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Category: gymnastics (Page 2 of 5)

Jersey Girls: Gymnastics’ future might have Garden State roots

INDIANAPOLIS – The 47th largest state in land mass in the United States might have cornered the market on the future of women’s gymnastics.

When the junior division, gymnasts between the ages of 11–15, took the floor at Indianapolis’ Bankers Life Fieldhouse for the first day of their competition at the 2015 P&G U.S. Gymnastics Championships on Thursday afternoon, five of the 28 competitors hailed from the Garden State. The only other state to equal that amount? The traditional gymnastics powerhouse that is the nation’s second largest state — Texas.

And when the first day of competition ended? Three of those five Jersey girls had spots in the top ten, with two — Jazmyn Foburg and Lauren Hernandez, who train at Morganville, N.J.’s Monmouth Gymnastics — in first and second.

Foburg is the reigning national champion in junior women, and her consistency won the day. Although she stepped out of bounds on her final tumbling pass on floor exercise to open the afternoon, she put that behind her quickly. On her next event, she scored her first career 15.000 — a giant score for a senior gymnast in this decade’s Code of Points, let alone a junior one — on vault with a high-flying Yurchenko double twist.

“It was amazing,” said Foburg. “I’ve always wanted (a 15), and I finally got it. And it’s awesome because I got it at P&Gs.”

Foburg’s uneven bars routine finished with a flourish, a full-twisting double tuck dismount, and she slid up to first place. On her last rotation, she calmly moved through a balance beam routine with fewer bobbles than most of her competitors, earning her a 14.35 and putting her in a good spot heading into Saturday afternoon’s finals.

Clad in a yellow, white and hot pink leotard, the spunky Hernandez held her own in her first national championships back after wrist and knee injuries kept her sidelined for most of 2014. With choreography details so sharp that you could easily see them if you were hanging from the Indiana Pacers’ Divisional Championship banners in the rafters, she started the afternoon off with a huge ovation and score (14.35) on floor exercise. Vault shook her a bit, but she recovered on uneven bars to move from third place to second.

Nerves struck Hernandez as she waited for her last event, balance beam. To help, she turned to advice she learned online.

“Sometimes I blow on my thumbs. Somewhere I read that your thumb has a pulse, so if I blow on my thumb it helps,” said Hernandez. “Or I talk to my coach about shoes, so I don’t overthink.”

It worked. She had a balance check here and there, but she held her own to remain in second just behind her teammate, something Foburg was pleased about.

“I’m glad we’re together,” said Foburg. “I am so happy that I get to compete with her.”

Next year, the New Jersey contingent will be down two gymnasts in the junior ranks. Both now 15 years old, Hernandez and Foburg will move up to the senior division for 2016, making them age-eligible to make runs for the team headed to the Olympics in Rio. But for this weekend, the focus is on one of them winning a national title at the end of Saturday’s finals, proving that New Jersey is as tough in gymnastics as it is in its stereotype.

“I’m just so happy to be here, especially with her,” said Hernandez. “She pushes me to be the best and she always has my back.”

The Upstate New York Update for Day 1 of the Senior Men at the US Gymnastics Championships

Men's Competition at the 2014 P&G Gymnastics Championships.

PITTSBURGH – With a newfound zeal for his gymnastics career, Paul Ruggeri had a solid first day of senior men’s competition at the 2014 U.S. Gymnastics Championships Friday.

The Manlius, N.Y. native finished 9th all-around among a strong field, taking a 87.050 score into Sunday afternoon’s final round of competition. His 15.35 on vault Friday night was followed by an unfortunate turn on parallel bars, where he fell near the end but still salvaged a 13.3 score. Three beautiful release moves and near perfect handstands earned Ruggeri a 15.7 on high bar. He closed his evening with a 12.85 on pommel horse, staying on the horse, which many of his competitors had not.

After hitting all five of his tumbling passes on floor exercise to earn a 15.6, Ruggeri clasped his hands in the direction of the judges, appearing very grateful that his first day of competition this year was going vastly different than last year’s opening round, where he struggled and finished in 15th place with just a 85.25.

Ruggeri’s positive attitude, influenced by a recent change in his training base to the U.S. Olympic Training Center, sparked his steady day. “Today I am happy to be doing gymnastics, and I enjoy this process,” said Ruggeri. “I am just in it for the ride. Whatever I get out of it, I get out of it. So I am enjoying myself.”

Penfield, N.Y.’s Eddie Penev had his ups and downs on day one, finishing 15th with a 84.1. He showed his typical mastery on floor exercise, making every tumbling pass look like a walk in the park. His closing whip triple full was especially airy, and his tumbling packed routine earned a well deserved 15.55 for the routine.

Pommel horse became his undoing, despite an increased training emphasis on the event. He muscled through most of the routine before losing his balance going into the handstand in his dismount. He earned only a 11.95 for the routine.

Though Penev is the first to say that he’ll “never be a rings person,” it was his rings performance that demonstrated a lot of grit and heart, earning a 13.85. He closed his evening with two solid vaults. His half-on, double full was awarded a 15.35. His second, a huge Yurchenko 2.5 with just a step to the right, was performed with the hopes that the second vault could be used to earn him a consideration for further international assignments.

The recent Stanford graduate knows exactly what he needs to do to make Sunday’s last day of competition the best it can be. “I need to trust my training,” said Penev. “I definitely got ahead of myself a few times, so I definitely have to improve on that.”

2013 High School Gymnastics: Champions From Around New England

Much to my delight, I’ve been covering a lot of high school gymnastics since I started my high school sports writing gigs with the Boston Herald and the Peabody/Lynnfield Weekly News. I love writing about gymnastics, so it leads to a lot of “I get paid to do this?” moments of amazement. It’s pretty wonderful. I have met so many incredible gymnasts, coaches and parents over the past few months, and I’m grateful they have been so welcoming.

Barnstable on floor exercise at the South Sectional on Feb. 23, 2013.

Barnstable on floor exercise at the South Sectional on Feb. 23, 2013.

The New England championships for girls high school gymnastics are this upcoming Saturday, March 9th at Algonquin High School in Northboro, MA (also home of the only Wegmans in Massachusetts.) Each state will send their top two teams and the top six gymnastics on the all-around and each event.

In preparation, I’ve put together a list of the all-around champions and top two teams from each particpating state.  (Thanks for my Maine high school sports gurus @JeffMaineSports, @MattyinMaine and @MikeLowePPH for letting me know Maine no longer sponsors high school gymnastics.) This doesn’t mean these teams or gymnasts will necessarily compete on March 9th, but it’s a good list to have published somewhere.

Connecticut

(results from CIACsports.com)

All-Around Champion: Erin Malone, Southington

State Team Champion: Woodstock Academy

State Team Runner-Up: Southington

Massachusetts

(results from my trusty reporter’s notebook)

All-Around Champion: Kim Stewart, Nauset

State Team Champion: Barnstable

State Team Runner-Up: Sharon

New Hampshire

(results from NHIAA)

All-Around Champion: Kaylee Pacunas, Pinkerton

State Team Champion: Salem

State Team Runner-Up: Bishop Guertin

Rhode Island

(results from RIHSS)

All-Around Champion: Nicole Silva, Barrington

Division I Team Champion: North Kingstown

Division II Champion: Exeter/West Greenwich

Vermont

(results from the Burlington Free-Press)

All-Around Champion: Courtney Gleason, Essex

State Team Champion: Essex

State Team Runner-Up: Champlain Valley

Mario and Luigi Do Rhythmic Gymnastics At A Minor League Baseball Game

I love minor league baseball.

At Thursday night’s Lowell Spinners vs. Brooklyn Cyclones game at LaLacheur Park, two of the Spinners’ mascots – iconic video game characters Mario and Luigi – decided to try out an Olympic sport: rhythmic gymnastics.

This is not the first time the two attempted a ribbon routine. They did so at the last game I attended in Lowell, which was on the night of the Opening Ceremonies. But this time, I had a good angle and a charged iPhone. The result? Video of this expression of artistic majesty…or just interesting in-game entertainment.

Thank goodness no mushrooms got in the way.

Train Thoughts: Jordyn Wieber, The Arbitrary Nature of Gymnastics and The Biased Nature of Media Coverage

Train Thoughts are long sports related rambles I write on my commute into my full-time job. They aren’t the most concise pieces of writing I’ll ever write, but hey, at least I’m writing.

Jordyn Wieber’s failure to make the Olympic women’s gymnastics all-around has dominated the last 24 hours or so of Olympic gymnastics coverage. The reigning World All-Around champion had the fourth best All-Around score of Sunday’s meet, but had two US teammates finish above her (Boston’s Aly Raisman in second and recent phenom Gabrielle Douglas in third,) bouncing her out due to an two gymnast per country rule.

Said rule also came to the detriment of the Russian team, who also had to drop a high ranking All-Around gymnast (Anastasia Grishina.) A version of this rule has been around for a while – before it was two gymnasts, it was three, and it was in place to keep one country from dominating competition too much (Russia and China, the rulemakers were looking in your direction.)

The rule may not pass the smell test, but it is not unique to gymnastics. Countries are limited to a certain amount of participants in a variety of events – U.S. swimming has a boatload of strong swimmers who leave their international counterparts in the water, but they’re left home because they’re only third in their own country. Such rules work against countries with an embarssament of athletic riches, but for nations who don’t have the economic climates to produce such a bounty. Continue reading

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