SUU held off an upset minded USU squad 193.475 to 192.8. USU's Brooke Cerosimo and Ari Lamb tied for AA honors with a 38.875. Lamb won the BB while teammate Shannon Coughlin tied for the FX title with USU's Lyndsie Boone. Boone also won the vault. USU's Nicole Simoneau won the UB.
Link: USU Release
OU held off Arkansas to secure the win in the "Beauty and the Beast" meet held at the same time as a wrestling match with Army. (Viewers of the live feed saw a number of wrestling rounds, and may have been entertained as the color commentators tried to explain the basic rules of each sport to each other). Four different OU athletes split the event titles. Sara Stone won the VT for her Yurchenko Layout Full. Megan Ferguson spun a solid routine to win the UB while teammate Natasha Kelley won the BB. OU's Kayla Nowak tied with Arkansas' Jamie Pisani for the FX title. Arkansas frosh Katherine Grable led a trio of Arkansas AAers with a 39.225.
Link: OU Release
Iowa State posted an opening victory, led by by junior Michelle Browning's 39.175 AA win. Browning capped off her victory with a win on FX. Frosh teammate Michelle Shealy won the BB. For AU, Petrina Yokay won the VT while teammate Kylie Shields won the UB. .
Link: Iowa State Release
Down in Cancun, WVU served notice of their strength by posting a 194.5 to upset Missouri. Frosh Hope Sloanhoffer and senior Amy Bieski led the Mountaineers, with the former winning VT with a 9.925 and tying for first on FX with Bieski and Mizzou's Lauren Swankoski. Bieski also picked up a win on BB and in the AA. Mizzou's Sandra Ostad won the UB with a 9.775.
Link: Mizzou Release
A young Bama squad won their season opener, paced by senior Kylea Hoffman. Hoffman won the AA with a 39.5 and tied with frosh teammate Diandra Milliner for the VT title. Hoffman floated a nice Yurchenko Layout Full while Milliner drilled her Yurchenko 1 1/2. Another frosh, Sarah DeMeo, won BB with a 9.925. Sophomore Ashley Sledge won the UB with a 9.85.
Link: Bama Release
Pittsburgh won its opening meet, led by Molly Moyer's AA win and Alicia Talucci's two wins. Talucci won BB and tied with Moyer and Ball State's Nicole Allen on VT. Pitt frosh Brittney Harris won the UB.
Link: Pitt release
Florida just missed the 197 mark in their season opener, as both teams avoided a major mistake. Gator Ashanee Dickerson was dominant, winning VT, BB, FX and the AA (39.55). Right behind her was frosh Alaina Johnson, who won UB and posted a 39.425 in her debut.
Link: NU Release
Michigan won their opening quad, led by senior Kylee Botterman's 39.4 AA win. Botterman also won VT and BB. Teammate Sarah Curtis tied with Michigan State's Jackie Berg for the UB title. On FX, Wolverine Natalie Beilstein tied with Iowa's Rebecca Simbhudas for the win.
Link: MSU Release
MSU has released an update on Kathryn Mahoney, who injured her spine last week during training. She has been transferred out of the Neuro ICU and into a rehabilitation center closer to her home. There is an address to send cards, and an address to send a donation to her recovery expense fund.
Link: MSU Release
The season kicks off this weekend!. As always, surf over to CollegeGymFans.com. Each weekend during the season, we'll replace our feature section with our "Meet Time" collection of live links to stats, audio, commentary and more. The chat room is also open, so stop by and chat with fellow fans as you watch the meets. If you are on the go, check out our Twitter feed and get live updates as scores come in from across the country. Also, in the news section, you can subscribe to our RSS feed to get results and recaps as their posted. In the Events calendar in the Community section, we'll put a TV calendar as well as times for our Weekly chat. Here's a preview on some key meets this weekend, with a particular focus on the Top 25 teams:
Lauren Brodie, L10 from Gymnastics World in Ohio, has committed to New Hampshire. Brodie had numerous top 5 finishes in 2010, including 1st place AA finishes at the Magical Classic (1st UB), the Queen City Classic (1st UB/BB), and the Ohio state meet (1st UB).
Fans and athletes alike can benefit from checking out the new videos and scripts released online by the National Association of Women's Gymnastics Judges (NAWGJ) and the National Association of Collegiate Gymnastics Coaches - Women (NACGC-W). "Armchair" judges can test their knowledge of the code, and everyone can benefit by learning more about how routines can be evaluated.
Taylor Madison, L9 from Airborne in California, has committed to Cornell for next season. Her 2010 season was highlighted by 3rd place finishes at the Spirit of the Flame (1st UB) and the Malibu Coast Meet. She finished her season at the NorCal meet, placing 9th AA (2nd UB; 3rd V).
We've brought back the strength of schedule analysis for 2011. Each year, we've calculated the relative strength of the schedule (relative schedule difficulty) for the Top 10 Teams, as determined by the Preseason Coaches' Poll. Read on to find out who has the toughest schedule.
Happy New Year!
With the season just around the corner, we'd like to add a few wishes on what we are hoping to see this season:
Sara Skammer has signed with Rutgers, according to the Times Leader newspaper. The United Sports Academy trained L10 was 11th AA at the 2009 Region VII L10 Regionals.