The Men's Gymnastics Page

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Latest News

April 29th Moscow Stars of the World

Six men won gold at the annual Stars of the World held April 27th thru 29th. Participants included Alexei Bondarenko, Ivan Ivankov, Nikolai Kruykov, Steve McCain, Jordan Jovtchev and Raj Bhavsar.

April 29th Romanian International

The home team dominated in the annual competition in Ploesti this weekend with Marian Dragulescu and Dan Potra taking the gold and silver in the AA leaving American Clay Strother with the bronze.

April 25th France vs. Cuba

Cuba won a dual meet against France in Havana on April 25th. Eric Lopez and Abel Driggs led the Cuban charge by taking first and second in the AA.

April 29th Moscow Stars of the World

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.