SO much has happened since my last regular entry. Injuries, nationals, selections, all sorts of insanity!

I am trying to digest it all and get my thoughts organized for an epically massive update, but no promises on anything solid quite yet.

Thank you all for your continued support. I will do everything I can to be back as soon as possible.

-Cam

I know I often promise to return in full force, but that hasn’t really been able to happen. Yours truly has been rendered homeless because of a selfish former roommate’s now ex-fiancee. I have taken to living in my car until enough money can be amassed to move into a place of my own within reasonable price range. I have not been completely out of the loop of the gymnastics world, just unable to post and compound my thoughts enough to create worth-while postings and thoughts and the like.

Moving forward:
–

The 2011 edition of the CoverGirl Classic, the final qualifying competition for the United States National Championships took place over the weekend.

I was disappointed in the small number of true All-Around gymnasts. There should have been way more than were present.

I was THRILLED, though, with the comeback of Shawn Johnson and Chellsie Memmel. Shawn looked nervous, but in good shape. Her mistakes were obvious, but having been out for three years and back into her very first meet since the 2008 Olympics, she looks good. I am very much impressed with her new-found ability to actually dance on the Floor Exercise. Her run-through routine looked great!

Chellsie Memmel is still amazing. Solid, strong, consistent. When she has her Yurchenko Double Twist, her Double Layout and her full-difficulty bar set back, she will be awesome. She may even contend for the national title with the likes of Jordan Wieber and Aly Raisman. Her new floor routine is the best I’ve ever seen from her. I can’t wait to see what comes of it all.

Alicia Sacramone continues to be my favorite American gymnast. Her new Floor Exercise routine makes me shiver and shudder with excitement. I am in love with the music, the attitude, the dance, the confidence. Can I just give her the world gold medal for floor right now?

The rest of the field looked pretty good, too. Jordyn Wieber is going to be a force to reckon with. Amazing difficulty, strong technique, great form, and intense focus will do her very well as a senior.

Sabrina Vega should give a clinic on how to perform on Floor. She actually dances. Real dance. Skilled dance. Her tumbling isn’t too shabby either.

I can’t wait for nationals. Just a few short weeks away!

I will do my best to post if and when I can.

Thanks, everyone!

This event has long been touted as the most widely-participated-in championships ever. The 2011 World Championships is, of course, the first of two qualifying events for the 2012 Olympic Games to be held in London. The top eight teams for both men and women will get automatic berths to the team competition in London, while the final four teams for both sides will have to wait to qualify until January when the Olympic Test Event is held.

Here are the Men’s lots:

Subdivision 1:
Floor Exercise – United States (USA)
Pommel Horse – Puerto Rico (PUR)
Still Rings – Japan (JPN)
Vault – Portugal (POR)
Parallel Bars – Mixed Group 14 (Vietnam 3, Peru 2)
Horizontal Bar – Mixed Group 21 (Kuwait 2, South Africa 2)

Subdivision 2:
Floor Exercise – Ukraine (UKR)
Pommel Horse – Switzerland (SUI)
Still Rings – Mixed Group 23 (Egypt 3, Trinidad and Tobago 1, Luxembourg 1)
Vault – Mixed Group 15 (India 3, Georgia 2)
Parallel Bars – Romania (ROU)
Horizontal Bar – Mixed Group 16 (Qatar 3, Hong Kong 2)

Subdivision 3:
Floor Exercise – Mixed Group 5 (Slovenia 3, Sweden 2, Chile 1)
Pommel Horse – Mixed Group 11 (Argentina 3, Serbia 2, Guatemala 1)
Still Rings – Mixed Group 2 (Saudi Arabia 3, Costa Rica 3)
Vault – Netherlands (NED)
Parallel Bars – Brazil (BRA)
Horizontal Bar – Italy (ITA)

Subdivision 4:
Floor Exercise -Mixed Group 6 (Venezuela 3, Ireland 3)
Pommel Horse – Germany (GER)
Still Rings – Uzbekistan (UZB)
Vault – Hungary (HUN)
Parallel Bars – Mixed Group 10 (Greece 3, Lithuania 3)
Horizontal Bar – Mixed Group 7 (Armenia 3, Latvia 2)

Subdivision 5:
Floor Exercise – Spain (ESP)
Pommel Horse – Mixed Group 20 (Bulgaria 3, Tunisia 2)
Still Rings – Great Britain (GBR)
Vault – Kazakhstan (KAZ)
Parallel Bars – Mixed Group 3 (Norway 3, El Salvador 2)
Horizontal Bar – Mixed Group 13 (Thailand 3, Philippines 2)

Subdivision 6:
Floor Exercise – France
Pommel Horse – Mixed Group 17 (Belgium 3, Indonesia 3)
Still Rings – Mixed Group 8 (Mexico 3, Austria 3)
Vault – Colombia (COL)
Parallel Bars – Mixed Group 9 (Poland 3, Iraq 2)
Horizontal Bar – Mixed Group 18 (Croatia 3, Slovakia 2, Dominican Republic 1)

Subdivision 7:
Floor Exercise – Mixed Group 19 (Cyprus 3, Israel 3)
Pommel Horse – Mixed Group 1 (Denmark 3, Turkey 2, Albania 1)
Still Rings – Canada (CAN)
Vault – Mixed Group 24 (New Zealand 3, Namibia 1, Bangladesh)
Parallel Bars – Australia (AUS)
Horizontal Bar – Russian Federation (RUS)

Subdivision 8:
Floor Exercise – China
Pommel Horse – Republic of Korea (KOR)
Still Rings – Mixed Group 4 (Finland 3, Czech Republic 2, Monaco 1)
Vault – Belarus (BLR)
Parallel Bars – Mixed Group 22 (Iceland 3, Jordan 2)
Horizontal Bar – Mixed Group 12 (Taiwan 3, Azerbaijan 2)

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Women’s lots:

Subdivision 1:
Vault – Mexico (MEX)
Uneven Bars – Mixed Group 1 (Iceland 3, Guatemala 3)
Balance Beam – Mixed Group 5 (Egypt 3, Puerto Rico 3)
Floor Exercise – Mixed Group 2 (Israel 3, Czech Republic 2, Trinidad and Tobago 1)

Subdivision 2:
Vault – Mixed Group 13 (Croatia 3, Portugal 3)
Uneven Bars – Venezuela (VEN)
Balance Beam – Romania (ROU)
Floor Exercise – Mixed Group 3 (Finland 3, Denmark 3)

Subdivision 3:
Vault – Mixed Group 7 (Ireland 2, Turkey 2, Peru 2)
Uneven Bars – Mixed Group 6 (Vietnam 2, Taiwan 2, Kazakhstan 1)
Balance Beam – Australia
Floor Exercise – Mixed Group 11 (Indonesia 3, Poland 3)

Subdivision 4:
Vault – Mixed Group 4 (Austria 2, Jamaica 2, Armenia 1)
Uneven Bars – Mixed Group 10 (Qatar 2, Hong Kong 1, Bulgaria 1, Costa Rica 1)
Balance Beam – Canada (CAN)
Floor Exercise – Greece (GRE)

Subdivision 5:
Vault – Mixed Group 14 (Sweden 3, South Africa 3)
Uneven Bars – Mixed Group 12 (Dominican Republic 1, Lithuania 1, Argentina 1, Singapore 1, Slovakia 1)
Balance Beam – Uzbekistan (UZB)
Floor Exercise – Netherlands (NED)

Subdivision 6:
Vault – Republic of Korea (KOR)
Uneven Bars – Slovenia (SLO)
Balance Beam – Mixed Group 8 (India 3, Malaysia 3)
Floor Exercise – China (CHN)

Subdivision 7:
Vault – Mixed Group 9 (Colombia 3, Cyprus 3)
Uneven Bars – Brazil (BRA)
Balance Beam – United States (USA)
Floor Exercise – Germany (GER)

Subdivision 8:
Vault – Mixed Group 15 (Norway 3, Belarus 3)
Uneven Bars – Russian Federation (RUS)
Balance Beam – Belgium (BEL)
Floor Exercise – Switzerland (SUI)

Subdivision 9:
Vault – Spain (ESP)
Uneven Bars – Hungary (HUN)
Balance Beam – Ukraine (UKR)
Floor Exercise – Italy (ITA)

Subdivision 10:
Vault – Mixed Group 16 (New Zealand 2, Mongolia 2, Chile 2)
Uneven Bars – Great Britain (GBR)
Balance Beam – Japan (JPN)
Floor Exercise – France (FRA)

Happiness is abundant!

- – -

On a more personal note, I will be sitting to write the US Foreign Service Officer Test on Tuesday, June 7. I have been studying for more than a month, but I am so nervous. Excited and nervous. Excited, nervous and terrified. And so, so ready.

I don’t really enjoy this whole speculating thing when it comes to gymnastics. I’m much more apt to sit back and let things unfold and not try to wrongfully predict the next World or Olympic team or champion or whatever.

This is the part of the story where I deviate from that stance a bit…

Today, British national team member Becky Wing posted this on Twitter:

beckywing92Rebecca Wing

Less than 4 months till I start at Stanford! Aaaaaaaagh I’m am so excited!

This news is MEGA exciting for me, but also dates me. I remember watching Jenny Hansen win THREE back-to-back NCAA All-Around titles in the 90′s. She’s pretty amazing, and her work now is pretty amazing as well.

Jenny training Beam (from her YouTube channel):

- – -

Training Vault and Floor:

I can’t wait to see full routines and awesomeness!

Good luck, Jenny!!!

It could be because of the current Canadian National Championships (Congrats to Jackson Payne and Madeline Gardiner, the Senior All-Around Champions), or the most recent US National Team Training Camp at the Karolyi Ranch in Texas.

Buzz from Canada: Brittany Rogers is BACK! Dominique Pegg had some issues in finals after being strong in qualifications.

—Watch Brittany’s new choreography on Floor Exercise right here on Examiner.

From Texas: Will Alicia Sacramone be competing the “Sacramone” vault this summer? There is video of Sacramone performing a Handspring Layout Double Twist vault, something never before performed by a woman.

See the video below or click here to see it on YouTube.

The clip of the vault is at 2:57.

- – -

Russia is confident in the strong return of both Viktoria Komova and Aliya Mustafina. Both gymnasts are out with injuries recently sustained, likely until the early parts of 2012. Komova handily won the 2010 Youth Olympic Games title in Singapore. Mustafina is the reigning World All-Around Champion.

- – -

That is all for now… More news and stuff to come!

And so is Canadian Brittany Rogers.

If you all remember, in May 2010 while at the Pacific Rim Championships in Melbourne, Australia, Canadian gymnast Brittany Rogers sustained a broken ankle while dismounting the Balance Beam.

After a year filled with surgeries, visits to her surgeon, rehabbing, getting back in shape, learning new routines and getting back on track, Brittany is looking amazing. She just finished up her All-Around final session at the 2011 Canadian Gymnastics Championships, held in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. She grabbed the 16th (and final) qualifying position from Tuesday’s qualification round to advance into the All-Around final, as well as earning places in the Vault and Uneven Bars finals later this week.

In tonight’s competition, Brittany showed just how great an athlete she really is by moving from 16th place after qualifications to 4th in the Final.

All accounts from the final out in PEI are raving about Brittany being back.

I, for one, am ecstatic!

Congrats to Brittany on your 4th place finish after more than a year out of competition! Great job!

- – - -

Also!

Congratulations to new Canadian Senior National Champion: Madeline Gardiner, silver medalist Jessica Savona and bronze medalist Bianca Dancose-Giambattisto!

Unfortunately, Dominique Pegg, the top qualifier into tonight’s All-Around final, finished in a tie for 7th place after falls on the Uneven Bars and Floor Exercise.

-Favorite Routine of the Year
-Coach of the Year
-Upset of the Year
-Team of the Year
-Gymnast of the Year
-Freshman of the Year
-Senior of the Year
-Surprise of the Year

Here Goes!

Favorite Routine of the Year – Tie: Nansy Damianova (Utah) and Kylee Botterman (Michigan) both on the Floor Exercise. Kylee and Nansy have very different styles of music, dance and tumbling, but both are incredibly entertaining. Botterman ignites every crowd she performs for with her unique music composition, while Damianova gets the entire Huntsman Center clapping along in support of her performance.

Kylee Botterman at Big Ten Championships:

Nansy Damianova at BYU:

- – - – -

Coach of the Year – Tie: Sarah Patterson of Alabama and Brice Biggin of Kent State. Sarah Patterson led her Crimson Tide team to their FIFTH national team title and their first since 2002. Brice Biggin led his Gold Flashes to their very first appearance at the NCAA Championships, surprising everyone by overcoming Stanford in the Ann Arbor Regional to gain the second spot behind Michigan.

- – - – -

Upset of the Year – Stanford getting knocked out of the NCAA Championships by up-and-comers Kent State. Stanford had been ranked in the top 3 all season long, but had a rough go at Regionals in Ann Arbor and ended up not qualifying as a team or sending a single individual athlete to compete in Cleveland.

- – - – -

Team of the Year – Florida. Even with a less-than stellar performance at NCAA Championships, Florida was ranked number one through the ENTIRE season this year. They posted several scores above 197.000, they had fantastic results all year long. I can’t wait for them to put a complete season together and break into that elusive group of NCAA Team Champions with UCLA, Georgia, Alabama and Utah.

- – - – -

Gymnast of the Year – Trish Wilson (Michigan): Trish has had more knee injuries than one can shake a stick at, many would have ended their gymnastics careers after the first one. Not Trish Wilson. She stuck it out, worked hard, became a specialist on the Uneven Bars, and has been a rock solid performer for the Wolverines on the apparatus this season. When Wilson competed in a dual meet at New Hampshire back in February, it was the first time she had competed since the 2009 Regional meet. She fell, scoring only a 9.375, but she was back, competing in the Michigan line-up again. All of her hard work and dedication paid off. Gymnast of the Year couldn’t go to anyone else.

- – - – -

Freshman of the Year – Tie: Mackenzie Caquatto (Florida) and Corrie Lothrop (Utah). Mackenzie and Corrie made immediate impacts for their teams this season. Caquatto is a solid go-to gymnast for the Gators on Bars and Beam, as well as contributing decent scores on the Floor Exercise. Lothrop has been an All-Around gymnast for the Utes from the start. Both gymnasts have been strong scorers and rocks for their teams.

- – - – -

Senior of the Year – Kylee Botterman (Michigan). An NCAA All-Around Title, qualification to three of the four apparatus finals at NCAA Championships, and 6th with her team in the Super Six. Kylee has had a fantastic career at Michigan and finished it with the top individual award in collegiate gymnastics.

- – - – -

Surprise of the Year – For this gymnastics follower, it was how close the Boise State team came to upsetting Florida at the Denver Regional. Boise’s final gymnast on the Balance Beam in the final rotation scored a 9.825. A 9.850 would have tied Florida and Boise State for second behind Nebraska. In the event of a tie at Regionals, all scores count toward the total to break the tie. If that had happened, Florida would have joined Stanford in being beat out by a surprise team, not traveling to Nationals. In an all-scores-count format, Boise State would have scored a 234.675 over a 233.875 from Florida. So close. Congratulations to Boise State on making it so far and being amazing this season, as well as to Florida for holding on by a hair to advance.

I promise I’ve not disappeared.

I’m in the final stretch of this semester and I am gearing up for summer and more free time.

Updates coming today and tomorrow include a re-cap of the European Championships, NCAA Conference Meets, Regionals and Nationals, the first ever World Gymnastics NCAA Superlatives and a bit more.

Thanks for keeping up with this, I am excited for all the new stuff!

The biggest surprise: Current World All-Around Champion from Russia, Aliya Mustafina, will be out for the rest of the 2011 season due to a torn ACL sustained in the first rotation of the All-Around final in Berlin. Her absence left the door open for compatriot Dementyeva to win the title, followed by Germany’s Elisabeth Seitz.

Insanity, right? Mustafina will not be able to defend her world title, but most people I’ve been reading still think she is the one to beat come London 2012.

In other news: Sandra Izbasa of Romania won both the Vault and the Floor Exercise, while Dementyeva won the Balance Beam and Beth Tweddle defended her title on the Uneven Bars.

Exciting times!

I’m off on another whirl-wind adventure to classes. 2.5 more weeks until exams. Bring it!

Burdette-Good has decided to retire to spend more time with her family. The official release from West Virginia University Athletics can be found here.

In July of this year, the Pac-10 will officially become the Pac-12, welcoming the addition of the University of Colorado and the University of Utah to the current members of the Pac-10 Conference: UCLA, Arizona, Arizona State, Cal-Berkeley, Stanford, Oregon, Oregon State, Washington, Southern California and Washington State.

This will make the Pac-12 a nearly indestructible force in collegiate athletics.

For years now, the Southeastern Conference (SEC), as far as gymnastics goes, has had Florida, Georgia and Alabama, with up-and-comers Arkansas and Louisiana State. Now the Pac-12 will have an equally strong force of teams on it’s end. Utah has never not made it to Nationals, and as part of the Pac-12, competition will make them work harder, compete with greater fierce, and make them better.

I can’t wait!

Utah will host the inaugural Pac-12 Conference Championship next March in the Huntsman Center on the campus of the University of Utah. All eight Pac-12 gymnastics teams will be there.

In my excitement (and related GymNerd-iness), I created a video in anticipation of the Pac-12.

Enjoy!

If that is the case, here are the Individual Qualifiers:

From the Athens Regional in Athens, Georgia:

Kaleigh Dickson – Louisiana State University
Stephanie Ouellette – North Carolina State

- – -

From the Norman Regional in Norman, Oklahoma:

Morgan Evans – North Carolina
Aliza Vaccher – Washington

- – -

From the Ann Arbor Regional in Ann Arbor, Michigan:

Rebecca Best – Ohio State (Balance Beam)
Kayla Slechta – Minnesota
Michelle Shealy – Iowa State

- – -

From the Corvallis Regional in Corvallis, Oregon:

Rebecca Simbhudas – Iowa
Houry Gebeshian – Iowa

- – -

From the Tuscaloosa Regional in Tuscaloosa, Alabama:

Sharaya Musser – Penn State
Kylie Shields – Auburn

- – -

From the Denver Regional in Denver, Colorado:

Bekah Gehr – Boise State (Beam)
Jorie Hall – Denver (Beam)
Amy Glass – Boise State
Brianna Springer – Denver

1. UCLA – 197.425
2. Oklahoma – 197.350
3. Alabama – 197.275
4. Michigan – 197.075
5. Oregon State – 197.025
6. Georgia – 196.750
7. Nebraska – 196.550
8. Nebraska – 196.500
8. Utah – 196.475
10. Florida – 196.425
11. Illinois – 195.925
12. Kent State – 195.450

- – - -

The surprise here is that Stanford is not on that list.

See that team at #12, Kent State?

Yeah.

The Golden Flashes from Kent, Ohio took advantage of a less-than-stellar meet by Stanford and crept in to take the second place spot at the Ann Arbor Regional behind host University of Michigan. This is the FIRST TIME EVER Kent State has qualified to the NCAA Championships, which they are co-hosting in Cleveland, Ohio.

- – - -

Little known fact:

If Boise State University’s final competitor on the Balance Beam had scored 0.025 higher, a 9.850 instead of a 9.825, the Broncos would have tied with the University of Florida.

Tie-breaking procedures stipulate that in the event of a tie, all scores would be counted toward the team total.

Here’s the breakdown.

Vault -
Florida – 49.300 + 9.700 (lowest score) = 59.075
Boise State – 49.075 + 9.750 (lowest score) = 58.825

Uneven Bars-
Florida – 49.475 + 9.475 (lowest score) = 58.950
Boise State – 49.125 + 9.750 (lowest score) = 58.875

Balance Beam-
Florida – 48.425 + 8.475 (lowest score) = 56.900
Boise State – 49.025 + 9.000 (lowest score) = 58.025

Floor Exercise-
Florida – 49.225 + 9.725 (lowest score) = 58.950
Boise State – 49.175 + 9.775 (lowest score) = 58.950

All-Around-
Florida – 59.075 + 58.950 + 56.900 + 58.950 = 233.875
Boise State – 58.825 + 58.875 + 58.025 + 58.950 = 234.675

In the event that Boise State and Florida tied, Florida would NOT be going to the NCAA Championships, but Boise State would be.

It was incredibly close. What an upset that would have been!