Thursday, April 22, 2010

NCAA Gymnastics Championships Underway in Florida





The NCAA Gymnastics Championships are underway at the University of Florida with UCLA, Utah and Oklahoma advancing to the Super Six. Three more teams competing right now will join them tomorrow night for the second and deciding round. According to reports, The University of Alabama is off to a stellar start tonight in the second round.

Alas, I could not be in Gainesville, Fla., for the finals which should be televised nationally sometime in May (traditionally CBS airs the championships though the coverage has been better some years than others).

I was deliberating what would be the best way to post an entry about the finals and for right now I will simply list my 24 favorite NCAA gymnasts who are competing in Gainesville in alphabetical order.

It should be pointed out that Nebraska, Oregon State and LSU's teams did not advance because those teams did not finish in the top three, but some gymnasts from those teams will likely compete in individual events which will be held on Saturday, the final day of the three-day meet with 12 teams.

The six teams competing tonight are the host Florida, Alabama, Michigan, Missouri, Arkansas and Stanford.

Here is the first part of my 24-gymnast list. The second part will be posted on my other blog "Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time." The asteriks will denote gymnasts who competing individually without their teams.

The two pictured gymnasts here are Annie DiLuziou of Utah and Morgan Dennis of Alabama.

My four favorite overall gymnasts are Daria Bijak (Utah), Amanda Castillo (Florida), Sarah Shire (Missouri) and Vanessa Zamarripa (UCLA).

The first 12 gymnasts are:

Daria Bijak-Utah (senior)

Amanda Castillo-Florida (senior)

Jamie Deetscreek-Utah (senior)

Morgan Dennis- Alabama (senior)

Ashanee Dickerson- Florida (freshman)

Annie DiLuziou- Utah (senior)

Sabrina Franceschelli- LSU (senior)

Susan Jackson- LSU (senior)

Carly Janiga- Stanford (senior)

Jacquelyn Johnson- Utah (junior)

Kelly Knutson- Michigan (senior)

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