The first full weekend schedule of men's collegiate gymnastics kicked off the 2015 season. Judging by the scores posted by Oklahoma, Penn State and Stanford, they appear to be in mid-season form. In fact, the Sooners, Nittany Lions and Cardinal were the only teams to put up team scores above 430. [...more]
A robust class of club gymnasts has announced early commitments to the collegiate ranks. Among the top 2015-16 recruits are 2014 JO Nationals AA champion Alec Yoder and 2014 U.S. AA/SR champion Tristan Burke. Yoder, the bronze AA medalist at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games, will join Burke at Ohio State. 2014 U.S. PH champ/AA runner-up Yul Moldauer was the [...more]
2014 is the year of the repeat for Sam Mikulak. In April, he led his Michigan Wolverines to their second-straight NCAA team title, and repeated his AA title. It wasn't easy, but he gutted out a Day 2 performance to outlast John Orozco and Jake Dalton for another repeat title at the U.S. Championships. Mikulak needed to crawl out of the hole he dug for himself on Day 1. He didn't exactly crawl out, though. It was more like being shot out of a cannon. His six-for-six 92.25 AA performance was [...more]
John Orozco posted the day's highest scores on PB (15.60) and HB (15.75) and also had top 5 scores on FX, PH and SR to end the day atop the leader board (90.75) at the 2014 U.S. Men's Gymnastics Championships. Orozco hit six for six, easily demonstrating his continued standing as one of America's top all-arounders. Jake Dalton also had five top 5 event scores, including the day's best FX routine (15.65). It was Dalton's first AA competition since last year's [...more]
Alec Yoder added to his budding resume in fine style this week at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China. Yoder captured a well-earned bronze medal in the all-around (82.80), with a consistent performance over the two-day competition. On top of that, he compiled the highest scores on PH (14.10) and HB (13.85) on day 2. Yoder earlier qualified for event finals on [...more]
LONG BEACH, CA -- It wasn't quite as dramatic as last year, but Marvin Kimble repeated as JE national AA champion (91.90), earning his third consecutive JO Nationals Level 10 title. Last season, of course, Michigan-bound Kimble tallied a mind-boggling 94.05 to begin a surge to his eventual selection to the Senior National Team this past February at Winter Cup. He also had a strong 2nd place finish in Saturday's compulsory session to cement his elite legendary status in [...more]
It was all over after pommel horse. Moving on to SR, Michigan had just crushed it on PH, compiling the nation's second-best team score of the season (75.10), and eventually outscoring runner-up Oklahoma by 1.25 points on that event. For added measure, the Wolverines later padded their lead for good, walloping the Sooners by 3.35 points on PB. It was just too much for any team to overcome. Michigan tallied meet-high team scores on three events (PH,SR,PB), propelling them to their second-straight NCAA team title. It marked the end of a dazzling collegiate career for Sam Mikulak. Not only did he win his third AA title (91.10), but he ended up with his [...more]
LAS VEGAS, NV -- A very strong 2nd-day performance, including improved scores on four events, propelled Chris Brooks to his first Winter Cup all-around title since 2010. Brooks scored 1.7 points higher on PB (15.55), and a full point better on SR (15.05) to compile a 2nd-day AA score of 89.05. In fact, eight of the top ten finishers improved on their prelimary round scores. Donnell Whittenburg scored 15-plus on three events (FX-15.60, SR-15.05, VT-15.15) to leapfrog into [...more]
December is normally a cheerful month, filled with happiness and eagerness to take part in the joyous act of giving. Though stressful, the countdown to Christmas often culminates in a week-long respite from work. Sometimes, though, bad things happen. Much like a thoughtless employer laying off a productive worker right before the holidays, or a government agency delivering bad news with a feckless Friday afternoon news dump, Temple University announced on Friday the [...more]
Some big names topped the list of early signees in college MAG. It appears that Michigan will easily have the top-ranked recruiting class, as they signed Swiss Turners' super combo Marvin Kimble and Dmitri Belanovski and Azarian's Marty Strech. Swiss Turners had four gymnasts sign LOIs, which undoubtedly is the most of any club. Oklahoma signed only one gymnast, but it was a big one. As expected, the Sooners landed [...more]
