Defending Men's National Champion Stanford tops the Men's Preseason Coaches' Poll, with eight first place votes. Cross-Bay Area rival Cal is second with four votes, while the ever-strong OU men are third. Michigan, ranked fourth, earned the other first place vote.
Kristi Ewasko has been named as the acting Head Coach at Southeast Missouri, replacing Tom Farden, who resigned to take an assistant's position at Arkansas. She had been serving as an assistant coach. As Kristi Boyte, she competed for Auburn.
Link: Release
Cassandra Harrison has committed to San Jose State, according to a site submission. The Canadian competed this past season as a National Open competitor, while training at the Capital City Gymnastics Centre in Alberta. At the 2009 Canadian Championships, she placed 1st on FX, 3rd on VT, and 5th AA in the National Open 16+ division.
Link: YouTube.com Channel
Krystal Welsh has committed to Penn State, according to a site submission. The L10 trains at Docksiders and is expected to join Penn State for the 2011-2012 season. At the 2009 L10 Nationals, she placed 2nd(t) on FX and 9th(t) AA. She competed one event at Regionals in 2008 and placed 41st AA at Nationals in 2007.
Winners at the event finals of the World Championships, Day 2:
Women's BB: Deng Lin Lin of China won the Gold. American Ivana Hong was third.
Women's FX: Britain's Beth Twiddle claimed the gold. US's Rebecca Bross tied for third.
Men's VT: Marian Dragulescu won his second gold.
Men's PB: Wang Guanyin of China took the gold.
Men's HB: Zou Kai of China took the gold. Danell Leyva of the US was 4th, and teammate Jonathan Horton finished 8th.
Link: Results from the FIG
Sylvie Borschel has reportedly committed to Temple. Borschel, a level 10 gymnast at Capital Gymnastics National Training Center in Virginia, placed placed 1st, 2nd and 3rd respectively on fx, beam and vault and 3rd place AA at '09 state meet and 7th on floor at regionals.
Kayla Williams of the US, who was competing L10 earier this year, won the World title on vault, becoming the first american to do so.
He Kexin of China won the UB gold, with Rebecca Bross of the US tying for the bronze. Bridget Sloan was 6th.
For the men, Romanian Marian Dragulescu won the FX title, with OU's Steven Legendre in 8th.
Zhang Hongtao of China won the PH title with an amazing 16.2 score, with former Cal star Tim McNeill in fifth. China's Yan Mingyong won the Rings.
Link: USA Gymnastics Story
Bridget Sloan edged Rebecca Bross for the 2009 World title, as Bross slipped on her last pass on FX, in a dramatic finish.
Link: USA Gymnastics Release
UGA's Courtney Kupets has been named the Sportswoman of the Year for individual sports at the Women's Sports Foundation's 30th Annual Salute to Women in Sports dinner.
Link: UGA Release
Former Cal athlete Tim McNeill placed 7th in the AA at the World Championships. Kohei Uchimura of Japan won the world title.
Link: USA Gymnastics Story
Courtney and Tori Cochefski have committed to TWU for 2010-2011. The sisters both train as L10s at Phenom. Both twins qualified to the 2009 Region V L10 Regionals, competing in the Senior A division. Tori finished 22nd AA while Courtney completed two events.
Gabriela Swanson, a L10 from Twisters Gymnastics in Florida, has committed to Bowling Green, according to a site submission. At the 2009 Region VIII L10 Regionals, she placed 13th (t) AA and 5th on VT in the Senior B division.
Link: YouTube.com Channel
Rebecca Bross of WOGA won the qualifying session of the World Championships. She and Bridget Sloan qualified to the AA final. Bross also qualified for the final on UB and FX. Sloan qualified on the UB while Ivana Hong qualified on the BB. Kayla Williams lead the qualifications for VT.
Also competing at the World Championships were DU's Simona Castro Lopez, who finished 68th. Former DU athlete Jessica Lopez placed 37th.
Link: DU Release
Two of three subdivisions in qualifying are completed in the Men's All Around qualifying. Two former collegians, Tim McNeill and Jonathan Horton, are currently 3rd and 5th, respectively.
Link: Results from Sub 1 and 2
The college search for athletes has grown more complicated and increasingly competitive, especially during the past 10 years. There are countless components that require attention in developing and executing a successful plan of action, along with several key “players” who make-up the team.
Parents can play a significant role in the recruiting process and in my opinion; they should make an active commitment to enthusiastically assist their children from start to finish in what will be a very important life decision.