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Q1: Why was this site created?

A1: This site was originally created to promote the sport of gymnastics at the collegiate level in the United States and to address the lack of information related to the sport. It has evolved to be the primary online news and information resource for Collegiate Gymnastics in the US.

Q2: How is the information on the "Commits" section obtained and verified?

A2: The information on the list comes from public sources, through our news services, from the Web and from direct submissions to this site. Due to NCAA rules, we are unable to verify the information by contacting either the school or the athlete. The athlete, however, is free to contact us, issue a statement or otherwise publicize a decision. Thus, the source of the information frequently comes from these types of announcements, made through other media outlets, at their club, or directly by the athlete's family. However, because of the nature of these submissions, the information shall remain a "rumor" unless otherwise verified through a confirmed press release or written statement, or is reported directly from another source.

Q3: Who was "ISUFan"?

A3: ISUFan was Mari-Rae Sopper, a regular poster to the OOBNess Collegiate Gymnastics Forum. Mari-Rae lost her life on September 11th, 2001 when her flight was hijacked and redirected in an attack on America. Her family has set up a memorial web site for her. You can go there and read more about her remarkable life. Mari-Rae was a star gymnast in high school and at Iowa State. She was an outstanding coach and choreographer at several colleges and clubs, and was about to start her new job as Head Coach at the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB).

Q4: What are common skills competed by the female athletes?

A4: For an idea of skills competed by various gymnasts, please consult the site archives. However, in general, here are some common skills competed by the top 36 teams:

Vaults:

handspring pike front

handspring tuck front 1/2 and pike front 1/2;

Yurchenko layout, layout 1/2 and layout full;

Tsukahara layout 1/2, layout full and tuck 1 1/2 (or layout Kasamatsu)

Round-off 1/2 to front pike (Omelianchik)

Round-off 1/2 to front tuck or pike with a 1/2 twist;

The most common vault is a Yurchenko layout full.  With a change in the rules, we are now starting to see more Yurchenko layout/tuck 1 1/2 twists and even layout double twists.  The front pike 1/2, Omelianchik, and layout Kasamatsu are also growing in popularity

UB:

Circling skills include Stalders, free/clear hip, toe-on handstands. 

Giant swings front and back, blind changes, giant-full pirouettes, Healy turns and more rarely, elgrip/eagle giants

Single bar release:  Jaeger straddle and pike, Gienger, Tkachev, Markelov, Hindorff, Ray, Church, Ricna, Downie. 

Transition releases:   Shaposhnikova, Maloney, Van Leeuwen, Pak, overshoot to handstand, Bharwaj, Ezhova, straddle back to handstand

Dismounts include a giant full to double tuck/pike flyaway, double layout flyaway, full-in double flyaways, flyaway 1/2 twist to double tuck (Fontaine), double front, double front 1/2s, double twisting layout flyaway, front flyaway with 1 1/2 twists, and a toe-on pike front 1/2 dismount.

A typical routine might include a giant blind to pike Jaeger to immediate overshoot, and a double layout or full-twisting double tuck flyaway.  Another common routine might feature a Maloney to bail (overshoot) to handstand, and giant-full to double tuck dismount.

BB:

Acro: back handspring (bhs) to back layout; front aerial or kickover to bhs; side aerial to bhs; triple element series with bhs, roundoffs, back layouts in combination, bhs or back walkover to onodi.  Stand alone D/E acro skills include the front aerial, side aeriel, front tuck, kick over front tuck/pike, side somi, back layout, gainer layout, bhs full twist to swingdown, full twisting bhs, Onodi, Arabian.

Mounts include front tuck, flyspring, back layout, press handstand, jump to splits.  Most often, a simple, low risk mount is used.

Various leaps in combinations: 1/2, 3/4 and 1/1 jumps in Tuck, Wolf, Split and Straddle; switch sides; switch split, switch split 1/2, sheep jumps, ring leaps, switch ring

Dismounts include back layout double fulls and 1 1/2s, front layout fulls, gainer layout full from the side, gainer pike or tuck full off the end, front gainer full off the end, double backs/pikes.

A typical moderate difficulty level routine would include a bhs-layout series, a side aerial to beat jump, and a switch split-straddle jump 3/4 combo. It might end with a round-off to back layout 1 1/2 or gainer layout full dismount.

Floor:

Tumbling:  Double tuck, pike and layout; full-in double back in tuck and pike; Arabian double front; back layout 5/2 twists; back layout 3/1 twists; Rudi; front double full; double front

A typical routine would include a double pike, back layout 1 1/2 twists to front layout, and end with a double tuck.  A bonus combination or D dance skill is also required.  A minimum two pass routine might include a Rudi to stag and a back layout 1 1/2 to punch front layout, plus two tenths in dance bonus (including a D dance skill).