NCAA Interlude 5

Shona Morgan competed an exhibition beam routine for Stanford over the weekend.

Check out it towards the end of the video below.

AGB Awards: 2010 Routine of the Year

Please nominate one routine from the MAG list and one routine from the WAG list.

Email your two favourites to ozgymblog@gmail.com, with any comments you would like to make about the routines (anonymously if you wish), as I will publish them to illustrate why they were deemed the most popular.

Don't forget voting is still open for the rest of the Australian Gymnastics Blog Awards (voting period has been extended). So get your votes in!


Note - Nominees are from Junior and Senior International only. You might note that some of the nominated routines are ones with mistakes or stumbles in them. This because the list was compiled not necessarily on the basis of performances being 'flawless' but rather that they are good examples of technique, composition, daring skill, perseverance and/or personality. And remember - your favourite routine may not be here because 12 months of gymnastics is a lot to go through and often tricky to get video footage of (and, bear in mind, MAG is absolutely not my strong point)!

*********************************************

Floor (MAG):
Tom Pichler, Commonwealth Games EF (6:24 of the video)
Josh Jefferis, Commonwealth Games TF (3:31 of the video)
Sean O'Hara, Nationals


Pommel:
Jack Rickards, Pacific Rim EF
Prashanth Sellathurai, World Championships EF
Luke Wiwatowski, Valeri Liukin Invitational



Rings:
Sam Offord, Pacific Rim EF
Brody Hennessy, Pacific Rim EF
Josh Jefferis, World Championships prelims


Vault (MAG):
Tom Pichler, Nationals
Luke Wiwatowski, Nationals
Josh Jefferis, Commonwealth Games TF (1:10 of the video)


Parallel Bars:
Josh Jefferis, Commonwealth Games TF (3:15 of the video)
Luke Wiwatowski, Valeri Liukin Invitational
Sean O'Hara, Valeru Liukin Invitational


High Bar:
Luke Wiwatowski, Moscow World Cup EF
Brody Hennessy, Youth Olympics Prelims
Jayden Bull, Nationals


Vault (WAG)
Emily Little, Paris World Cup
Lauren Mitchell, World Championships AA
Georgia Wheeler, Pacific Rim EF


Uneven Bars:
Larrissa Miller, Pacific Rim TF
Georgia Rose Brown, Combs La Ville
Emily Little, Pacific Rim TF


Beam:
Lauren Mitchell, Commonwealth Games AA
Angela Donald, Youth Olympics EF
Amelia McGrath, Pacific Rim EF


Floor (WAG):
Lauren Mitchell, World Championships EF
Svetlana Sanders, Nationals
Georgia Bonora, Commonwealth Games AA

Zeitgeist or Something

If it hasn't aired in your state yet, make sure you catch tonight's episode of sports quiz show The Trophy Room on ABC1 because Lauren Mitchell gets mentioned as a clue!

But not just mentioned... pictured, discussed and praised by the panellists!

What Ever Happened To...?

Former Queensland pocket rocket Amber Fulljames has sent AGB a nice nugget of correspondence to update everybody on her transition to performing with Cirque.

I began my journey to Montreal on July 10 for general formation, or what you would normally call "training or preparation" (but you know them French Canadians)! The training involved acting, dancing, singing, drumming and of course, the act I was training - teeter board - and fast track for 'Mystere'. Formation was such an experience, it threw me into situations I had never imagined, like pretending to be a rubix cube, doing a play in warp speed, pretending to be an elastic and making noises to my movement... and much more interesting stuff.

I left my family at home but gained a new one almost immediately, making friends from atleast 15 different countries. Formation was meant to finish in early November, however I was pulled out in late September and flown to Las Vegas to become an artist in Mystere. Lucky for me a spot opened up and they chose me to fill it. Mystere is about the mystery of life, and so it makes complete sense that my characters name is 'Spermatine'... indeed, I am a sperm! I did that for about the first 2 weeks, I thought it was hilarious but fantastic at the same time. I have also learned Chinese poles and taiko drums.

Since being here I have made another family and become especially close with the girls in my dressing room. Everyone is much older then me so I am the 'baby' of the Mystere family. The boys in the dressing room next to us must think we are crazy because not a day goes by when I don't walk out of that room laughing my head off because of something someone did or said, or more commonly (as I have learned) something I did or said.

I perform 2 shows a night and am loving the performance side of things! The teeter board team is mainly Russians, so for newbies it can be hard to integrate... but obviously not for Aussies. I joke around with them a lot and they are a great bunch!

I got to meet Tabitha and Napoleon from "So You Think You Can Dance". I also got free tickets to the Whoopi [Goldberg] show and Alicia Keys made a visit to the Montreal studios. I'm loving every second and I hope to make a visit home soon!

Thanks for the update, Amber! We're so glad to hear you're enjoying yourself on and off the stage - rock on!

********************************************************

Don't forget to keep your votes for the Australian Gymnastics Blog Awards coming in. The 'routine of the year' post is almost done!

NCAA Interlude 4

Olivia Vivian's bars, beam and floor from the Pac-10 showcase can be seen in the compilations below. You can also see routines from fellow Aussie Melanie Jones.







(shame about the stumble!)

Breaking: Mitchell to American Cup?

According to The All Around Forum and GGMB, Lauren Mitchell is a nominative entry to the 2011 American Cup in Jacksonville, Florida!

In other assignment news, the Victorian High Performance Centre has announced the following competitors to the Vitaly Scherbo Invitational in Las Vegas:

- Grace Flood
- Grace Claringbold
- Maddie Leydin
- Ebonie Boucher
- Ciara Marasea
- Kiara Munteanu

Don't forget that Lauren is one of the gymnasts you can vote for in the 2010 Australian Gymnastics Blog Awards so keep those votes coming in!

NCAA Interlude 3

Video of Olivia's 1st-place bars routine from the Pac-10 Showcase.




While over at Stanford, Shona Morgan lets us know how it felt to watch her team start their season with a win.

From a freshman perspective, the meet was super fun and I'm really excited for the next one!

Breaking: The Thing What I Done Wrote And That

Yours truly will be published in the March 2011 edition of International Gymnast magazine!

It is a piece entitled "You Make Me Wanna Shout" and is all about far-flung NCAA gymnastics fans. I'm not photogenic so disregard the accompanying headshot when you see it. Or, y'know, use it as a teeny weeny dartboard, whatever works.

Oh, and speaking of IG, Lauren Mitchell stars on the cover of the Jan/Feb 2011 edition! She appears in a feature article, alongside an interview with national coach Peggy Liddick.

(Left: Cover. Right: Contents)

International Gymnast: The Fantastic Person's Magazine of Choice!

Bad Water

My thoughts and best wishes are with the people of Queensland. I hope you manage to find safety and comfort in these dangerous times.

I've seen some shocking images in the last 12 hours, and was informed this morning of All-Star Gymnastics in Toowoomba that, while all coaches and athletes were evacuated safely, lost a great deal (if not all) of their equipment due to high levels of water and mudflow. I am sure they would not be the only sporting club currently affected by the floods.

It is unfortunate that we in the other states cannot (yet) offer a great deal of assistance outside of aid donations and expressions of support.

If you would like to donate to the Queensland government's flood relief appeal, please follow this link.

NCAA Interlude 2

A hearty congratulations to Perth's own Olivia Vivian for top-scoring on bars in Oregon State's competition against LSU this weekend, taking home the individual title with 9.875 - a first for any Aussie within the NCAA ranks. In doing so, she also helped the OSU Beavers to a team win over their rivals. What a way to kick off the season!




She now performs a piked jaeger and apparently showed off much-improved form on handstands and her double front.

I am also told her floor routine for 2011 is another crowd-pleaser, chock full of personality! I look forward to seeing some videos from the meet.

Congratulations, Olivia!

(Edit - You can take the girl out of WAIS...

Not content with just one title, Olivia also won the bars title the very next night at the Pac-10 Showcase, an event that included regional rivals Stanford, Arizona and UCLA. She scored a phenomenal 9.950 to win the title! Oregon State ended up in third place overall.)

Read about Olivia's recent personal and competitive escapades here.

Also...

HAPPY BELATED 3rd BIRTHDAY
TO THE AUSTRALIAN GYMNASTICS BLOG!

Thanks one and all for your support and contributions.

NCAA Interlude

The "Routine of the Year" nomination post isn't quite ready yet (there was residue on my cake tester) so in the interim, check out how Shona Morgan's looking over at Stanford as the team prepares to take on rivals this weekend (including Aussie haven Oregon State!)






Edit - Apparently Shona's been training while coping with a knee injury, so while we will most likely not see her at this competition, we can expect to see her competing beam very soon. Best of luck, Shon!

2010 Australian Gymnastics Blog Awards

It turns out there are two certainties in life.

Taxes, more taxes, and the AGB Awards.

Wait... *counts on fingers*...

Here are the rules, as per usual:

**** You may nominate one favourite in each category, and email your nominations to ozgymblog@gmail.com by January 24th 2011 with "Awards 2010" as your subject header. You may vote anonymously but please only vote for ONE nominee in each category (choosing only from the names in that category, no open-ended "other" responses will be accepted) and only vote once. Your details will not be passed on to any correspondents or used for advertising purposes. It's just easier than commenting, really.

Results will be tabulated throughout this month and posted by the the 26th of January - That's right, on Australia Day! Get your votes in and show your gym community some love! ****

******************************************

1. Female Gymnast of the Year (Senior)

* Georgia Bonora
* Ashleigh Brennan
* Sophie Budack
* Britt Greeley
* Natasha Hammann
* Emily Little
* Larrissa Miller
* Lauren Mitchell
* Maryanne Monckton
* Georgia Simpson
* Georgia Wheeler

Female Gymnast of the Year (Junior)

* Georgia-Rose Brown
* Nikki Chung
* Emma Collister
* Angela Donald
* Tierra Exum
* Laura Hingston
* Natalia Joura
* Amaya King-Koi
* Ashleigh Kittl
* Zoe Lorenzin
* Amelia McGrath
* Emma Nedov
* Svetlana Sanders
* Katie Wurth

2. Male Gymnast of the Year (Senior)

* Elliott Cook
* Josh Jefferis
* Sam Offord
* Sean O'Hara
* Thomas Pichler
* Prashanth Sellathurai
* Aaron Thanas
* Luke Wadsworth
* Luke Wiwatowski

Male Gymnast of the Year (Junior)

* Tyson Bull
* Brody-Jai Hennessy
* Kevin James
* Jack Rickards
* Declan Stacey


3. Australian Artistic Gymnastics Team of the Year

* MAG Commonwealth Games
* WAG Commonwealth Games
* MAG World Championships
* WAG World Championships
* WAG Pacific Rim
* MAG Pacific Rim
* WAG France tour
* MAG Russia tour

4. Coach/Coaching Team of the Year

* Nikolai Lapchine/Martine George (WAIS)
* John Hart/Shaoyi Jiang (WGC)
* Michelle De Highden/Jeb Silsbury (MLC)
* Sasha Belooussov/Olga Beloousov (MBC)
* Tracey Penaluna/Mischa Barabach (VWHPC)
* Vladimir Vatkin (AIS)
* Sergei Chinkar (QLD)
* Xiong Song-Liang (NSWIS)


5. Routine of the Year

**** Routine of the Year Nominees will be posted in an individual post in the coming days. There are quite a few! You will need to include your vote for 'Routine of the Year' within your AGB Awards email****



6. "Smile" Moment of the Year

* Aussie men win history-making gold in Delhi
* Prashanth Sellathurai gives Commonwealth gold to his mum
* Team Australia signs autographs at Pacific Rim Championships
* Georgia Bonora does handstands on the catwalk
* Olivia Vivian comes home for nationals
* AGB meets Liz Chetkovich
* Lauren Mitchell appears on Hey Hey It's Saturday


7. "Sad" Moment of the Year

* Dasha Joura retires
* Emma Dennis retires
* Maryanne Monckton misses Commonwealth Games
* Aussie boys crash out at Worlds
* Phil Rizzo misses Pacific Rim, Commonwealth Games, Worlds
* Sports Acro withdrawn from Pacific Rim


8. Surprise of the Year

* Shona Morgan signs to Stanford
* Dasha Joura retires
* Chloe Sims makes a comeback
* No dramas at the Commonwealth Games
* A new CEO for Gymnastics Australia


9. Simon Reeve Award for Gymnastics Media Coverage

* Foxtel, for Commonwealth Games broadcast
* OneHD, for Pacific Rim broadcast
* Laura and Simone, for Pacific Rim Facebook updates
* Desiree Jones, for WAIS and AIS camp udpates
* Megan Currie, for JumpMedia gymnastics coverage
* "Make It Or Break It", for gymnastics-meets-Gossip-Girl


10. Brittany Boffo Award for Memorable (If Unfortunate) Mishaps

* Tom Pichler, crashing out of the Delhi vault final
* Brody-Jai Hennessy, missing golden opportunities in the Singapore high bar final
* Australia's beam lineup in the Delhi women's team final
* Ashleigh Brennan, repeating her Melbourne 2006 floor final mistake in Delhi


11. Gymsport Athlete/s of the Year

* Kieran Gorman, Aerobics
* Naazmi Johnston, Rhythmic Gymnastics
* Dani Prince, Rhythmic Gymnastics
* Ty and Shaun Swadling, Trampoline
* Jack Penny, Trampoline
* Katherine Ryan, Acrobatics


12. Monique Allen Award for Successful Ex-Gymsporters

* Lydia Lassila, aerial skiing gold medallist
* Allana Slater, judge
* Steph Moorhouse, commentator and presenter
* Alex Croak, diver
* Brennon Dowrick, International Corporate Speaker


13. Photo of the Year


a) Nikolai and Lauren


b) Nikki, Georgia and Nat


c) Ashleigh



d) Josh and Sam

e) Georgia Rose




f) Lauren the Champion


g) Milly



h) Georgia Simpson


i) Nikolai and Lauren 2


j) Sam the Champion


k) Aussie MAGs

l) Prashanth


m) Tom the Champion

*******************************************

I am extremely sorry about the delay with posting this!