We are now roughly at the halfway point of the 2014 NCAA men's gymnastics season. What this means is a switch to the 5-Up/5-Count format and gearing up for the post season. Based on cumulative stats to-date and looking at the rosters, four teams have emerged as legitimate NCAA team title contenders. All four teams have made the "440 Club," scoring 440-plus in at least one meet. Michigan began the season [...more]
Iowa (431.40) nearly matched their season high team score in their road win over UIC (409.90). Sophomore Jack Boyle was outstanding, setting a career mark in the all-around (86.60), and winning event titles on SR (15.60) and HB (14.70). Boyle's career best on [...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]
A Junior is sitting on top of the leaderboard at the halfway mark of the 2014 Winter Cup Challenge. Not sure if a high school gymnast has ever won Winter Cup before, but Marvin Kimble certainly has a great chance. Kimble, despite taking a tumble on high bar, was the top-scoring all arounder (86.20) after the qualifying round. He had top-10 finishes on FX (7th-15.05), PH (9th-13.40) and PB (4th-14.85). Two tenths of a point separated [...more]
We're only in mid-February, and we've already seen ten team scores of 440-plus in college men's gymnastics. In the 2013 season, there were a total of thirteen, spread out over three teams (Michigan, Penn State and Oklahoma). Four teams now belong to the "440 Club," with Stanford becoming the newest member, joining Oklahoma, Michigan and Ohio State. Stanford did so in grand style, and achieved it on the road in a neutral-site rematch with [...more]
Illinois (433.35) and Iowa (420.30) kicked off a full weekend schedule of collegiate men's gymnastics with a dual meet in Iowa City. The Illini were too deep for the Hawkeyes to handle, as the visitors captured five out of six team event and individual event titles. Illini sophomore CJ Maestas simply crushed his SR routine (16.45), establishing a new NCAA record. Maestas competed his first AA competition since [...more]
Michigan's (444.55) strongest lineup to date produced the nation's highest team score of the season in their exciting dual meet with Ohio State (440.80). The Wolverines established the NCAA's highest team scores on PH (74.75) and SR (75.10 - tied with Penn State & Illinois), while the visitors from Columbus posted the nation's top team score on HB. Backing up Adrian de los Angeles' 88.20 AA performance, was some big time output from Syque Caesar, Stacey Ervin and Sam Mikulak. Caesar had a 15.24 average on [...more]
This past weekend brought virtually a full slate of collegiate men's gymnastics action. Two teams really stuck in my head... Minnesota and Cal. Both are among those who will by vying for what will be hotly-contested spots at this year's NCAA team championships. Minnesota (427.65) gave visiting Oklahoma (431.90) all they could handle in their narrow loss to the top-ranked Sooners. The Gophers captured team titles on SR, VT and PB, and won four [...more]
As much as I’d love to write a story about this past weekend’s NCAA MAG competition, it’s really been tough for me the past few weeks dealing with some family health issues. I’m now jotting down a few notes to keep my mind off of more pressing matters. This past weekend was just too good to completely ignore. First off, I watched most of the Oklahoma-Air Force dual meet. The Sooners are one deep team. Kanji Oyama had a career meet, scoring 88.55 in his first [...more]
The Oklahoma Sooners were powerful right out of the gate, demonstrating nearly mid-season form in racking up 443.15 points in their season opener at the Rocky Mountain Open. Junior All-American Danny Berardini posted a career-high 86.95 all around score. Freshman Allan Bower was right behind him with an 86.00. Though neither one won an individual event title, both put a lot of [...more]
