Cal has announced that the Men's Gymnastics team will be preserved as an intercollegiate sport, with some restrictions. Over $2.5M has been raised so far, in support of the program. This is however short of the $4M the University says is necessary to support the program at full funding for at least 7 to 10 years. As a result, the program will be unable to award new scholarships until the funding is in place. This coming season will be the 100th at Cal! The other four programs that were proposed to be cut, including Women's Gymnastics, have all been previously restored.
For information on how to make a pledge, please see Cal Gymnastics Forever.
Link: Cal Statement
Megan Yee, L10 at Naperville, will walkon to Illinois State for 2011-2012, according to her YouTube.com channel. At the 2011 Region 5 L10 Regionals, she placed 20th AA in the Senior D division. She was 25th at Regionals in 2011.
Link: YouTube.com Channel
Lydia Thompson, L10 from Harford Gymnastics in Maryland, has committed to Towson for the 2012-13 season. This season she finished 5th AA (1st UB) at the First State Meet; 2nd AA (1st UB) at Christmas on the Chesapeake; and 4th AA at Motown Madness. She also qualified to regionals where she finished 13th AA. Last season she competed at the 2010 NIT, finishing 17th AA.
Michelle Lynn, Taylor Rakus, Cheyenne Stickel, Stephanie Verry and Alexis Arena have signed to compete for Temple next season. They join Alexandra Forcucci, Natali Ruzich and Lauren Capone, who signed last fall.
Michelle Lynn, L10 at Spirit Gymnastics in Pennsylvania, placed 1st AA (1st UB/BB) at the Judges Invitational this season and turned in 2nd place finishes at the Liberty Cup and Red Rose Invitational. She finished 12th AA at her state meet and qualified to regionals.
Taylor Rakus, L10 at AJS Pancott in Pennsylvania, placed 9th AA at the OC Team Challenge this season. She qualified to regionals in 2010.
Cheyenne Stickel, L10 at Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania, swept the Yurchenko Invite this season, placed 3rd AA at the Maryland Classic and 2nd AA at the PKI. In the post season, she placed 9th AA at her state meet and 15th AA at regionals.
Stephanie Verry, L10 at Sterling Gymnastics in Massachusetts, placed 6th AA at the Bay State Classic, 9th AA at the Maryland Classic, and 13th AA at the Starlight Invitational. She qualified to JO Nationals in 2010.
Alexis Arena, L10 at Gymnastika in New Jersey, placed 2nd AA (1st BB) at Christmas on the Chesapeake. She placed 4th AA at the Rutger Classic and 5th AA at the Star Struck Invite. In the post season, she placed 4th AA at her state meet and 13th AA at Regionals.
Alex Archer, L10 at Precision Gymnastics in California, will join the Stanford team next fall. Archer has turned in strong results over the 2011 season, including a 2nd place AA finish (1st BB) at the Snowflake Invite and 3rd place finishes at the Classic Rock (1st V/UB) and the Malibu Coast Challenge. She recently finished 5th AA at regionals and qualified to JOs.
Elizabeth Stranahan, junior next season, and Shea Anderson, a senior next season, both earned scholarships for the coming school year at Iowa State. Both are former walkons, according to the Cylcone release.
Link: Iowa State Release
Tim Garrison has been named the new Head Coach at Kentucky. He was an assistant at Nebraska since 2007. Prior to that he was a coach at SCEGA.
Link: UK Release
Sarah Peterson, L10 from Mid Island Gymnastics in New York, has verbally committed to UNC. She finished 1st AA (1st UB/FX at the Long Island Classic this season. She finished 19th AA at the 2010 NIT.
Illinois has signed Sunny Kato, a L10 from Team OC in Southern California. She recently competed on UB and BB at the 2011 Region 1 L10 Regionals, placing 5th on the former. At the 2010 L10 Nationals, she placed 44th AA. In 2006, she qualified as a junior international, and won the pre-elite division at the US Challenge.
Link: YouTube.com Channel and Illinois Release
Kayla Hoffman has been named winner of this year's Honda Award for Gymnastics according to a news article. The other finalists for the award were Kylee Botterman, Brittani McCullough and Sharaya Musser.
Natalie Humbert, L10 at LaFleur's in Florida, has accepted an offer of admission to Centenary. She will join the gymnastics team next season. Last year, Humbert captured the L9 state vault title on the way to a 3rd place overall finish and went on to place 8th AA at regionals.
Jaida Lawrence, a L10 from NEGX, has committed to West Virginia. At the recent Region 6 L10 Regionals, she finished 2nd AA and 1st on VT in the Senior B division. She also tied for 39th AA at the 2010 JO Nationals and was 32nd AA and 4th(t) on VT at the 2009 JO Nationals.
Link: YouTube.com Channel
and Gymnastike.org
West Virginia has promoted current Associate Head Coach Jason Butts to be the new Head Coach at WVU. He replaces Linda Burdette-Good, who is retiring. He was named the Regional Assistant of the Year in 2009 and 2010. A graduate of UGA, he will receive a master's from WVU in December.
Link: WVU Release
Missouri, in a release, confirmed the addition of Rebecca Johnson as a walk-on for 2011-2012.
Link: Mizzou Release