gymn
Digest
Thu, 7 Jul 94 Volume 2 :
Issue 144
Today's Topics:
Americas Worlds Qualifier (2 msgs)
Bagiu profiled at USOF '94
College Update
Cornell hires Beckwith (2 msgs)
Dominique Dawes & NCAA
Dynamo address
How NCAA Classes Are Ranked (3 msgs)
Kerri's college choice, Snapple commercials
letter from Michelle Campi
New Jersey State Games
No-Comp Rule Effect on NCAA (4 msgs)
Rooms for NCAA
Univ. of Minnesota (2 msgs)
USOF '94: Women's roster
What's happening with.....? (2 msgs)
This is a digest of the gymn@athena.mit.edu
mailing list.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date:
Thu, 07 Jul 94 08:16:51 EDT
From: ***@aol.com
Subject: Americas Worlds
Qualifier
I'll have the scores tomorrow.
This was a meet
between Cuba, Mexico, Argentina, Canada, and Puerto Rico to
determine which four would earn a trip to the Dortmund Team
Worlds in
November. The US
already has its spot.
I missed the first two rotations b/c the meet
started at 5:00 and I was at
work. But I still saw most of it b/c it was
five teams and only three events
were going at one
time, so there were a lot of byes.
These are just
impressions, though, b/c I
wasn't there in "report" mode.
Well, Cuba put to rest any
and all doubts about the state of its men's team
with
an easy 20-point victory over Canada.
This despite a high bar
performance out of
their worst nightmares (all but one fell, and of the ones
who fell, 3 or 4 fell more than once). It's not the Cuba from the mid-80's,
but I'd say it's holding
steady from '91, when they placed 15th (or
thereabouts;
it wasn't lower than 15, anyway).
Erick Lopez and Damian Merino
looked like
the top two (I do know Damian won compulsories). Vault was
easily
their best event, with several Kasamatsu-fulls and a
layout Cuervo.
Canada I didn't see much of,
but they seemed ok. Reasonably
clean (they
didn't
look too good on floor, though, which I did see. Lots of errors,
especially
on front tumbling). The talk was
that this was a B team, but one
of the PR girls
told me that three of them went to Brisbane. Alan Nolet
wasn't there, though.
10 points behind Canada was
Puerto Rico. Same as I've mentioned
before -- 3
reasonably good guys and 3 or 4 more
who do ok on an event or two. Lots
of
misses, though, from everyone. Highlights were Hector Tanco's floor (arabian
double, double layout, double back), Victor Colon's Kasamatsu-full, and Alex
Suarez's Def
on HB -- gorgeous! (Unfortunately he fell on his Gaylord II.)
Argentina
was a surprise. No one knew they
even had a full men's team.
They
weren't that great (some really scary
vaults), but they got through and
finished fourth,
so they'll be at Worlds. Didn't see
much of them, either
(besides watching other
teams, I was socializing a lot, plus they and Canada
and
Mexico all had red jerseys, so it was hard to tell who was who
sometimes), but Isidro Ibarrondo,
who went (goes?) to UCLA and made Barcelona
when
Cuba didn't go, seemed to be their best.
Mexico was the biggest
surprise of all. 6 months ago they
were second at the
Central American and Caribbean Games; today they were a
distant 5th (which is
still 3rd among the Central
American and Caribbean countries, but no one ever
imagined
they'd lose to Argentina, and by something like 10 or 15 points,
too). Seems
they've lost the top guys to retirement (Alejandro Peniche,
Luis
Lopez, also Andres Sanchez [I don't know for a fact that Andres
retired, but
he wasn't here]).
Overall,
the meet was rather lousy. I don't
think anyone broke a 9.0 average
as a team, though
it's possible Cuba might have had it not been for the HB
debacle. In compulsories, only two gymnasts
averaged 9.0 (Damian and
Sinayski Nunez).
In other gossip, I hear Luisa Portocarrero has retired. Apparently her
ankles
and a knee were really bothering her, and she'd also gained some
weight (a fact maybe not unrelated to the sore ankles and
knee, in both
directions). The last time I spoke with her was at
Barcelona, and at the
time she talked about
collegiate gymnastics, so I don't know if anything will
come
of that now (she's still only about 17, so she could probably still do
it if she wanted, after a rest).
...and Angel Franco, a top Cuban judge (member of the FIG men's
technical
committee and technical director of the
Pan American Gymnastics
Confederation), has decided Miami suits him rather
better than Havana (which
really comes as no
surprise to those who know him -- it's more like a wonder
it took him so long).
So there it is folks -- at
Dortmund, the Americas will be represented by the
United States, Cuba,
Canada, Puerto Rico, and Argentina.
: )
Adriana
------------------------------
Date:
Thu, 7 Jul 1994 10:01:23 -0400 (edt)
From: <***@dorsai.dorsai.org>
Subject:
Americas Worlds Qualifier
>
> ...and
Angel Franco, a top Cuban judge (member of the FIG men's technical
> committee and technical director of the Pan American
Gymnastics
> Confederation), has decided Miami suits him rather better
than Havana (which
> really comes as no
surprise to those who know him -- it's more like a wonder
> it took him so long).
>
> :
)
> Adriana
>
>
My
understanding is that the members of the FIG Men's Technical
Committee are:
Karl-Heinz Zschoche
- Germany (President)
Sawao Kato
- Japan (Vice
President)
Adrian Stoica - Romainia
Julio Marcos -
Spain
Li Ning
- China
William Roetzheim - USA
Hardy Fink
- Canada
While
Franco is on the PanAm committee, I don't think is he
is on
the FIG Men's Technical Comm. He might however be the Cuban
representative
to the FIG General Assembly.
Ken
Achiron
------------------------------
Date:
Wed, 6 Jul 1994 16:49:20 -0500 (CDT)
From: <***@owlnet.rice.edu>
Subject:
Bagiu profiled at USOF '94
The AP ran a
story about Mihai and his wife Kris... here are
some
tidbits and excerpts:
-Mihai trains 6 hrs a day, 6 days
a week.
-His wife Kris is a former gymnast. They met at the gym that her
mother runs in Los Angeles. AP says that Mihai
"finally talked her
into dating him, and the
two married in September 1992."
-Mihai
is from Romania, and he was picked by coaches from a
playground
to train for gymnastics (wow,
never heard that line efore).
-Bagiu moved to the States with his family when he was
8.
-Mihai, re Ed Burch, his coach at Gold
Cup: "He knows how to train his
guys for the
right meets, keep them in shape all-year round to be
ready
for those meets. He pushes you pretty hard, and basically that's
what I need to get me going."
-Mihai is the highest-ranked gymnast going into the
Festival.
-He wants to peak in 1996.
------------------
And
for those Gymners who care, a track and field note --
Leroy
Burrell (USA) just broke the world record in the 100m at an IAAF
Grand
Prix meet in Lausanne, Switzerland. The former world record: 9.86
seconds. The new
record that Burrell just set: 9.85 seconds.
(At least track and field
will probably never use their third decimal
place. But then again, what sport would be
crazy enough to do that?)
Rachele
------------------------------
Date:
Wed, 06 Jul 94 19:30:46 EDT
From: ***@aol.com
Subject: College
Update
>
But the real Utes came through at the end, and I think that this
trial-by-fire will carry over into next season. Combine that
with the best
coach in the NCAA, and you have a
team that should be strong >again.
I just hope Greg Marsden
practices Courtesy this year.
Mara
------------------------------
Date:
Thu, 7 Jul 1994 09:15:08 -0500 (CDT)
From: <***@owlnet.rice.edu>
Subject:
Cornell hires Beckwith
Cornell has annouced
the hiring of Head Coach Paul Beckwith for its
women's
gymnastics team.
Beckwith is the former men's head coach at
Radford.
----------------
Also, there is a huge stink in
Houston because the Rockets (whoo-hoo!)
manager (or was it the owner? sorry!) fired "Booster", our mascot.
Booster is really
Jerry Burrell, who is a former All-America NCAA
gymnast
from Arizona State. Booster is
incredibly popular (1,600
calls of protest) and
there is talk that the Astros, who have been
tried
to get Burrell before, will hire him.
No reasons were given for the
firing. It was part of a
"housecleaning" effort, though -- about 10-15 other
people in the
"front office" were fired
by Rockets management.
I don't know any other names, but the Arizona
State men's program (a
trumpet joins in playing
"Taps") has graduated a lot of gymnasts who
went
on to play mascots for professional sports team. Burrell was
popular
for using a tramp to slam-dunk, doing lots of acrobatic skills
in that air time...
Rachele
------------------------------
Date:
Thu, 7 Jul 1994 13:47:47 +1000
From: <***@pharm.med.upenn.edu>
Subject:
Cornell hires Beckwith
>Cornell has annouced
the hiring of Head Coach Paul Beckwith for its
>women's
gymnastics team.
>
>Beckwith is the former men's head coach at
Radford.
Rachele and everyone
else:
does the above message mean that
Radford has just dropped their program?
Mayland
------------------------------
Date:
Wed, 06 Jul 94 23:46:19 EDT
From: ***@aol.com
Subject: Dominique Dawes
& NCAA
To All:
To clarify a point, yes, Dominique Dawes has deferred her first year
of
eligibility at Stanford. She'll be starting in
the fall of1995 (that is, of
course, if she
doesn't decide to skip yet another year to train for the
Olympics).
---
Ron
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 07 Jul 94
03:14:40 EDT
From: ***@aol.com
Subject: Dynamo address
To
all:
I was talking to Jamie Martini's Mom on *P and she informed me that
Dynamo's
is no longer using the PO BOX
address. She said the best address
to send
mail is to:
Dynamo Gymnastics
3901
N. Tulsa Ave
Oklahoma City, Ok
73112-2936
---Brian
------------------------------
Date:
Wed, 06 Jul 94 22:58:36 EDT
From: ***@aol.com
Subject: How NCAA Classes
Are Ranked
To All:
First, a quick apology for the multiple posts from me
of the same message.
I got a new computer, a new version of America
Online and some bugs. I sent
those messages
several days ago and they never appeared in the list. Computer
techs told me the messages never were sent and to resend
them. Obviously,
though, they were sent the first
time. They simply were in E-mail purgatory
somewhere,
waiting for the tech Gods to approve them before they could ascend
to the mighty Gymn list.
Okay, on to the purpose of
this note: how are NCAA women's gymnastics
recruiting
classes ranked.
There is no official ranking service. The rankings are informal, and
I
cull them from coaches meetings. Basically, you
ask the coaches if they'd be
willing to trade
their recruiting class for another school's.
Some years, it's hard to
rank the classes because there are 5-7 that are
similar. But this past year, there simply was no contest. In
fact, Utah,
Florida and Georgia really had the only classes to speak of.
After them, the
level of recruiting dropped
off.
Rachele had asked why Florida's recruiting class is ranked
above Utah's
and Georgia's. Well, Florida got the
nation's #1 recruit, plus two other
elites and a
solid level 10 who was about to jump to elite.
Georgia and Utah each signed
two elites, all of whom have star power.
But would Georgia and Utah
trade their classes for what Florida has? You
bet.
Marth Grubbs was the most sought-after recruit and
Florida got her. But
then UF got two more very
good elite gymnasts and a level 10 for good
measure.
(Let me make a correction here.
Grubbs was the most sought-after incoming
freshman.
Dominique Dawes was actually the most sought-after recruit, but she
doesn't start school until two years from now.)
Sometimes, though, schools
couldn't get a Top 3 recruiting class, even if
they
could get any gymnast they wanted. Why? Because sometimes, schools have
only one scholarship coming open, like UCLA did this
year.
UCLA signed
a stellar recruit in Stella Umeh (or is it
"Stellar"
Umeh...grin), but she's all
they signed.
Now lets
look at this fall. Stanford will sign Dominique Dawes and,
likely, Larissa Fontaine. That likely will be the top recruiting
class in the
country. Even if another school
signed 4 elites, I don't think that would top
who
Stanford will sign (not unless Dominique backs out -- something of which
I've
heard rumors about).
Who are the biggest names to watch for this fall?
There are many. Kerri Strug, Kellee Davis (I think
she's old enough),
Jenni Beathard,
Kristin McDermott and Amanda Borden and a whole host of
elites
right behind them.
Also,
watch for Canada's Luisa Portacorrero (spelling?) to
be hotly
recruited. And I'm stilling waiting for
somebody to recruit Luisa Parente (of
Brazil, I
think). She has two years of eligibility left, can speak English,
throws college-style vaults and will be an instant 39-plus
scoring gymnast in
college.
But, strangely, everyone has left
her alone.
--- Ronald
------------------------------
Date:
Wed, 06 Jul 94 23:20:17 EDT
From: ***@aol.com
Subject: How NCAA Classes
Are Ranked
Is dominique
not attending Stanford in the fall of 1995? Is she waiting for
the fall of 1996?
I'm just asking because Ron said that she won't
be
starting for another 2 years. Kerri Strug
and Amanda Borden will be the
hottest recruits
next year. An insider that trains
w/ amanda informed me
that she is looking heavily on Stanford as is Larissa
Fontaine. Amanda has
yet to decide whether to defer her first year or to just
forget about
Atlanta. Kerri Sturg is looking around right now but, is mainly focusing
on
her elite gymnastics because she plans to try
out for Atlanta.---Brian
------------------------------
Date:
Wed, 06 Jul 94 23:41:54 EDT
From: ***@aol.com
Subject: How NCAA Classes
Are Ranked
>Is Dominique not attending Stanford in the fall of
1995? Is she waiting for
the fall of 1996?
I'm just asking because Ron said that she won't
be
starting for another 2 years.<
>From
what I understand she is starting Standford the
winter semester and
therefore will not *compete*
until the '96 gym season. Of course Dom could
change
her mind at any time but I think that's the way it stands right now.
Susan
------------------------------
Date:
Thu, 07 Jul 1994 15:44:24 -0400 (EDT)
From: ***@ocvaxa.cc.oberlin.edu
Subject:
Kerri's college choice, Snapple commercials
I would think that if Kerri does
decide to compete collegiate
gymnastics that
Arizona would have the best shot of getting her, since she
trained under Coach Gault before
going to Karolyi's, and it's home. It's
usually a top tem program - I was surprised they were down
this year.
Y'all
mentioned how ASU trained several top basketball mascots, but no
one mentioned the Ssnapple
commercial where the kid wants to be the Snapple
mascot
so they send him to Don Robinson (longtime ASU coach, though never
mentioned by name in the commercial...) and have him trying
to do mini-tramp
jumps with this huge pink fuzzy
bottle suit on. Really cute.
Oh, Pam Titus -
quit knocking her, she was an amazing floor worker. A
good
gymnast will learn whatever she has to in order to meke
the routine
Code-friendly. She could've wiped up the floor with some of the
kids on the
international scene today.
I believe Worlds
this year was Lyssenko's last competition.
Cara
------------------------------
Date:
Thu, 7 Jul 1994 01:06:37 -0500 (CDT)
From: <***@owlnet.rice.edu>
Subject:
letter from Michelle Campi
Hey friends,
Michelle
Campi recently posted a note to the USA Gymnastics
forum on
Delphi. I wrote her
asking for permission to repost it here to Gymn,
and she said a-o-k.
Here it is:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello
everyone. This is Michelle Campi. I just wanted to
let you know
that I am no longer training at Pozsar's gymnastics. It is a long
story,
it just didn't work out. Rick Newman, my coach, has accepted a
position to work along with Steve Nunno
at Dynamo's Gymnastics. My mom
and I will be
joining him there at the end of the summer. I hope to
resume
my gymnastics career at Dynamos when my back is a little
stronger.
My back, by the way, is doing great! I got my cast off June
21. I still
have to wear it most of the time, but I am doing more and
more without it everyday. My reason for writing this is that,
since I
am no longer at Pozsar's
I am not recieving my mail. If you do wish to
write me, you can write to Dynamo's, to the USA Gymnastics
office, or
you can E-mail me here! Well, thank you for all your support and
Best
of luck!
Sincerely,
Michelle Campi
------------------------------------------------------------------
If
you would like to send fan email to Ms. Campi,
address your message
to
"micleo@delphi.com" If you want to send real mail, send to:
Michelle
Campi
c/o Dynamo
Gymnastics
PO Box 270535
Oklahoma City, OK 73137
Have fun!
Rachele
------------------------------
Date:
Thu, 7 Jul 1994 13:33:46 +1000
From: <***@pharm.med.upenn.edu>
Subject:
New Jersey State Games
I don't know how many of you live in or near
New Jersey, but a meet that
might be just plain
fun to go to is the one connected with the New Jersey
State Games. A couple of the men from Temple (Dave
Frank & Sasha Raught -
did
5 release moves in the gym the other week) will be there, plus some
others. I repeat
these are for fun - guys at all levels will be competing.
Anyway the meet is on Saturday
- July 9 at 1PM. The instructions
follow -
they are from Phila.
so adapt as you find necessary.
To Faigley's School of Gymnastics
South Plainsfield NJ
NJ Tkp. North to Exit 10
Rt. 287 North to
Rt. 529
North - Dunellen Exit
Right at First Light onto Hamilton Blvd.
1/4 Mile
- Left onto South Clinton Ave.
1st Bldg. on Right - FAIGLEY'S school of
Gymnastics
-- If people are interested I will get results and post
them.
I will also be doing stats for the eastern qualifiers, mens, for Nationals.
I would be happy to post those if there
is an interest. I will comment
that there will be some real talent at the one taking place
at
International - Bill Roth will be involved just to get back into
competition.
Mike Racanelli is also going to be there. He has been
training
for about 3 months (seriously for AA).
His compos are going well,
and is expecting
to get at least a 9.0 for each. The
optionals are coming
together
a little more slowly - sore knee has held him back from the floor.
Anyway, I think it is rather exciting to
see him coming back - for those
of you who don't
know this name - he was 1990 NCAA AA and FX champ and the
IBM/Nissen award winner (men's gymnastics equal to the Heisman
trophy) plus
a host of other things.
That will be all for now-
Mayland
------------------------------
Date:
Wed, 06 Jul 94 17:41:57 EDT
From: ***@aol.com
Subject: No-Comp Rule
Effect on NCAA
I agree with Ronald. This could improve gymnastics as whole
in the US. Now
gymnasts in the collegiate programs can continue w/ their
national
compeititions
as the men do. Although, like Ron
said, they may not win AA's
or any major titles
but, just keeping them there, instead of them
dissapearing after them only being on the national
team for 2-3 years could
keep the
"lifetime" of a female gymnast longer than just a couple of
years.
This and the new age
limit after 1996 should extend female gymnasts career's
for
many more years.---Brian
------------------------------
Date:
Wed, 06 Jul 94 19:30:41 EDT
From: ***@aol.com
Subject: No-Comp Rule
Effect on NCAA
>
Four years ago, there was a gymnast at UF named Pam "Air"
Titus. When
she
did
her layout-pikes, her *HIPS* were 8 feet in the air or higher. No
exageration. Crowds would gasp in
awe. In warm-ups, it was hilarious because
the
coach could not spot her until she came down.
Incredible. Imagine the excitement
that would be brought to the floor at a
>national
competition?
I doubt Pam Titus would medal on floor nationally, as she
had high tumbling
but virtually no dance. With the way the Code is structured, she
would have
a very low start value. I'm wondering if this can be said of
other
collegians...
Mara
------------------------------
Date:
Wed, 06 Jul 94 22:58:53 EDT
From: ***@aol.com
Subject: No-Comp Rule
Effect on NCAA
Mara:
In reference to Pam "Air" Titus, the high-tumbling gymnast
from Florida, I,
too, don't think she ever would
have medaled. You're right. She had no dance.
(But then again, when has
*that* ever mattered in scoring?)
I'm just saying that the
unique style, power and charactertics these
gymnasts will bring to a national meet will be refreshing.
How many people here saw
Tammy Marshall of Massachusetts perform her
floor
routine? It not only was dynamic but she kept a genuine, genuine Mary
Lou Retton smile throughout the entire
routine. It was so refreshing. At the
World University Games, she took
second on floor, if I remember correctly. It
must
have been pleasant shock to those international judges to see this.
---
Ron
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 07 Jul 94
03:04:43 EDT
From: ***@aol.com
Subject: No-Comp Rule Effect on
NCAA
>It not only was dynamic but she kept a genuine, genuine
Mary
Lou Retton smile
throughout the entire routine. It was so refreshing.<
Sorry
but huh? All the NCAA girls with their big hair and large fake smiles
(I've
never seen anything that plastic except maybe Bert Reynold's
hair) look
like bad stewerdess.
You are more then free to like and admire anyone you
choose
but c'mon happy does not equal talented.
Susan
------------------------------
Date:
Wed, 06 Jul 94 22:59:06 EDT
From: ***@aol.com
Subject: Rooms for
NCAA
To All:
If
you're planning to go nationals next year at Georgia in Athens, you
already can forget getting a room in Athens. There is some
other convention
going on, and all the rooms are
booked.
Florida
fans already are booking hotels a half-hour away in other towns.
---
Ron
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 06 Jul 94
22:59:25 EDT
From: ***@aol.com
Subject: Univ. of Minnesota
To
All:
Some had asked
me about why I think Minnesota would be called surprising.
Well, call it a gut feeling about
the team doing better this year. The
Gophers lost their wife-and-husband
coaching duo a few years ago over the
sex-tape
scandal, and the team has been scraping the bottom of the barrel
since then.
But the school hired the
former assistant coach at Utah, Jim Stephenson.
I have a lot of respect for
this guy. He learned under a master of the sport.
As with most new coaches,
the first few years are spent learning the
recruiting
game, which is 2/3rds of what makes a good team.
His recruits this year are
right around average, but it's far better than
the
recruits the team has had for the past two years. These new recruits,
combined with the enthusiasm he has infused there and his
own coaching
ability, should make for a Minnesota
team that will be, well, pleasant to
watch.
Given Minnesota's past perfmances, I think people will say, "Hey,
Minnesota
is surprising a few folks this year."
That's all. I'm not saying they'll
do anything sensational. They'll just
be plumb
better.
--- Ron
------------------------------
Date: Thu,
7 Jul 94 11:37:06 PDT
From: ***@geoworks.com
Subject: Univ. of
Minnesota
>
But the school hired the former assistant coach at Utah, Jim
Stephenson.
> I have a lot of respect for this guy.
As do I. He was my coach in highschool
(he coached men and women
then, but now focuses on
coaching women).
Dave
Litwin :)
------------------------------
Date:
Wed, 06 Jul 94 19:30:35 EDT
From: ***@aol.com
Subject: USOF '94:
Women's roster
Yes, this is a crazy prediction but, looking at the
women's roster, I think
it will be the East,
followed by the South.
I can't wait to see Amy Chow again!
Mara
------------------------------
Date:
Tue, 05 Jul 94 00:36:04 EDT
From: ***@aol.com
Subject: What's happening
with.....?
Pardon me,
I'm new here so if this news has already been told, please excuse
me. What's
happening w/ Tatiana Lyssenko? Has she retired? How about Kerri
Strug? Will she compete at Nationals this
year? How's Kim's knee? How much
more
time will she need out? Has she
rethought her comeback? How's
Silvia
Mitova doing? Any updates? Thanks to everyone who can answer.=)---Marcus
------------------------------
Date:
Thu, 7 Jul 94 10:53:30 BST
From: ***@ic.ac.uk
Subject: What's happening
with.....?
> What's happening w/ Tatiana Lyssenko? Has
she retired?
I am 'assuming' that she has retired due to the fact that
she
didn't compete in the Europeans'94 (Podkopayeva and Kalinina
competed for the Ukraine), but this is my thoughts, so
it's
as unofficial as you can get!
Sherwin
------------------------------
End
of gymn Digest
******************************