Today we honor the heroes of September 11th, 2001, including those who lost their lives. One of those people, Mari-Rae Sopper, closely touched the collegiate gymnastics community. As you may know, Mari-Rae Sopper was Head Coach of the University of California, Santa Barbara's women's gymnastics team. She was also a former standout collegiate gymnast and team captain for Iowa State. Many of you knew her in the capacity of coach, teammate, competitor, colleague and friend. In hours and days following 9/11, many of us suddenly realized the person we knew as "ISUFan", an enthusiastic supporter and contributor on the online college gymnastics forums, was actually Mari-Rae.
Tim Rivera has been named Assistant Coach for the William and Mary women's team. Rivera has collegiate coaching experience from various NCAA programs.
Nebraska has announced the hiring of former Husker athlete John Robinson as an assistant on the Men's team. The 2010 NU grad replaces Phil Cahoy, Sr.
Link: NU Release
Results from the Pan Am Championships Event Finals.
Kayla Ross and Sabrina Vega of the US finished first and second in the All Around competition at the Pan Am Championships. Former DU athlete Jessica Lopez finished third. Stanford's incoming freshman Kristina Vaculik finished sixth.
International Gymnast Magazine articleUSA Gymnastics has agreed to sanction the National Collegiate Acrobatics and Tumbling Association, providing a respected National Governing body for the fledgling sport derived from competitive cheer. The NCATA intends to pursue "emerging sports" status with the NCAA next spring. The lack of a governing association and a standard set of rules were among the evidence cited when a federal judged ruled against Quinnippiac's attempt to cut its women's volleyball squad, and the subsequent conversion of its existing cheer squad to a competitive team (to meet Title IX requirements).
What do you think? Voice your opinion in our Poll of the Week on the front page of the site.
UF sophomore Marissa King earned a spot on England's Commonwealth Games team and she will compete in India in October.
AU assistant Kurt Hettinger will remain with the Tiger program, according to a school release. AU recently hired Jeff Graba as their new head coach.
Link: AU Release
The NCAA Code Modifications for 2010-2011 are now available at the Judge's web site. As always, the NCAA Code Modfications can be impacted by changes to the underlying JO Code, effective through November 2010. So far, the changes described in the document, as they compare to last season, appear to be neglible and won't have an impact on routine construction.
Be sure to vote in the latest site poll on which skill you think the NCAA should devalue in the next update.
Link: Code Modifications
CMU has added Huneth Lor as an assistant coach. Lor is a former competitor and 2009 grad at Michigan.
Link: CMU Release
Former Cal great Tim McNeill has been hired as the Head Coach at Cal, according to a school release. He graduated from Cal in 2008 and has been training as a member of the US National Team.
Link: Cal Release
J.J. Ferreira has been named as an assistant at Maryland, according to a school release. The former Springfield athlete was a coach at Springfield and at the Unique Sports Academy.
Link: Maryland Release
Former Olympian and Honda Award winner Kristen Maloney joins the staff at New Hampshire as an assistant coach, replacing Lindsey Bruck. As a NCAA athlete, Maloney helped UCLA to several national team titles while picking up individual titles on vault and beam.
Read More about her achievements.