the balance beam to seal her third NCAA all-around title.

Kupets finished with a 39.8 to win the award and become the first gymnast since Kentucky’s Jenny Hansen (1993-95) to win three NCAA all-around titles. …

“She reminds me of an angel with wings when she comes down on her landings,” Georgia coach Suzanne Yoculan said. “She is a joy to watch, so soft and graceful. She makes it all seem so effortless.”

In addition to claiming the all-around title, Kupets’ scores qualified her for Saturday’s event finals on every event. She has won NCAA championships on vault (2007), uneven bars (2006) and the balance beam (2006). She couldn’t compete in the NCAA Championships last year because of an Achilles tendon injury.

As dominant as she was Thursday, Kupets acknowledged that the past several weeks have had their low points as the pressure of facing her final collegiate meet led to some rough practices.

“I got down on myself, and that made it worse,” she said. “I got some negativity going, and I’m not good with negativity, and that made me even more frustrated with myself.”

Kupets got so frustrated she tried to talk Yoculan into letting her sit out of the all-around at the regional competition. Yoculan would have none of that, and Kupets went on to win the all-around, vault and uneven bars titles.

That success put Kupets back on track for nationals as her expectations led to big scores, not meltdowns.

“She is a perfectionist at everything, and she puts a lot of pressure on herself at everything she does,” Yoculan said.

Gym Dogs’ Kupets wins NCAA all-around title

Moving on to the Super 6 team finals, all but Utah are from the Southeast Conference of the NCAA.

Alabama
Arkansas
Florida
Georgia
LSU
Utah

All hail.

With a team score of 197.025, the Crimson Tide won the evening session and qualified as one of six teams to reach Friday’s 6 p.m. finals. Five of those teams are from the Southeastern Conference, the first time one league has landed that many in the Super Six.

Arkansas (196.950) finished second to Alabama in the evening session, while Georgia, Florida and LSU swept the top three spots in the afternoon competition. Utah edged UCLA on a tiebreaker to secure the final spot.

Bama Beat – Gym Tide rolls into NCAA Super Six finals

Alabama – Roll Tide

Here are the team scores from the second session, just complete.

full results

Utah and UCLA both had enough errors to be eliminated. But TIED in score. The tie breaker was to average all 6 scores, rather than the top 5. After some delay … we were told that Utah had the higher score.

Individuals Advancing to Event Finals (so far):

Vault: 1. Susan Jackson, LSU (9.95); 1. Ashleigh Clare-Kearney, LSU (9.95); 3. Tiffany Tolnay, Georgia (9.925); 4. Maranda Smith, Florida (9.90); 4. Courtney Kupets, Georgia (9.90); 4. Staci Schwitkis, LSU (9.90); 4. Whitney Bencsko, Penn State (9.90); 4. Jessica Lopez, Denver (9.90); Sarah Shire, Missouri (9.90)

Bars: 1. Courtney Kupets, Georgia (9.95); 2. Grace Taylor, Georgia (9.90); 2. Carly Janiga, Stanford (9.90); 4. Melanie Sinclair, Florida (9.875); 4. Alicia Goodwin, Florida (9.875); 4. Kathryn Ding, Georgia (9.875); Summer Hubbard, LSU (9.875); Ashleigh Clare-Kearney (9.875); Alexandra Brockway, Penn State (9.875); 4. Nicole Ourada, Stanford (9.875)

Beam: 1. Courtney Kupets, Georgia (10.0); 2. Grace Taylor, Georgia (9.95); 2. Courtney McCool, Georgia (9.95); 4.Megan Ferguson, Oklahoma (9.90)

Floor: 1. Courtney Kupets, Georgia (9.95); 2. Tiffany Tolnay, Georgia (9.90); 2. Ashleigh Clare-Kearney, LSU (9.90); 4. Corey Hartung, Florida (9.875); 4. Brandi Personett, Penn State (9.875)

Georgia, Florida, LSU Lead SEC Surge to Super Six

Kupets

more photos from Thursday Session 1

Team results from the first of two flights.

MGoBlue

Thursday’s prelims will pit No. 1 Stanford against No. 4 Michigan, No. 5 Cal, No. 8 Penn State, No. 9 Nebraska and No. 12 Navy.

In session two, No. 2 Oklahoma will face off against No. 3 Illinois, No. 6 Ohio State, No. 7 Minnesota, No. 10 Chicago Circle and No. 11 Iowa. The top three teams from each session will advance to Friday’s team finals.

Inside Gymnastics – MEN’S NCAA PREVIEW

First let me say what an honour it is to have anything to do with the NCAA Championships. This is a class act.

Results, so far …

Georgia 197.450 – ADVANCE
Florida 196.375 – ADVANCE
LSU 196.300 – ADVANCE

Stanford 196.225
Penn State 196.100
Oklahoma 195.825

After the first of 2 prelimary sessions today, congratulations to the 3 who move on to Team finals.

My own ranking — without actually scoring the routines — was Georgia, Stanford, LSU.

All the teams had problems today, even Georgia. Who would predict their rock solid Beam start Hillary Mauro would fall?

Courtney Kupets was amazing. Scored 10.0 on Beam. And could easily have been given 10.0 on Bars instead of the 9.95 she was awarded. Her 9.95 on Floor should have been a bit lower, however. I don’t think Kupets can be beaten. This will be her 3rd NCAA All-around title in 4 years.

Courtney is truly one of the greatest gymnasts of all time.

All-around results, after half the gymnasts have competed.

full results

I had hoped Kristina Baskett from Utah would take the title this year. But her chances to win look slim. Kristina competes in the second session.

Courtney Kupets – HuskersExtra.com

A great site to follow for video interviews, photos and commentary.

Gymnastike will be covering the 2009 NCAA Championships in Lincoln, Nebraska. The Georgia Gym Dogs look to capture their 10th NCAA title and 5th in a row for Coach Suzanne Yoculan’s final season at UGA. They will vie for the coveted team title with a very strong #2 Utah team, SEC Champions Alabama, super six-worthy LSU, Pac 10 Champions UCLA, #4 Stanford, the bruised and broken Florida Gators who refuse to let up, #8 Oregon State, #9 Oklahoma, up-and-coming Arkansas, #11 Penn State, and Illinois in their first-ever NCAA Championship bid. It’s going to be exciting!

Gymnastike – competition home page

original – Anne Phillips

… Georgia coach Suzanne Yoculan is preparing for the next chapter of her career.

After this week’s NCAA Championships in Lincoln, Neb., Yoculan’s plans include doing professional public speaking. Today, she is launching a website, SuzanneYoculan.com, so that businesses, clubs, coaches and anyone else interested in lining her up for a speaking engagement can get in touch with her. …

GeorgiaDogs.com

Check it out.

SuzanneYoculan.com

The defending NCAA Men’s Gymnastics All-around Champion from last season, Casey Sandy, won the Nissen-Emery Award.

The “Heisman Trophy of Men’s Gymnastics” was awarded at a banquet Wednesday prior to the NCAA Championships, which are slated for Thursday-Saturday the Sports Pavilion on the University of Minnesota campus.

CONGRATULATIONS.

Thanks to Stacy Clark for sending me the good news.