On September 11th, 2001, newly hired UCSB Head Coach Mari-Rae Sopper, a former standout at Iowa State, lost her life during the events of that fateful day. We pause to remember her spirit and dedication to the sport, and her inspiring effort to pursue her dream.
Our original tribute page: Link
Wikipedia Memorial: Link
Dallas Becarra has assumed his duties as Assistant Coach at EMU. He bring experience from various gymnastics clubs in Texas, Missouri and California.
Randy Solorio has shed the "interim" from his title and has been named Head Coach at Sacramento State. He had been acting as interim Head Coach for the last year.
Link: Sac St Release
The program at the University of Alaska-Anchorage is seeking your support. Due to a state budget crisis, the entire athletic department is facing a review and the gymnastics program will either be eliminated or scaled back to Division II. Currently a Division I program, the school recently invested in a new training facility. Please read the letter from Head Coach Paul Stoklos:
Iowa State has announced Nilson Medeiros as the new Assistant Coach. He coached at Denver and later coached former DU gymnast Jessica Lopez in her return to elite gymnastics representing Venezuela. His coaching experience spans decades and includes club gymnastics, NCAA gymnastics and international gymnastics.
Iowa has announced its hiring of Vince Smurro as an Assistant Coach. He joins Iowa's staff after two years at CMU. He also has prior club coaching experience from Devlin's Gymnastics.
CMU hasn't posted an announcement yet, but Cameron Linford has been added to the coaching roster. Cameron has been the Director of Operations at Utah since 2007 and he has held various staff positions at Utah over the past 17 years. He has also gathered coaching experience at several Utah gymnastics clubs.
Chris Bogantes is making the move from SEMO to USU as an assistant coach. He also coached at Ball State and TWU.
The artistic gymnastics portion of the Rio Olympics concluded with two more days of event finals. Simone Biles won her fourth gold medal with a big win on FX. Teammate Aly Raisman won silver. On the BB, Biles had her first break and took the Bronze. Teammate Laurie Hernandez took the Silver. Danell Leyva, originally an alternate to the US squad, won silvers on PB and HB. Ex Michigan star Sam Mikulak placed 4th on HB.
Link: USA Gymnastics
The first day of event finals at the Olympics saw medals awarded on the Women's VT and UB, and Men's FX and PH. Several gymnasts with NCAA ties were in action.
Simone Biles cemented her spot in history with a dominating win in the AA at the 2016 Olympics. Teammate Aly Raisman won the silver, well ahead of third place Aliya Mustafina of Russia.
The Men's AA Final was an outstanding afternoon of competition this Wednesday, with the world's top gymnasts battling in top form.
At the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, the women's final concluded on Tuesday afternoon with a thrilling final.
The Men's Team final at the Rio 2016 Olympics concluded this afternoon, with a thrilling race for medals.