Gymnastics Coaching.com

Some of the best vaulters did not qualify to Finals. I wanted to see Em Parsons from Nebraska, for example. She didn’t make it.

It’s easy for me to predict scores in the NCAA. Except on vault. Those can mystify. A “perfect” vault will score only 9.80. Yet the next girl will show a flawed vault and score 9.90. Those rules need to be revised.

Vault Finals was a let-down. The weakest apparatus of the four in Finals.

Under NCAA rules the girls qualify with ONE vault. Then are required to compete TWO “different” vaults in Finals. That format is almost always a mistake. It’s unfair. It’s unsafe. (I know some of the top NCAA coaches feel this way too.)

As a result, many of the finalists tonight had either a relatively simple second vault. Or a difficult second vault with which they are less comfortable. We saw errors and even falls.

Congratulations to those who survived the stupid regulations to get to the podium:

1. Susan Jackson, LSU
2. Kristina Baskett, Utah
3. Julie Dwyer, Auburn

full results and photos

Baskett did good and safe Yurchenko 1/1 and Yurchenko 3/2.

Coach D-D Breaux confirmed what I expected. Even the champion did not train two vaults regularly:

Susan trains one vault throughout the year. … she trained for two routines in loose foam just towards the end of the season. It was just pure athleticism.

Marcia Newby said she had not done her second vault in 4 years.

Eighteen competitors qualified for Finals. Wow.

It was a great show. The “winners” are not much separated from the rest of the field.

1. Tasha Schwikert, UCLA
2. Katie Heenan, Georgia
3. Kristina Comforte, UCLA

full results and photos

Highlights:

superb handstand work, almost Chinese, from many girls

bad “line”, not deducted, from more than a few

highest Tkachev = Anna Li, UCLA

second highest Tkachev = Ashleigh Clare-Kearney, LSU

double layout full twist – Summer Hubbard, LSU

Comaneci salto – Grace Taylor, Georgia (love that trick!)

Dismounts were strong, in general. Seeing Ashley Postell get big deductions on double front (form and landing) reminded me why it is not good dismount for most kids. Double layout has far more potential.

It’s strange seeing high level gymnasts still doing simple sole circle bar transfers, allowed under NCAA rules.

As goes Ashley Postell, so go the Utah Utes, Head Coach Greg Marsden is oft to say.

Utah’s team finish in the last four years has mirrored Postell’s all-around finish. Postell was third as a freshman in 2005 and placed second the last three years.

Though she never won the NCAA All-Around, Ashley is arguably the greatest college gymnast ever.

• Postell tied the Utah record for all-around wins in a season with her victory tonight. She had 11 all-around wins this season, tying the record set by Suzanne Metz in 1995.

• Postell finishes her career with every Utah victory record:
– Career Wins: 120
– Single Season Wins: 47
– Career All-Around Wins: 30
– Single Season All-Around Wins: 11

• Postell has won more All-America awards than any gymnast in NCAA history. Her 20 All-America citations – the most possible – breaks the old mark of 18 held by Alabama’s Jeana Rice (2001-04). Postell’s 17 first-team All-America awards ties her for first with Alabama’s Dee Foster (1990-93).

Team Information & Notes – Georgia Dogs

Today she was named AAI Senior Gymnast of the Year. No debate on that.

Ashley is in 3 event finals tonight. She’s the defending champion on beam.

Utah’s Ashley Postell performs on the beam during the NCAA women’s gymnastics championships Friday, April 25, 2008, in Athens, Ga. Utah finished in second place.

(AP Photo/John Amis) – ESPN

Leave a comment if you can name a better College gymnast, all time.

Congratulations to Head Coach Suzanne Yoculan and the entire program. After 4 consecutive wins we have to call this a DYNASTY.

Georgia Dogs

1. University of Georgia 197.450
2. University of Utah 197.125
3. Stanford University 196.750
4. University of Florida 196.700
5. Louisiana State University 196.350
6. University of Alabama 196.125

full results

… Georgia is now tied with Utah with nine NCAA titles and is the first team to win four straight titles since the Utes ran off a string of five consecutive championships from 1982-86. …

“I can’t say enough about this team,” Georgia head coach Suzanne Yoculan said. “They just get it. They know what it takes to win at the highest level and under extreme pressure, and proved that again tonight.

“This senior class will leave Georgia with four titles in four years,” she continued. “Not many athletes in any sport get to accomplish that, but these girls have deserved everything they’ve gotten. They are the kind of gymnasts that make being a coach worth it.” …

Gym Dogs Win Fourth Straight NCAA Title – Georgia Dogs

You can already buy the t-shirt. $18.95

Football Fanatics

Team Finals Photo galleries: Vault | Bars | Beam | Floor

Utah coach Greg Marsden on Georgia’s win: “Hats off to Georgia. They are the dynasty, the juggernaut …” – Deseret News

After falling on bars, Katie Heenan sealed the win for Georgia, I project, with a 9.95 on beam.

The Dogs may not even need Courtney McCool’s final 9.90. Last routine.

I don’t believe anyone can catch Georgia. There is one rotation left. Utah would need an astonishing 49.675 on bars to tie. By my unofficial reckoning.

Stanford is on vault.

After 2 rotations:

Host Georgia has the momentum. The crowd is LOVING it.

UPDATE: Everyone in the arena jumped out of their seats (including me) when Georgia’s anchor on bars, Katie Heenan, missed the regrasp on her HUGE Jaeger. It did not hurt the team score much though: 49.375.

Vault photos.

A report on IG includes some information on the secretive Men’s Olympic preparation. As well as the Chinese Women’s Team.

Newcomer He Kexin scored 17.000 on uneven bars this past week at a two-day internal test for the Chinese team in Beijing, site of the 2008 Olympic Games.

With a 7.700 A-Panel (difficulty) score, He earned 17.000 for her routine, which includes a Jaeger to mixed grip to straddled front flip and a layout Jaeger. It is likely the first time a female gymnast has hit that mark, though Chinese men’s team members Chen Yibing and Yang Wei have both scored 17.000 on still rings. …

read more – International Gymnast

We can’t compare in-gym scores with those of an international judging panel. Still, few doubt that He Kexin is capable of 17.0.

Some do doubt she is actually old enough to compete at the Olympics.

They are Olympics crazy in China. Anything goes, I’m afraid.

Boomtown Beijing

First rotation has begun.

The girls look surprisingly “loose”. By that I mean, “relaxed”. Not loose.

Georgia entered like rock stars. Defending Champion Courtney Kupets, not competing, is rotating with the team, despite her Achilles injury. Loud music. Louder audience. Smoke and light show. Even indoor fireworks!

The competition is on podium, adding another level of importance. (The podium has caused some grief for the girls on beam. It shakes more than normal.)

Full house, needless to say. The Georgia chants are near deafening. I love it!

Live scoring is quite good.

Longtime University of Illinois men’s gymnastics head coach Yoshi Hayasaki announced today that he is retiring following the 2008-09 season. Next year will be his 33rd and final season leading the Illini men’s gymnastics program. …

During his career, Hayasaki has produced 86 All-Americans, 44 Big Ten Champions and 10 National Champions, including Paul Ruggeri, who won the 2008 High Bar national title. His crowning moment came in 1989 when he led the Illini to the NCAA Team Championship. …

“I’m content with my decision to finish off my coaching career at the end of the 2009 season,” Hayasaki said. “The Illinois program is in great shape now and its success will continue. It is always difficult to say good bye, and it may get harder as I continue coaching next year. We have had a lot of success at Illinois and I have enjoyed each and every season with different encounters, challenges and successes. I enjoyed the journey that I took, but it is time for me to do something different while still young and healthy. I’m going to enjoy one more season with this terrific group of guys I now have, plus the outstanding freshmen who we are adding to the program. Obviously, my goal is to win the Big Ten and national title next season, just as it has been for the last 35 years.”

Fighting Illini

Yoshi was as energetic and enthusiastic as a 21-year-old coach at NCAA Championships last weekend. And anyone there can tell you, his team did a fantastic job.

We’re seeing the retirement of many of the original Japanese gymnasts and coaches who came to North America.

In my city, Calgary, I can tell you we knew NOTHING about gymnastics until the arrival of Shiro Tanaka, former Japanese High School Champion, in the 1970s. The Japanese ruled Men’s Gymnastics at that time. The legacy of those coaches is still with us today. It a little sad to see them retiring.

Good luck to Yoshi Hayasaki in all his future projects. After he wins NCAA Championships 2009, that is.

AT&T Autograph Session – Saturday, April 26

Get autographs from your favorite gymnasts. From 4 – 5:30 p.m. several gymnasts from each of the competing teams will be available to sign autographs. This event will be held on the Coliseum plaza area located near ticket booth #5.

Randy Bernard of GymMeet.com and I will be there.

If you are too, look for me wearing a black Cirque du Soleil shirt. Come say HELLO.