Past Headlines: 2001

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International Competitions
Switzerland vs. Belarus vs. Poland
East Asian Games
European Gymnastics Masters (finals)
European Gymnastics Masters (prelims)
Romanian International (EF)
Romanian International (AA)
Moscow Stars of the World
France vs. Cuba
Cottbus Grand Prix
American Cup

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Russian Cup (AA)
Russian Cup (AA)
Canadian Trials
British Nationals
US National Qualifier
Hungarian Nationals
Canadian Nationals
Russian Cup (EF)
Russian Nationals (AA)
French Cup
Winter Cup

NCAA Competitions
NCAA Championships
NCAA Update (3/27)
NCAA Update (3/16)
NCAA Update (3/02)
NCAA Update (2/04)
NCAA Update part 1 (1/29)
NCAA Update part 2 (1/29)
NCAA Season Preview

Other
Website Overhaul (4/17)
World Ranking Update (5/01)
New Message Board (5/01)

Russian Cup (08/04/2001)

Today concluded the AA competition at the Russian Cup. Current World AA Champion, Nikolai Kruykov rebounded from a 7th place finish in preliminaries to win the 2001 Russian Cup title. He had the same score as prelim winner Evgeny Krylov had the first day (54.30) and edged Krylov by 0.05 for the gold. Maxim Devyatovsky placed 3rd with a 53.65. Alexei Bondarenko had to count a 7.95 on floor to finish 5th (but he did break into the 9's on SR, VT and HB). Below are the results after finals for the top 10 (again from OEG):

1. Nikolai Kryukov: 8.600 9.150 9.250 9.150 8.800 9.350- 54.300
2. Evgeny Krylov: 8.650 8.750 9.500 9.300 9.100 8.950- 54.250
3. Maxim Devyatovsky: 8.500 9.350 8.700 9.250 8.900 8.950- 53.650
4. Maxim Alyoshin: 8.800 9.050 8.900 8.500 8.800 9.300- 53.350
5. Alexei Bondarenko: 7.950 8.200 9.250 9.400 8.700 9.300- 52.800
6. Renat Murtazov: 8.200 8.300 9.100 9.300 9.150 8.750- 52.800
7. Yuri Tikhonovsky: 8.950 8.200 8.800 9.200 9.000 8.200- 52.350
8. Liskin: 8.300 8.550 8.750 8.650 8.700 8.850- 51.800
9. Nigmadzyanov: 8.200 9.050 8.550 8.850 8.500 8.150- 51.300
10. Grigori Greb'enkov: 7.600 8.050 9.150 8.750 8.700 8.950- 51.200

Russian Cup (08/03/2001)

The annual Russian Cup takes place this week in Moscow. The AA qualification event took place yesterday. Evgeny Krylov qualified in 1st with a 54.35 total. Yuri Tikhonovsky was second with a 53.85 followed by Alexei Bondarenko (who had the same score as Tikhonovky but the tie was broken). Alexei Nemov competed on two events in this meet. Tomorrow is the AA finals to be followed by the Russian National EF later this week. This competition is also Russia's last before Goodwill Games and Worlds. Results from the top 10 below, courtesy of OEG:

1. Evgeny Krylov: 9.150 8.750 9.400 9.400 8.900 8.750- 54.30
2. Yuri Tikhonovsky: 9.000 8.600 8.450 9.600 9.100 9.100- 53.850
3. Alexei Bondarenko: 8.550 8.400 9.300 9.200 9.000 9.400- 53.850
4. Maxim Alyoshin: 8.600 8.725 8.700 9.000 9.000 9.200- 53.225
5. Maxim Devyatosvky: 9.000 8.900 8.800 9.100 8.950 8.400- 52.150
6. Renat Murtazov: 8.300 8.600 8.900 9.050 9.100 9.000- 52.950
7. Nikolai Kryukov: 8.100 9.300 9.050 9.150 8.900 8.100- 52.600
8. Gregori Greb'enkov: 8.400 9.000 8.750 8.700 8.500 9.000- 52.350
9. Liskin: 8.400 8.550 8.600 8.750 8.450 8.750- 51.500
10. Nigmadzyanov: 8.200 8.750 8.150 8.700 8.400 7.750- 49.950

Canadian Trials (07/17/2001)

The Canadian men's team held their World University Games trial this past weekend at the University of Calgary in Alberta. This competition also served one of three qualifying competitions towards the World Championships team. The first competition was Nationals in May which counts for 70%. This competition (which followed a week long training camp for seven top gymnasts) was the second qualifying competition and is weighted 15%. The third and final competition will be held after another training camp in Abbotsford, British Columbia in August and will also be weighted 15% (the latter two competitions are two-day averages). The top four gymnasts after the weighted competitions earn automatic berths onto the team. The remaining two athletes plus the alternate will be picked after the final camp and competition. The World University Games (WUG) team will consist of Richard & Ken Ikeda, Grant Golding, David Kikuchi and Rhett Stinson. However, after the first two competitions, National Champ Richard Ikeda still holds a lead over Grant Golding (80.23 to 80.16). Olympian Alexandre Jeltkov is in 3rd with a 79.65. Richard's brother, Ken Ikeda is currently holding the last automatic berth with a 79.41. Absent from the second competition was World Cup medalist, Kyle Shewfelt, who skipped the camp and competition to focus on improving his weaker events.

British Nationals (07/15/2001)

David Eaton (Hinckley) won his first Britsh National Championship yesterday in Fenton Manor, Stoke on Trent. Eaton, who also competes for Cal-Berkeley in the NCAA program, was the only competitor to break a 52.0 in the AA. He also had the highest score on PH (9.1) and HB (9.05). Eaton's AA score of 52.05 was followed by Ross Brewer's (Sutton) 51.85. Brewer had the second highest FX score (8.95) and second highest PH score (8.9). Behind Brewer was Evan James (Park Wrekin) who scored a 50.75 to edge Eaton's Hinckley teammate, Barry Colllie for the bronze by just 0.1. Cuong Thoong (Unattached) was 5th with a 49.95. Cuong also had the highest FX score of 9.1. The competition finishes up with EF which will be held today. For full results, click the link above to see the official BAGA page.

US National Qualifier (07/01/2001)

The US National Qualifier took place yesterday in Santa Barbara, California. Over 50 seniors and 30 juniors attempted to qualify to the elite competition to be held in Philadelphia, PA in early August. There were two competitions yesterday, one for the prequalified seniors/unqualified juniors and then another for unqualified seniors. For the seniors, the top 13 gymnasts qualified to USA's while the top 6 juniors in each junior division qualified as well. Only seven gymnasts were able to break the 50.0 mark in the senior session. Michigan's Daniel Diaz-Luong (52.45) had the highest score of the competition (besides Steve McCain's 53.8 in the prequalified session). Sanjuan Jones (USOTC) placed 2nd with a 52.25 over Jason Furr who totaled a 51.85. Cal-Berkeley's Cody Moore placed 4th with a 51.4 to beat Andrew Thornton (Iowa)(50.65). The remaining senior qualifiers were: Kristopher Zimmerman (Michigan), D.J. Bucher (Queen City), Cameron Schick (Iowa), David Durante (Stanford), Dick Huntwork (Ohio State), Jock Stevens (Oklahoma), Michael Evans (Ohio State), Kevin Donohue (Penn State), Scott Wetterling (Illinois), Matt Abboud (Penn State) and Aaron Murphy (Temple). Click the link above to see the official competition pages with complete results by USAG.

Switzerland vs. Belarus vs. Poland (05/31/2001)

Danzig, Poland hosted a tri-meet between the host nation, Switzerland and Belarus. Belarus ended up winning with a 206.000. Poland was second with a 204.850 (including a 9.6 vault from Lesznek Blanik). Switzerland finished last with a 197.050. Christoph Sch�rer from Switzerland won the AA competition with a 51.700 over Poland's best, Marcin Lominski (50.350). Click above for more complete results and a report in German from Gymmedia.

Hungarian National Championships (05/31/2001)

Hungary was the next country to hold their National Championships. Robert Gal held out for a 0.4 win over Krisztian Jordanov (52.800 to 52.400). Gal had scores ranging from 9.5's on FX and VT to 7.65 on HB, the fluctuation of course due to the more demanding Code of Points. Jordanov was more balanced with all his scores in the 8's (highest of 8.8's on PB and HB). Newcomer Attila Lorik won the bronze with a 51.800. In EF, Gal picked up three more golds on FX, PH and VT. Olympic Rings champ, Szilvester Csollany won his specialty with an enormous 9.8 (he beat his nearest competitor by 0.7!). Lorik won HB and Jordanov won PB. Click the link above for more complete results from the Gymn Forum.

Canadian National Championships (05/25/2001)

British Columbia's Richard Ikeda won his second National Title this year with a combined score of 103.700 over two days of competition (an 8.64 avg per event). Third place went to another BC gymnast, Grant Golding (103.500). Richard's brother, Ken, finished in 4th. Full results were not up yet but should be available soon at the Official Canadian Nationals Website. Also, try the new www.gymn.ca for more information on the competition.

East Asian Games (05/24/2001)

The East Asian Games continued this week in Osaka, Japan. The first day of competition was the men's team competition. China averaged close to a 9.400 to score a 225.550. Japan was over 5 points behind in second with a 219.825 (about a 9.15 avg). Korea was almost four points behind that mark (215.925) to take the bronze (an average of just under 9.000). The next men's competition day is Tuesday with the All Around competition followed on Wednesday by the Event Finals. This year also marked the first time that Australia participated in the competition.

The next competition was the AA. Olympic runner-up, Yang Wei of China easily defeated teammate Li Dezhi by over a point for the gold (56.925 to 55.850). Japan's Hiroyuki Tomita prevented a Chinese sweep with his 55.350. Zheng Lihui (CHN) finished fourth with a 55.200. Yernar Yerimbetov from Kazahkstan broke the "55" mark even for fifth.

In EF, the Chinese were just as dominant. Li Xiaopeng and Xing Aowei went 1-2 on FX with scores of 9.65 and 9.55 respectively. Pommels was the only event that a Chinese gymnast did not take at least a part of the gold in. Japan's Akihiro Kasamatsu and Korea's Hyung-Ook Shin tied for the gold with a 9.675. Huang Xu (CHN) was third with a 9.625. Huang then went to rings where he tied for the gold with Norimasa Iwai of Japan (9.675's apiece). Hiroyuki Tomita was a close third with a 9.650. Vault was closely won by Aowei with a 9.437. Lin Yung-Hsi from Tapei won his country's first and only medal of the games with a 9.425. Xiaopeng picked up his second medal for his 9.375. Parallel bars ended in a tie between Huang and Tomita with a pair of 9.600's. Yoshihiro Saito (JPN) and Dezhi tied for the bronze at 9.350. Aowei won his second gold of the night (and fourth medal of the games) on HB. His score of 9.700 was the highest of the competition. Yernar Yerimbetov (KAZ) was second with a 9.475 and Saito won his second bronze with a 9.450. Thus concludes the 2001 East Asian Games from Osaka. This meet was the first major competition of the new Code that top Chinese teams for both men and women were fielded. From the looks of it, they will both be challengers for medals (if not gold) in Ghent.

European Gymnastics Masters (05/20/2001)

The Russian team won their second consecutive European Gymnastics Masters crown this weekend. They were led by strong performances from Evgeny Podgorny on Vault (9.500) and Nikolai Kruykov on High Bar (9.300). The women's team of Lyudmilla Ezhova (9.462 BB) and Elena Zamolodchikova had to count a fall from Elena on FX (only an 8.600) but the team still managed to stay ahead of Ukraine. Although the Ukrainian men performed well (Beresch scored a 9.45 on HB and Svetlichny scored a 9.1 on PH), the rest of the team did not perform as well. In the bronze medal race, Spain was able to pull ahead of Italy by nearly two points. Spain's joker, Victor Cano on HB, only scored an 8.2 (to go along with Alex Barranechea's 9.225 on FX) but it was enough to stay ahead of Alberto Busnari who was the only Italian male competitor. The Spanish women's squad of Sara Moro and Laura Martinez also beat the Italian team (although Monica Bergamelli was the only competitor) by two points. The next European Masters will be held in 2003.

European Gymnastics Masters (05/19/2001)

The European Gymnastics Masters tournament is taking place this weekend in Riesa, Germany. The Russian team (with Evgeny Podgorny, Nikolai Kruykov, Lyudmilla Ezhova, Elena Zamolodchikova, Alina Kabaeva and Anna Tchachtchina) lead after the qualifying round with a score of 140.219. Ukraine (136.447) was second and Spain (132.739) third. The other teams to advance to the second round are: Italy, Belarus, Great Britain, Germany and Poland. The unique format used for this competition was pioneered at the now obsolete Messe Cup in Germany. The format uses two artistic men, two artistic women and two rhythmic women from each country with an extra "joker" who's score is then doubled. Click the link above for the latest news, results and information about this weekend's competition.

New Message Board (05/01/2001)

Click above to visit the new Message Board. Hopefully it will become a good forum for discussing men's gymnastics in the future. Happy posting!

World Ranking List Update (05/01/2001)

The World Ranking List was updated for the 2001 international competitive season. Featured are 70 gymnasts who represent over 25 countries. These rankings were complied from seven competitions this year (American Cup, American Team Cup, Cottbus Grand Prix, France Telecom, Moscow World Stars, Romanian International and a dual meet between Cuba and France). Click here for an explanation of the rankings or click here to view the rankings.

Romanian International (04/30/2001)

Romania added four more golds and a total of eight medals in EF at the Romanian International. Dan Potra was the only double-winner by taking FX (9.475) and SR (9.587) as well as the PH bronze (9.475). Dragulescu won his speciality, vault, with a 9.600. Marius Urzica had the highest score of the night (9.863) for his pommel horse routine. Clay Strother (USA) competed well in his first ever international competition. In addition to the AA bronze he won, he also picked up silvers on FX (9.300), PH (9.575) and PB (8.825). Another surprise was Puerto Rico's trio of medals. Veteran Diego Lizardi finished third on SR (9.500) and second on vault (9.125) while younger teammate Luis Vargas placed third on PB (8.800). Israel's Pavel Goffman won PB with an 8.850 and Christoph Schaerer (SUI) was the top performer on HB (9.550).

Russian Cup (04/30/2001)

The last Moscow competition of the weekend was the Russian Cup for Event Finals. This brought an end to a long and exciting weekend for gymnastics in the Olimpiisky Sport Complex. The top Russian gymnasts Evgeny Podgorny and Alexei Bondarenko opted to compete in the international EF competition (Stars of the World) instead of the Russian Cup. Yuri Kruykov dominated the men's meet by winning three golds and one bronze. He won gold on PH (9.250), VT (8.825) and PB (8.850) and picked up the FX bronze (8.450). Kruykov also won pommels earlier in the day at the Stars of the World event. Other winners include Maxim Devyatovsky who won at the 2001 Peter Vidmar Invitation in Los Angeles. Here are the medalists as reported by International Gymnast:

Men's Floor Exercise
1. Yuri Tikhonovsky 9.050
2. Yevgeny Krylov 8.550
3. Yuri Kryukov 8.450

Pommel Horse
1. Yuri Kryukov 9.250
2. Maxim Devyatovsky 8.800
3. Alexander Kravtsov 8.700

Rings
1. Pavel Koshevoy 9.650
2. Rashid Kasumov 9.600
3. Yevgeny Krylov 9.550

Men's Vault
1. Yuri Kryukov 8.825
2. Yevgeny Krylov 8.575
3. Yuri Tikhonovsky 8.550

Parallel Bars
1. Yuri Kryukov 8.850
2. Ilya Baranov 8.800
3. Yevgeny Krylov 8.800

High Bar
1. Maxim Devyatovsky 8.950
2. Pavel Koshevoy 8.800
3. Vladimir Lyskin 8.750

Russian Nationals (04/29/2001)

Alexei Bondarenko won another Russian title (to go along with his victories in both '97 and '98). He scored a 55.100 to edge prelim leader Evgeny Podgorny (54.250). Newcomer, Egveny Kruylov won the bronze with a 54.05. 2000 Olympic AA Champion, Alexei Nemov decided to skip this competition to prepare for the upcoming competition season. See International Gymnast for more results and information.

Romanian International (04/29/2001)

Marian Dragulescu and Dan Potra lead the host team to a 1-2 AA finish at the Romanian International. Dragulescu scored a 55.625 to win the title. Potra tallied a 54.150 to claim second over American Clay Strother (52.600). However, Romanians Rares Orzata (53.950) and Robert Ene (53.300) would have placed 3rd and 4th ahead of Strother but only two Romanian gymnasts' scores were allowed to count. Constain Covaci (52.550) would also placed just behind Strother had his score counted as well. Also, according to International Gymnast, the competition will be aired on US TV in the future!

Moscow Stars of the World (04/29/2001)

The Moscow Stars of the World competition has long been one of the most important annual spring competitions on the international circuit. This year was no exception. It drew a high-class field of competitors from all over the world. Several World and Olympic medalists competed in the Event Finals competition (held in conjunction with the Russian Nationals/Cup). 1996 Olympic FX finalist, Evgeny Podgorny from the home country won FX with a 9.500 leaving Evgeny Sapronenko (LAT) and Jordan Jovtchev (BUL) in a tie for the silver with scores of 8.900. The clean-lined Aleksei Sinkevich of Belarus tied for the PH gold with Nikolai Kruykov (RUS) with 9.400s. Brit Kanukai Jackson won bronze with a 9.000. Rashid Kasumov upset strongmen Ivan Ivankov (BLR) and Jovtchev (9.600 vs. 9.550 vs. 9.500). Lesnek Blanik from Poland won vault with his Tsukahara pike double back and handspring double front (9.3) with Yuri Kruykov (RUS- no relation to Nikolai) and Dimitry Karbanenko (FRA) tying for silver with a 9.250. Vasily Tsolakidis from Greece won PB with a high 9.600 on an event that many of cited as the hardest in the new Code. American Raj Bhavsar scored a 9.300 that merited the silver with Ivankov's 9.150 getting the bronze. Alexei Bondarenko (RUS) won his first and only medal of the competition on HB with his winning 9.350. 2000 Olympian Steve McCain (USA) won another silver for the US (9.150) while Karbanenko picked up the bronze with an 8.800).

France vs. Cuba (04/25/2001)

A young French squad traveled to Havana, Cuba for a dual meet against the Cuban National Team on April 20th. Cuba scored a team total of 210.550 to beat France's 205.400. Eric Lopez (CUB) won the AA with a 54.350 followed by teammate Abel Driggs (52.150). This was the first major dual meet of the Code outside the ATC competition in Hawaii. The highest scores were as follows: FX- Eric Lopez (8.6), PH- Florent Maree (9.2), SR- Eric Lopez (9.55), VT- Abel Driggs (9.4), PB- Eric Lopez (9.3), HB- Y. Mendoza (9.0). Click above to see the full results from the French Federation's Website.

Website Overhaul (04/17/2001)

I decided to give the website a bit of a face lift this last weekend. I added several sections (see link bar at left) and updated several others. I also changed the name to something that this website has come to represent. Hopefully this site will become the premier site on men's gymnastics. I also plan on updating the rest of the site so it's all up to speed during the next few weeks. Let me know what you think of the new site!

Men's NCAA Championships (04/01/2001)

Host Ohio State took the 2001 team title, their first since 1996 this weekend. Oklahoma, who broke their own record score in prelims, placed 2nd in finals to the Buckeyes. Cal-Berkeley improved on their highest score by two points to take 3rd by 0.600 over Michigan. Penn State and Michigan State rounded out the top 6 from finals.

In the All Around competition, Ohio State dominated with Olympic alternate Jamie Natalie winning his second consecutive crown with a 55.700 (the highest AA score thus far under the new Code). Teammate Raj Bhavsar took second (55.150). Cal-Berkeley's Cody Moore led his team with his season best of 54.775 to place third. Scott Vetere (Michigan- 54.500), Clay Strother (Minnesota- 54.150) and Leo Oka (Illinois- 54.075) rounded out the top six who all gained All American status in the All Around.

In Event Finals, the best specialist competed for individual glory with more All-American positions up for grabs. On floor, Minnesota's Clay Strother won over Brendan O'Neil from Oklahoma (9.525 to 9.487). Brad Golden (Michigan State) won his first of two medals of the night with his 9.287 FX routine that won bronze. The other FX All-Americans were: Jamie Natalie (OSU), Steve Van Etten (U Ok) and Josh Landis (U Ok). On pommel horse, Strother was again victorious over the deep field by virtue of scoring the highest mark of the entire EF competition (9.662). Steve Van Etten was Oklahoma's second silver medalist with a 9.262. Iowa picked up their only medal of the night with a 9.175. Michael Ashe (Cal), Jon Plante (MSU) and David Eaton (Cal) were the remaining All-Americans. On rings, Winter Cup and Big 10 champion Chris Lakeman (Penn St) again proved his status as new rings king with his winning 9.550. That mark was closest met by Michigan's Scott Vetere who scored a 9.487 and Oklahoma's Brett Covey with a 9.450. The other All-Americans were: Kevin Tan (Penn St), Marshall Erwin (Stanford) and Conan Parzuchowski (Michigan). Vault was another exciting event with Ohio State winning their first EF gold of the night. Daren Lynch scored a 9.500 to beat out Brad Golden (9.375) and Dominic Brindle (Penn St- 9.250). Raj Bhavsar (OSU), Jay Kim (Penn St) and Dan Gill (Stanford) earned All-American honors on vault as well. On PB, Raj Bhavsar won his only gold of the night and Ohio State's second. His score of 9.412 proved too much for his competitors. Kris Zimmerman (Michigan) was close with his 9.250. Jamie Natalie picked up another medal with his 9.137 for third. Daniel Furney (U Ok), Scott Vetere (Michigan) and Daniel Diaz-Luong (Michigan) were the remaining PB All-Americans. In the last final of the night, Michael Ashe from Cal-Berkeley won his second consecutive HB title and became the only repeat EF champion with his 9.512 routine. Michigan had two threats with Diaz-Luong (9.362) and Zimmerman (9.312) in second and third. The final set of all-Americans were: Steve Van Etten, Ryan Hillyer (U Ok) and Scott Vetere.

Now that the NCAA season has ended, it's back to the gym for many of these athletes to prepare for US Nationals in August and then the World Championships in October. And because of a USAG rule change that states that the NCAA AA champ will get an automatic berth on the Worlds team, Jamie Natalie is assured a spot on his first Worlds team ever.

Cottbus Grand Prix (04/01/2001)

The Cottbus Grand Prix marked the second EF Grand Prix competition of the year. Still, there were many falls and blown routines. In the men's floor competition, Evgeny Sapronenko (LAT) beat out Bulgarian Jordan Jovtchev (9.438 to 9.325) in the winner's final. Filip Janev (BUL) placed third with a 9.113. There were 10 scores above 9.000 on FX. On pommels, Romania's Marius Urzica still reigned supreme by winning all three rounds of competition with scores ranging 9.575 to 9.750 (the latter was his winner's final score). Sven Kwiatkowski (GER) was the other winner's final participant with a 9.375. Italian Albert Busnari was third (9.100). The judges handed out 15 scores above 9.000 on pommels (one of the higher scoring events). Rings was probably the most hotly contested event with Jovtchev and Szilvester Csollany (HUN) battling for the title (and prize money). Although Csollany beat Jovtchev in all three rounds, it was never by more than 0.100. The final score was 9.700 to 9.637. Former World Rings Finalist Andrea Coppolino (ITA) was third with a 9.387. There were 16 scores above 9.000 on rings. On vault, China's Lu Bin recorded the highest score of the competition for his Tsukahara double pike (9.8) in the winner's final to rack up the win over Poland's Leszik Blanik who performed the same vault for a 9.525. Valery Pereskura from Ukraine was third with a 9.319. A whopping 23 scores were over 9.000 on vault. Parallel bars were the lowest scoring event by far with Aljaz Pegan's (SLO) 8.963 winning the title over newcomer Yerner Yerimbeton (KAZ) by a narrow margin of 0.013. Mitja Petkovsek (SLO) and Zhao Shen (CHN) tied for 3rd with 9.025's. In all three rounds of competition, there were 9 scores above 9.000 on PB. On high bar, Pegan was again victorious (and undefeaten all the way through). His scores ranged from his 9.512 in the winner's final to a 9.650 in the final. Martin Fuchs (SUI) fell in the winner's final to score a dismal 8.050 compared to his final's score of 9.387. Italy's Igor Cassina was a close third with a 9.375. There were 16 scores above 9.000 throughout the HB competition. For complete results and more commentary, visit Gymmedia.

Men's NCAA Season Update (03/27/2001)

The two big meets of last weekend were the Big 10's at Penn State and Mountain Pacific (MPSF) at Cal-Berkeley. #2 Ohio State won Big 10's with a 217.275 (their highest score of the year and third highest overall). #3 Michigan placed second with a 216.000 (their third highest score of the year) and host #8 Penn State grabbed third ahead of #4 Illinois by only 0.10 (214.275 to 214.175). #6 Michigan State (211.950), #7 Iowa (210.850) and #9 Minnesota (208.800) rounded out the rest of the field. Ohio State's Jamie Natalie and Raj Bhavsar went 1-2 in the AA with scores of 55.350 and 54.925 respectively. Michigan's Daniel Diaz-Luong placed 3rd with a 54.600.

For Event Finals, Michigan State's Brad Golden took home the gold on floor with a 9.337 while teammate Jonathan Plante won pommels with a 9.437. 2001 Winter Cup Ring champ Chris Lakeman (Penn State) won his speciality at home with a 9.637. Minnesota's Eric Steele won vault by over 0.300 (9.525). Michigan got their individual win of the night with Scott Vetere's 9.200 PB performance. 2000 Olympic alternate and 2001 Big 10 Gymnast of the Year Jamie Natalie (OSU) won high bar with a 9.475.

MPSF's turned out to be a competition between two teams: #1 Oklahoma and #5 Cal-Berkeley. Oklahoma won the team competition with a new NCAA season high of 217.725 over Cal-Berkeley's 213.925. The next highest score was #14 Nebraska's 205.325 followed by #12 Stanford (203.550), #18 Air Force (196.550) and #19 UC Santa Barbara (195.525). Cal's Cody Moore won the All Around with a 53.875 over teammate Michael Ashe (52.250). Gabe Hansen (OU) placed third with a 51.600.

Oklahoma and Cal-Berkeley split the Event Finals with three wins each. Cody Moore led the Golden Bear charge with victories on PB (9.200) and HB (9.325) as well as a silver on floor (9.250) and fourth place on vault (9.025). Michael Ashe won pommels with a 9.200. OU's Brendan O'Neil won floor with a 9.600 and teammate Bret Covey won rings with the same score. Oklohoma's third victory of the night came from Steve Van Etten won vault with a 9.200. After the meet, Moore and Van Etten were named MPSF Co-Gymnasts of the Year.

NCAA Countdown (as of 4/01): Qualifier (4 days), Team and AA Finals (5 days) and EF (6 days).

Men' NCAA Season Update (03/16/2001)

With the regular season coming to a close, many teams are taking advantage of their last few meets to full prepare themselves for the post-season competitions. Last weekend featured yet another record breaking team score with #1 Oklahoma scoring a 217.300 against Ohio State and Stanford. Jamie Natalie (OSU) salvaged the All Around for the Buckeyes with a 54.200 ahead of teammate Raj Bhavsar with a 53.900. The Sooners have only one loss to #2 Michigan and have had the #1 for the last six weeks. #6 Michigan State won their last home meet last weekend against #7 Iowa and a partial team from Michigan. The #18 Santa Barbara Gauchos hosted their annual invitational which attracted teams from all over including #4 Illinois, #5 Cal-Berkeley, Washington (club) and #19 Arizona State (club). Cal-Berkeley won a close battle over Illinois (214.05-213.600) while Arizona State finished in third with a 198.350. Leo Oka (Illinois) won the AA with a 52.800 ahead of Cal-Berkeley's Michael Ashe (52.400) and David Eaton (51.300). This weekend will feature several key competitions including Michigan vs. Michigan State (at U of M this time), Cal-Berkeley vs. Iowa vs. Air Force and Penn St. vs. Michigan State.

French Cup (03/08/2001)

The first French competition of the year and new Code took place on March 3th and 4th in Mulhouse. The competition was won by Florent Maree, a 2000 Olympian and 1998 Jr. European Champion, with a score of 50.800. Maree's Olympic teammate, Yann Cucherat, placed 2nd with a 50.350. Newcomer Benoit Caranobe picked up the All Around bronze (49.750) ahead of Fr�d�ric Meytras (48.750) and '96 Olympian, S�bastian Tayac (48.050). Dimitry Karbanenko competed on everything except pommels and rings. He won vault with the only score above 9 in the meet (9.500) and floor with an 8.650. Eric Casimir competed on only on his speciality, pommels for third place with an 8.600.

American Cup (03/08/2001)

The 2001 American Cup was the first major international event under the new Code of Points. It became apparent early on that many other countries had experienced similar problems coming up with high Start Values. Blaine Wilson (USA) narrowly beat out teammate Sean Townsend for his 4th American Cup crown (56.300 to 56.200). However, both American gymnasts beat their nearest rival, Eric Lopez of Cuba, by over three points. All eight competitors were 2000 Olympians but many failed to impress with the new rules. In places 4-8 were Alexander Beresch (UKR), Marian Dragulescu (ROM), Yann Cucherat (FRA), Alexei Bondarenko (RUS) and Victor Cano (ESP). The next major international competition is the French International scheduled for March 17th and 18th.

Men's NCAA Season Update (03/02/2001)

It is now only a few weeks before the end of the season and all the teams are busy preparing for the big event, NCAA's. We are three weeks away from the Division Championships (Mountain Pacific, Big 10, EIGL) and two weeks after that are NCAA's. So far, Oklahoma is still ranked #1 but Michigan has moved up to 2nd despite a loss to #9 Minnesota last week. Completing the top six teams are Ohio State, Illinois, Michigan State and Cal-Berkeley.

Winter Cup (03/03/2001)

(Winter Cup took place on Feb. 9th-10th) Winter Cup 2001 could have easily been called "The Resurgence of the NCAA Gymnast". Good performances from top collegiate athletes commanded the attention of the crowd and the judges alike. It turned out that five of the top 10 finishers were from NCAA schools and 22 of the 38 competitors from from the NCAA system. Blaine Wilson won over Minnesota's Clayton Strother and Ohio State teammate Raj Bhavsar. The competition was the first major National event under the new Code and gave the competitiors a look at how they stood compared to the rest of the country. The next major National competition will be NCAA's in April and then National Qualifier in late June.

Men's NCAA Season Update (02/04/2001)

This was the last week of NCAA competition before the Winter Cup break and tomorrow will mark the first time that the rankings go into their second phase. From now on, the top ranked team is not determined by their highest team score but by the average of their two highest scores with only one home meet counting. Michigan (who was ranked #1 throughout the entire year to this point) will drop to second behind Oklahoma in the new rankings. Oklahoma set the new Code NCAA record this weekend with a 215.550 against Iowa's 210.475 (Michigan had a 215.500 before). Ohio State is also in the running after a 211.800 victory over Illinois-Champaign (211.350). Perhaps the biggest leap this week was California who jumped from a 205.55 to a 213.850 against UMass (204.500) and Santa Barbara (195.450). Penn State hosted and lost to Michigan with a score of 209.500 to 207.650. So after five weeks of NCAA competition, the rankings show Oklahoma in 1st, Michigan in 2nd, Ohio State in 3rd, Illinois in 4th and California in 5th.

Men's NCAA Season Update (01/29/2001)

After a few weeks of the NCAA season, it is clear the Michigan is the team to beat. They have set and re-set the 2001 team record score and continue to lead in the team rankings. Their 215.500 against OSU (who was 2nd ranked then and scored a 210.400) on Jan. 20th was the highest team score so far. Oklahoma has scored the second highest with a 213.600 against Air Force on Jan. 27th. Other high scores have been Penn State's 208.450 against Army, Illinois' 209.30 against UIC and Michigan State, Iowa's 209.325 against Minnesota. Thus far, Michigan is leading by quite a large margin. Oklahoma is the only other school to score over 211 and along with Ohio State make up the three schools that have scored above 210.

Men's NCAA Season Update (01/29/2001)

Ok, you guys are lucky...Two updates in one day!! I'm on an NCAA roll here so I'll keep flowing. Last week was the start of the NCAA season but it was not until this week that we got to see the Big 10 teams in action. However, we did get to see results from the Cal-Berkeley vs. Stanford meet that Cal won by a score of 204.150 to Stanford's 190.650. That was pretty much the only meet until this weekend. The big meet this weekend was the Windy City Invite which included #1 Michigan, #2 Ohio State, #6 Iowa, #8 Illinois-Champaign, #10 Michigan State, #12 Minnesota and the host, #14 Illinois-Chicago. Michigan took the team title with a score of 207.550. Illinois-Champaign, led by the All Around champion, Leo Oka, placed 2nd (207.200) and Ohio State snagged 3rd with a 205.400 ahead of Iowa (205.150). Minnesota (202.250), Michigan State (201.350) and Illinois-Chicago (196.250) rounded out the competition. In the team event category, Michigan took floor, pommels and parallel bars while Illinois-Champaign won rings, vault and high bar.

In other meets this weekend, Penn State took on UMass in a heated competition in Amherst, Mass. on Saturday. The #12 UMass Minutemen beat the #4 Nitany Lions for the first time ever with a score of 205.00 to 202.150. Penn State had the the top two All Around scores with Jose Palacios's 50.400 and Tobias Ekman's 49.850.

The only teams in the pre-season top 10 that have not competed yet are Oklahoma and Nebraska. Now after two weeks (but only one competition from each team), the average scores show these rankings: 1. Michigan (207.550), 2. Illinois-Champaign (207.200), 3. Ohio State (205.400), 4. Iowa (205.150), 5. UMass (205.000), 6. Cal-Berkeley (204.150), 7. Minnesota (202.250), 8. Penn State (202.150), 9. Michigan State (201.350), 10. Illinois-Chicago (196.250), 11. Stanford (190.650). Next week should also have some good meets like the Rocky Mountain Open (Oklahoma, Nebraska), West Point Open (Penn State, UMass, Temple), Illinois vs. Minnesota and Ohio State vs. Michigan.

Men's NCAA Season Preview (01/14/2001)

Well to start off the new news format, I'd like to make a quick preview of the men's NCAA season. As a future competitor (I'm going to Cal-Berkeley to compete next year), I hope that this provides some more indepth insight. The rankings are based on the pre-season college coaches' poll.