Georgia, Stanford Win NCAAs
Monday April 20, 2009
Both of the #1-ranked teams pulled off the win at this year's NCAA Championships. On the women's side, Georgia won its fifth title in a row with a score of 197.825 to Alabama's 197.575. Utah was third with a 197.425. Though Georgia has dominated the NCAA these past five years and was clearly the team to beat this year, the squad didn't have a perfect competition. With a few mistakes on beam, the title was up for grabs, and Alabama almost took it.
Georgia's senior star Courtney Kupets had a near-perfect competition all three days, however. She went 39.80 in the prelims to take the all-around crown, then scored an amazing 39.90 in the team finals. She capped off her career with three titles in the event finals, too: bars, beam and floor (tie with LSU's Ashleigh Clare-Kearney). Clare-Kearney also won vault.
The highlight of the event finals for me was Brandi Personett's laid out full-in on floor. Though she ended up in fourth because of a shuffle back on her double-pike dismount and a slightly botched dance element, I think she deserved to win -- the difficulty of that pass is so above and beyond what anyone else did. I couldn't find video of it other than this training video, but it's still worth checking out!
Other meet videos:
In the men's meet, Stanford scored a 362.80 to take the title that eluded the team last year, comfortably staying ahead of Michigan (361.50) and Oklahoma (361.20). Super tumbler Steven Legendre (Oklahoma) won the all-around title. Legendre, a former WOGA gymnast, also grabbed gold on floor and vault. Paul Ruggeri (Illinois) took the parallel bars and high bar titles, while Evan Roth (California) and Daniel Ribeiro (Illinois) won rings and pommels, respectively. Full results on the NCAA website
Georgia's senior star Courtney Kupets had a near-perfect competition all three days, however. She went 39.80 in the prelims to take the all-around crown, then scored an amazing 39.90 in the team finals. She capped off her career with three titles in the event finals, too: bars, beam and floor (tie with LSU's Ashleigh Clare-Kearney). Clare-Kearney also won vault.
The highlight of the event finals for me was Brandi Personett's laid out full-in on floor. Though she ended up in fourth because of a shuffle back on her double-pike dismount and a slightly botched dance element, I think she deserved to win -- the difficulty of that pass is so above and beyond what anyone else did. I couldn't find video of it other than this training video, but it's still worth checking out!
Other meet videos:
- Kupets on bars (event finals)
- Kupets on beam (event finals)
- Clare-Kearney on floor (event finals)
- Kupets on floor (event finals)
In the men's meet, Stanford scored a 362.80 to take the title that eluded the team last year, comfortably staying ahead of Michigan (361.50) and Oklahoma (361.20). Super tumbler Steven Legendre (Oklahoma) won the all-around title. Legendre, a former WOGA gymnast, also grabbed gold on floor and vault. Paul Ruggeri (Illinois) took the parallel bars and high bar titles, while Evan Roth (California) and Daniel Ribeiro (Illinois) won rings and pommels, respectively. Full results on the NCAA website
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