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Sr. Women Finals – 2010 Visa Championships

Ryan — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 07:46:02 +0000

It’s official! The 2010 Senior National Champion is Rebecca Bross!

Here are some of my favorites from finals.

Complete galleries from each session of the meet will be here.

Gymnastike’s coverage of the meet here.

If you want more gymnastics, check out my other posts about the most amazing sport in the world here.

Sr. Women Prelims – 2010 Visa Championships

Ryan — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 15:45:41 +0000

While the senior prelim session features less than half the number of gymnasts as the junior session, the seniors come with major credentials and bunches of international medals. One of the most compelling stories has been the return of Alicia Sacramone to competition. She retired after the 2008 Olympics and has returned looking refreshed, and in many ways, a better gymnast than she was before.

Also making appearances at these Championships are:
Rebecca Bross (WOGA) The 2010 American Cup champion and 2009 World AA silver medalist.
Bridget Sloan (Sharp’s) The 2009 World AA gold medalist and reigning National Champion.
Mattie Larson (AOGC) The 2010 Covergirl Classic AA champion who has been plagued by injuries but is beloved by fans around the world.
Plus, Mackenzie Caquatto (Legacy Elite), Chelsea Davis (Texas Dreams), Kytra Hunter (Hills), Alexandra Raisman (Brestyan’s), Cassie Whitcomb (CGA) and Vanessa Zamarripa (UCLA).

My favorites from this session.

Complete galleries from each session of the meet will be here.

Gymnastike coverage of the event here.

If you want more gymnastics, check out my other posts about the most amazing sport in the world here.

“Purple” – i heart faces

Ryan — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 23:51:34 +0000

Since I spent the entire weekend watching gymnastics, I thought I would enter a gymnastics photo into this week’s i heart faces photo contest. The theme? Purple.

Link to the challenge page here.

First step to the World team is complete

Ryan — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 22:47:19 +0000

The Finals session for the Senior women at Nationals still managed to be exciting despite the diminished number of competitors. It was so much fun to try to guess who was going to win.

Probably the best thing of the entire week was the AA title coming down to the last two events. I think that is the first time since this open-ended code has been implemented that the end of a meet has been that exciting! Hit floor routines and STUCK vaults took it down to the wire. Any one of the top three girls had a chance to win it. Congratulations to Bridget on her new National AA Champion title!

2009-2010 Senior National Team
Jana Bieger, Coconut Creek, Fla., Bieger International Gymnastics
Rebecca Bross, Plano, Texas, WOGA Gymnastics
Mackenzie Caquatto, Naperville, Ill., Naperville Gymnastics Club
Kaitlyn Clark, Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., Precision Gymnastics
Olivia Courtney, Orlando, Fla., Orlando Metro Gymnastics
Ivana Hong, Lovejoy, Texas, WOGA Gymnastics
Kytra Hunter, Frederick, Md., Hill’s Gymnastics
Alaina Johnson, Tyler, Texas, Texas East Gymnastics
Mattie Larson, Los Angeles, All-Olympia
Anastasia Liukin, Parker, Texas, WOGA Gymnastics
Chellsie Memmel, West Allis, Wis., M&M Gymnastics
Samantha Peszek, Indianapolis, Ind., Sharp’s Gymnastics
Samantha Shapiro, Los Angeles, All-Olympia
Bridget Sloan, Pittsboro, Ind., Sharp’s Gymnastics
Cassandra Whitcomb, Cincinnati, Ohio, Cincinnati Gymnastics
Kayla Williams, Nitro, W.V., Gym Nest Inc.

Congratulations girls!

Good luck on your journey to World Championships!

Seniors – New faces and comebacks

Ryan — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 21:34:01 +0000

So many of the Seniors are in the process of coming back from their Olympic success last year. The downside to that is that there weren’t very many girls doing all events. The upside to that is that they went one at a time (a la Olympic Trials) so it was really easy to see every routine.

I have to give a “Congratulations!” to Kayla Williams from Bozhis. I have had the opportunity to watch her come up through the ranks since 2004 and it is great to see her on the National stage doing so well.

2009 Nationals – Men Day 1

Ryan — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 16:28:43 +0000

Today was an incredibly long day. 4am wakeup and 7am flight out of Pittsburgh. We thankfully had an uneventful flight and arrived in Dallas at 9am. I really don’t enjoy traveling so I was happy to land.

I sadly haven’t followed the guy’s portion of gymnastics for a while. I am a pretty casual fan of men’s gymnastics so I came in with no expectations as to what I was going to see. I was pleasantly surprised. The junior guys had a few highlights…some of them still look so young! It is hard to compare a 14 year old gymnast with an 18 year old gymnast.

The senior men’s session was more exciting than I thought it would be. It was great to see some of the 2008 Olympians in action. There are quite a few guys waiting in the wings to make their big break. I was happy to see better form from many of the guys.

This time around I purchased the W Gym radio with my program and shirt. The conversation about the hops and leaps men have in their floor routines was pretty funny. Alicia Sacramone and Steve McCain made for some interesting commentary during the meet.

Off for some sleep to prepare for the REAL fun tomorrow! Can’t wait to see what the Junior and Senior Women are going to do!

Dallas here I come!

Ryan — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 00:44:09 +0000

So Dallas in August isn’t exactly an ideal location. But…there are few places that I wouldn’t travel to watch gymnastics.

Nationals is happening at the American Airlines Center in Dallas from August 12-15. This is always one of my favorite trips of the year. I have been wishing away the time (and feeling slightly guilty about it) until we get to leave. I sadly won’t be attending Congress this year, I am hoping that means we will have more time to leisurely enjoy the entire trip.

Seeing elite gymnastics up close and personal is an amazing experience. Camera security is tight at these events, so I have my fingers crossed that I will be able to get some photos that are at least presentable. No lenses longer than 6 inches or 210mm! Grrr. That rules out all of the lenses I love to use and that work in an arena with terrible lighting.

I am so excited that Nastia will be competing. It is refreshing to see an elite gymnast stick around to compete after she has accomplished her ultimate goals and dreams in gymnastics. Not to mention winning the most prestigious gymnastics title that exists. She has become a tremedous ambassador for the sport.

The year after an Olympics is usually depleted in the Senior division. Many of the girls are resting up, reworking routines, recovering from injuries and moving on to the next stage in their lives. The Junior session this year is pretty stacked. There are sooo many talented kids with tons of potential. Start watching them now because they are the next leaders for the US team.

Gymnstands always does great Nationals previews. Check out their Nationals info for the Juniors and Seniors.

I am planning on putting up some updates and photos during the trip so you can check out the blog, twitter, and facebook for any news.

Countdown to departure…5 days!