welcome to my
WORLD
Photo by Aaron Felske
Welcome To My World is a brand new scripted web series where the worlds of gymnastics, cheerleading and dance collide. From the teams behind Inside Gymnastics, Inside Dance and Inside Cheerleading magazines, in association with Los Angeles based Vandervort Entertainment, the series will be jam-packed with action, comedy, drama and some amazing acrobatic and dance performances. The series will feature a cast of gymnasts who have earned national and NCAA honors, cheerleaders who have won national and world titles and performed on Broadway, and dancers who have graced the stage and screen. Plus, special guest stars like Olympians Shannon Miller and Jake Dalton, cheerleading All Star Bianca Treger and dancing legends like Travis Wall of So You Think You Can Dance and Shaping Sound. To meet the full cast, visit www.InsidePubs.com/MyWorld
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New Road Ahead For Faehn
Rhonda Faehn, longtime head coach at the University of Florida, has stepped down as head coach. She was offered the position of senior vice president of USA Gymnastics, and she accepted the offer. When asked about her new duties, Faehn said, “I will be responsible for overseeing and managing the women’s program, working alongside Martha Karolyi with the national team staff as well as the grass roots of gymnastics, all the way from club to the national team”. Faehn said this is the only opportunity in the world that could have pulled her away from the amazing program at the University of Florida.
It was announced by the FIG that they are cutting the artistic gymnastics Olympic team from five members to four. This change goes into effect for the 2020 Olympics. While there are pros and cons to everything, it seems that there may be more cons to downsizing the Olympic team. More individuals will be able to qualify after the cut, but it will be even harder than it already is for the gymnasts who are working hard to make that Olympic team to see their dreams come to fruition.
Harrison Diamond, Jim Urquhart/The New York Times
Over the last year, there are some pretty big shoes to fill in the NCAA when it comes to head coaching positions. First, Sarah Patterson resigned her position with Alabama after coaching for 36 seasons. Greg Marsden, legendary Utah coach, followed after coaching for 40 successful years, and Rhonda Faehn came next, just finishing up her 13th season with the Gators and coming off of three consecutive Super Six titles.
Lauren Mitchell, the top female gymnast in Australia and 2010 world champion on floor, has put aside her prior plans to retire and will continue training for the 2016 Olympics! She planned to retire in 2014, but she suffered injuries to her ankles and ended the year on a bad note. She is fighting to make a comeback and to still remain in the mix with the best gymnasts in the world!
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willy moy Moy Passes Away At 58 Years Old Willy Moy, the two-time French Olympian who invented the Moy on the parallel bars, recently passed away of heart failure at the young age of 58. He was said to be an athlete that was very easy to train and work with, and that he was a great help to everyone, both in and out of the gym. The Moy is a swinging element on the parallel bars that is typically used as a transitioning skill! Our best wishes go out to Moy’s family and friends.
The Dominic Zito Collection Powered By OZONE
Dominic Zito, a successful choreographer world-wide, has partnered together with OZONE to bring us a unique line of apparel. Zito has choreographed routines for many of the top elite gymnasts in the world, and he now has his own line of clothing called DZ line powered by OZONE. Zito says the leotard can be seen as an extension to the routine, which is why he is passionate about designing them. The line is currently available on www.ozoneleos.com.
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news | notes | quotes | chatter | social | scene | entertainment | #trending
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people people
PLACES
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Vise And Naddour Tie The Knot It’s official! Vise and Naddour were married on May 2. The two talented gymnasts make a perfect match and appear to be extremely happy together. Naddour was quoted saying, “I want [Hollie] to be the happiest girl on planet Earth.” Good luck to the newlywed couple!
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Inseparable Olympic Bond Sharing an experience like the Olympics with someone builds an inseparable bond. Sam Peszek and Nastia Liukin were 2008 Olympic teammates, and Peszek recently showed her support for Liukin at Dancing With The Stars. Peszek recently finished up her last year as a gymnast for the UCLA Bruins, while Liukin made her mark and wowed the crowds on Dancing With The Stars, making it all the way to the semifinals. There is no doubt that these two will continue to lead successful lives!
Mary Lou’s Daughter Celebrates Birthday Mary Lou Retton’s daughter, McKenna Kelley, recently celebrated her 18th birthday. McKenna shares a striking resemblance to her mother, both in looks and talent. She will join the LSU gymnastics team this coming season! We can’t wait to see what she has to bring to the sport of gymnastics.
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Jenny Rowland Accepts Head Coach Position At Florida Jenny Rowland, former associate head coach of the Auburn gymnastics team, recently accepted the head coaching position at the University of Florida. She has big shoes to fill after the resignation of Rhonda Faehn, but after playing a key role in getting the Auburn gymnastics team to the Super Six for the first time in 22 years, we are confident she will bring something special and unique to the team.
A FIGHT TO VICTORY:
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(Left to right) Kiersten Wang, Kytra Hunter, Rhonda Faehn, Rachel Spicer, Jamie Shisler
By Emily Lusk Photos by Lloyd Smith, Erin Long and Mike Erdelyi Over the last few years, the University of Florida Women’s Gymnastics Team has made their mark in the world of collegiate gymnastics. They brought their program to the next level in 2013 when they captured the Super Six title, making it their first for the program since 1982. Since then, the team has been on a winning roll, capturing the title in 2014 and again, this year, in 2015! Each championship win was completely different for the team, with new challenges and adversities to overcome and different emotions mixed with each title captured. However, each National Championship was special in a unique way.
2013 Championship: Shock and Surprise When the Gators won the 2013 Super Six title, the word that came to mind for 2015 Senior, Kytra Hunter, was shock. Hunter says, “It was shocking that we finally won a National Championship! I was one of the girls that fell on beam that year, but my teammates had my back.” The Gators had a rocky start in 2013, starting the competition off with several falls in their first rotation on beam. While many athletes may have been completely shaken up by the uncharacteristic falls on the event, the Florida Gators brushed it off and headed to the floor exercise with a clean slate. When reflecting on the competition, Faehn recalled telling the girls, “There is no looking back to anything in the past. Let’s go to floor and let’s rally.” They proved themselves to be a team of grit and strength and earned a 197.575 score to grasp the title from the Oklahoma Sooners who posted a 197.375. 2014: Goals Met and Sharing the Victory
Kennedy Baker
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The 2014 Super Six results were different, unique and exciting for all NCAA gymnastics fans! Florida not only achieved their goal of becoming back-to-back champions, they shared the title with Oklahoma, making it OU’s first title in the history of their school, and also the first title tie in the history of the event. Hunter says, “[This championship] was more of a cool feeling because we tied with Oklahoma, and we met our goals of becoming backto-back National Champions.” After both teams made an all-time high score of 198.175, it was announced that there would not be a tie-breaker and both teams would go home with the glory. It was an exciting moment for the Gators, for the Sooners and also for all NCAA gymnastics fans!
STANDOUTS 2015 NCAA Standouts
Back-to-Back-to-Back Champions
CHAMPIONS
2015: An Emotional Rollercoaster to Gold
This year, like the previous two Super Six competitions, was completely different for the Gators. The year was anything but easy for the team as they struggled to deal with challenges and unexpected situations that were thrown their way. Bridget Sloan, former Olympian and one of the most consistent gymnasts for Florida, injured her right ankle in the first meet of the 2015 season. The injury came as a shock to everyone, but especially Sloan’s teammates and coaches. Hunter stated, “After we lost Bridget Sloan during the first meet and Jamie Shisler, who usually contributes on floor and vault, I knew we were short. This year we had depth with the addition of the freshmen, but it’s not always easy coming in so you just never know just how long it will take for the freshmen class to adapt.” Hunter, being a senior and having the experience both mentally and physically, stepped up her game and competed in the all-around in every single meet in the 2015 season. When Sloan got hurt, the entire team seemed to panic, knowing that she was the core of the Gators. However, the University of Florida is a strong team and the girls met together and realized that any athlete on that team could post the scores Sloan was known for scoring. The Gators banded together and with confidence and trust, soared through the 2015 season without their core leader. Fortunately, Sloan did make a comeback just in time to gear up for the Super Six!
Claire Boyce
Third Time’s A Charm
Ellis Mannon (Minnesota) won the NissenEmery Award. This award is given to the senior gymnast that is recognized as the best in the country!
Bridget Sloan
The 2015 season may have been a struggle and a difficult one for the Florida Gators, but they came out strong in the end. Their performance at the Super Six was near perfect, only earning one low score of a 9.325 on vault and a 9.700 on beam, both of which were dropped and did not count toward the final score. The Gators fought through what they all have said was their hardest and most trying year on the team, and they came out on top! As if becoming back-toback-to-back champions at nationals was not enough, Hunter topped it off for the Gators by tying with UCLA Bruin, Samantha Peszek, for first place in the all-around competition. This was an incredible accomplishment, considering the fact that Hunter had already competed in the all-around 12 times that season. There is no doubt that the Gators are a strong team, and winning their third consecutive championship was well-deserved.
Kytra Hunter (UF) and Samantha Peszek (UCLA) tied in the all-around competition at NCAA Nationals, both earning an impressive 39.600. Georgia Dabritz (Utah) became the first gymnast to score a perfect 10 on bars in the semifinals and the finals LSU senior, Rheagan Courville, amazingly earned a perfect 10.0 on a flawless vault on LSU’s, and Courville’s, Senior Night against Minnesota. Danny Berardini (OU) hit his head during his parallel bars routine at Nationals. However, He did not let it bother him and finished his routine with a stuck dismount. Akash Modi (Stanford) won the all-around title at NCAA Nationals with a 90.450. After starting her season off injured, Bridget Sloan (UF) scored a perfect 10.0 on Senior Night for Florida on the uneven bars. The University of Michigan clinched the Big Ten title by sealing the competition with an extraordinary beam performance. The LSU Tigers crushed their attendance record, bringing in an average of 9,208 fans per home meet this season.
The 2015 SEC Championship in Duluth, Ga. was an extremely tight competition, but Alabama sealed the deal with a 197.525.
Kytra Hunter
3rd Annual
Lovely Leotard Challenge Post about your favorite! facebook.com/ InsideGymnastics
GKElite.com/Gymnastics
GarlandActivewear.com
@InsideGym
Just when we thought it wasn’t possible for the submissions to get any better, the companies who participated in our third annual Inside Gymnastics ‘Lovely Leotard Challenge’ proved us wrong. They stepped up to the challenge and delivered…BIG TIME! Stones, crystals, cutouts, appliques, sequins (not to mention the unique incorporation of the Inside Gymnastics logo) and so much more. These designs are nothing short of…LOVELY, but don’t take our word for it – YOU be the judge! Be sure to SPEAK OUT about your favorite by posting on our Facebook wall (www.facebook.com/InsideGymnastics) or tweeting us (@InsideGym). Also, be sure to contact the companies directly to customize any of these stunning designs for your program!
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Lovely Leotard Challenge Meet the Model Rebel-Gymnastics.com
Whitney Bjerken is a 10-year-old rising star at Atlanta North Stars Gymnastics in Atlanta, Ga. She began the sport at the tender age of five, and in just five short years has proved herself as someone to watch. She even has her own YouTube channel dedicated to all things gymnastics, including meets, training, tutorials and more! Check her out!
“I’d rather attempt to do something great and fail, than attempt to do nothing and succeed.” -Robert Schuller ALL ABOUT WHITNEY CURRENT LEVEL: 8
CURRENTLY WORKING: Roundoff back handspring full on floor, back handspring layout series on beam, Yurchenko on vault, half pirouette giant half and double back on bars. FAVORITE COLOR: Blue FAVORITE FOOD: Brownies WORD THAT BEST DESCRIBES YOU: Determined
SnowflakeDesigns.com
FAVORITE EVENT: Floor
OTHER HOBBIES: Hiking, ice skating, swimming, making videos FUTURE GOALS: Make the U.S. Junior National Team, U.S. Senior National Team and represent Team USA at the 2024 Olympic Games
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