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I was very impressed with the Men’s NCAA Championships.

The women’s meet is going to be even crazier.

Some teams draw over 10,000 spectators to regular dual meets. What’s going to happen in Salt Lake City at Championships?

And why is gymnastics so popular in the USA?

To find out I need to read this new book:

Georgia gymnastics coach Suzanne Yoculan’s first book is on the shelves! “Perfect 10: The UGA Gym Dogs & the Rise of Women’s College Gymnastics in America” … chronicles the ascent of women’s college gymnastics from the first NCAA Championship in 1982 to the present.

Gymbrooke Sports News » Perfect 10: The UGA GymDogs and the Rise of Women’s College Gymnastics in America

Perfect 10

Damien Walters from the UK is one of the top tumblers in the world.

But together with other top British acrobats, Damien put together something called the Creativity Curiosity Show in 2005.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Final qualifying meets finished this weekend.

The field is set! …

The championships will be held at the University of Utah on April 26-28.

Teams qualifying to the championships:

* Stanford
* OSU
* Utah
* Nebraska
* Georgia
* Denver University
* Alabama
* Oklahoma
* Florida
* Michigan
* UCLA
* LSU

Sports Girls Play » NCAA National Championships for Womens Gymnastics

Host UTAH qualified as a team, for the record 32nd time.

I’ve mentioned before that Emma loves gymnastics. Since moving to Farmington, she’s been taking a gymnastics class at the local Y. Yesterday, I went to observe the last class of Rollers II–whatever that means–and snapped a few photos (many, many more here).

They started with stretches. Emma held her bridge for more than one minute–all the while staring at me.

Emma Loves Gymnastics « The Nino File

This is the final LIVE report from this terrific meet. Men’s NCAA is alive and thriving. I am impressed.

CONGRATULATIONS to David Sender tied with Pejman Ebrahimi (V), Tim McNeill (PB) and Jonathan Horton (HB),

Both Horton and McNeill are two event champions. Well deserved!

EVENT FINALS results:

Vault
Parallel Bars
Horizontal Bar

Horizontal Bar was by far the weakest event. It was nice to see Horton do a routine with 3 big releases.

Horton photo – ESPN

CONGRATULATIONS to Jonathan Horton (FX), Tim McNeill (PH) and Alex Schorsch (Rings).

EVENT FINALS results:

Floor Exercise
Pommel Horse
Rings

I would have given the Rings title to Ramos, myself.

Ramos photo – ESPN

We Are … Penn State.

CONGRATULATIONS.

It was an extremely competitive meet. Teams started shaky and gained momentum as the night progressed.

The Penn State men’s gymnastics team won its NCAA-record 12th national championship Friday evening at home in Rec Hall in epic, come-from-behind fashion, thrilling a partisan blue-and-white clad crowd of 2,409. The Nittany Lions posted a season high-score of 221.000 to secure 16-year head coach Randy Jepson’s third team title.

“…I am so thrilled for our guys,” said Jepson. “We had a goal at the beginning of the season and they came through with flying colors. They never let down. I am really proud of Matt Cohen and the rest of the group…”

Penn State edged out powerhouse Oklahoma (220.200) for the crown, depriving the Sooners of their third consecutive national championship and fourth in five years.

…

“…I am unbelievably happy to closeout my career at Penn State by winning a national title at home,” said senior captain and Nissen-Emery Award winner Matt Cohen. “So this is the sweetest way to go out. I am so proud of my coach Randy and my teammates.”

National Champions! Nittany Lions Capture 12th National Collegiate Men’s Gymnastics Championship – PSU

ESPN has a good photo stream of NCAA Championships pics which will be updated at Individual Event Finals tonight.

Oklahoma’s Taqiy Abdullah-Simmons flips in the air as he performs during the floor exercise during the NCAA Championships in State College, Pa., Friday, April 13, 2007.(AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

ESPN.com photos

AA Champion 2007

I subscribed to Mark Mapstone’s excellent Jump Club blog out of the U.K.

He started it a 33yr old skateboarder from Bristol, who “decided to drag his mates kicking and screaming to a Gymnastics club”.

Initially he was suspicious of gymnastics, but he’s getting over that.

Check out a sample post:

Tricking: Gymnastics Vs Martial Arts?

Looking around the net this morning there’s loads of Martial Arts based tricking, but no-where near as much gymnast based tricking.

However when you do find gymnast stuff, one thing jumps out at you. Martial Artists can kick! And gymnasts can flip!

I think both groups of trickers should identify why each excels in certain areas and take tips from each to improve. I was blown away by Champion British Gymnast Damien Walters.

Gymnastics Vs Martial Arts? « Home

Damien Walters is one of the top tumblers in the world. But — as his video shows — he’s a tremendously versatile performance artist as well.

Click PLAY or watch the video on YouTube.

I would love to see Canadian schools competing officially in NCAA Championships one day.

Gymbrooke citing the Canadian University Press:

Back on Jan. 8, the NCAA announced that it would allow Canadian schools to apply to be members of the giant U.S. college sports organization. A 10-year pilot program would allow international institutions to join the highly-popular, financially-lucrative NCAA. …

UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA

It’s no secret that UBC is the front-runner to make the leap to the NCAA, with Thunderbirds athletic director Bob Philip expressing no doubt that “the (NCAA’s) decision was certainly initiated by our interaction with them.” …

UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA

… U of A athletic director Dale Schulha hasn’t been shy about spreading his NCAA intentions to local media. His plan would be for the Golden Bears and Pandas to join the NCAA as a Division II school, but play Division I in hockey and volleyball in a smaller conference, with eyes on having other sports move to that level after a few developmental years.

Read more — Gymbrooke Sports News » The NCAA in Canada?