Day 1 of the 2011 NCAA Men's Gymnastics Championships was nothing short of spectacular. The top 3 teams going into the competition (Stanford, Oklahoma & Cal) did not disappoint. Throw in defending champs Michigan, and four teams ended up with team scores exceeding 360.00! Illinois and Penn State rounded out the top 6 teams that [...more]
Hard to believe that the 2011 JO Nationals are only three weeks away. Most of the regional club meets are in the books, and congratulations to all those who have qualified. When you figure that approximately only about 7% of all gymnasts ever make it to the optional levels, it's a very significant achievement to qualify for JO Nationals. This year's extravaganza will take place in Long Beach, CA. If you've never been there, you'll be very impressed with the overall setting in the downtown area. The convention center [...more]
The nation's top two teams, Oklahoma and Stanford, duked it out at the MPSF championships hosted by Air Force. The Cardinal got the best of the Sooners this time 362.25 to 360.70, behind their strong performances on rings and high bar. Stanford put up an astounding four scores of 15-plus on rings, led by Tim Gentry's 16.05, and they also pounded Oklahoma by 3 points on high bar behind Alex Buscaglia's meet-high 15.60. The combined scores on those two events provided Stanford with a [...more]
Jason Shen is kicking ass... on his blog, that is. The former Stanford gymnast posted his second installment of his trilogy about how his gymnastics career is helping him to... well, kick ass in the business world. This is a must read for all aspiring young gymnasts, showing them what it takes to kick ass inside and outside the gym. Jason does a great job drawing very real similarities between [...more]
Saturday was a big day for gymnastics. American Jordyn Wieber prevailed (barely) over Russian Aliya Mustafina. Oh wait a minute, wrong blog. You can read all about that here and here. The big news was Jonathan Horton gutting out a gritty win at the American Cup. Many folks, including me, thought that Horton might not yet be [...more]
StickItMedia is pleased to have Nicholas Bock as our guest blogger. Bock is a devoted gym dad to two young men who train under Coach Guonian Wu at New Hope Gymnastics in Fountain Valley, CA. Young Evan is a Level 6 and was the 2010 Region I Future Stars champion in the 9-year-old division. Cameron is a Level 9 and a member of the Future Stars National Development Team. This past summer, the Bock family traveled to China with Coach Wu to receive a personal and hands-on experience at a Chinese gymnastics school. Nicholas thoroughly describes for us what a typical day is like for young Chinese gymnasts, who have been selected to [...more]
Orlando Metro’s Jake Martin made another statement as to why he may just be the top club gymnast in the country. Despite falls on parallel bars (13.40) and pommel horse (13.40), Martin still managed to make a run at 90 points and finished up with a meet-high 88.70. He put up a string of 15s on floor (15.10), rings (15.15) and high bar (15.20) to go along with a 16.45 on vault. His AA score is the nation’s [...more]
The 2011 Palm Tree Classic is shaping up to be the current season’s top men’s club invitational on the west coast. Hosted by Azarian Gymnastics, Meet Director Tim Klempnauer has lined up many gyms from all over the country. Included in the three-day competition is Sunday’s All-Academy Meet, featuring Air Force and Army. The Level 10/Elite all-around and event finals will take place at the same time. On Saturday, the Level 9s, 10s and elites will compete in three separate sessions. Among the top gymnasts battling it out will be the following: [...more]
Today, in a spineless, bull-headed and ultimately sexist decision, Cal’s powers-that-be formally took a guillotine to their men’s gymnastics program. The decision obviously smacked of a serious kowtowing to the predatory and cannibalistic insanity of Title IX. Cal’s genius bean counters and feckless bureaucrats ended up granting a reprieve to [...more]
Although the 2011 Winter Cup was marred by scratches and injuries, it still was an enjoyable meet to watch. It’s very confounding as to why this meet does not rate even a simple webcast. The technology is free and there are plenty of knowledgeable personalities to provide commentary. Seen in attendance were David Durante, who did a great job providing live Twitter updates, the venerable [...more]
