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]
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]
Not sure if this is unprecedented or not, but USAG added three gymnasts to the Level 10 (15-16) Junior National Team. Johnny Jacobson, Kiwan Watts and Alec Yoder were added to the list of seven gymnasts who earned their spots via last month's U.S. Gymnastics Championships in Hartford, CT. Apparently, the age group changes in both international [...more]
t was three up and three down for Sam Mikulak this year. That's the number of all-around competitions he has entered this calendar year. Back in April, he brought home Big 10 and NCAA trophies, and now he gets to take home another one as the U.S. Championships all-around champion. Mikulak's first eleven events this weekend went down as he planned, all were [...more]
It's apparent we are starting to see the changing of the guards in terms of the hierarchy of men's gymnastics. Sam Mikulak, most gym fans' pick to win this weekend's U.S. Championships, did not disappoint. Perhaps it was the bat flying around the XL Center in Hartford which made Mikulak feel right at home, because he was certainly in the zone on Day 1. Last summer, [...more]
Indiana University junior Matthew Rusk completes his preview of the 2013 U.S. Championships with his profiles of Alex Naddour, John Orozco, Eddie Penev, Paul Ruggeri, Donnell Whittenburg and Brandon Wynn. This year's World Championships will feature six-man teams, but the competition will be comprised of only individual events and the all-around--no team competition this year. The selection committee, thus, will have to deal with the dynamic of choosing [...more]
For the fourth year-in-a-row, Matthew Rusk breaks down the top contenders to win the U.S. Championships, and those favored to earn spots on the 2013 World Team. In part one, Rusk takes a look at Jake Dalton, Adrian de los Angeles, Steven Legendre, Danell Leyva, Sam Mikulak and Akash Modi. The year after the Olympics is usually a rebuilding year that gives young upstarts a shot at contending for U.S. titles and earning opportunities to represent Team USA on the world stage. In 2009, Dalton and Leyva [...more]
