February 24th e-Newsletter

WOW!

That's about all that needs to be said or can be said to describe what is happening in the NCGA so far this year, especially in the East region. If you haven't had a chance to follow the action since the last newsletter, here is a quick recap.

In the Midwest....

Hold on to your seats because it appears to be coming to a photo finish between two teams - defending Regional Champion - Gustavus Adolphus College and defending National Champion - UW La Crosse. Although Gustavus continues to lead in the rankings by a small margin (179.2938-179.0063), La Crosse marched into St. Peter earlier this month and came away with a victory 180.025 to 179.125. La Crosse seems to be putting it all together as they usually do towards the end of the season, but defending National All-Around Champion Gustie Amanda Parker, has had it together all season. There does not seem to be anyone who will be able to challenge her for the Regional crown. Meet after meet she is winning the all-around along with two or three other events. Her 37.2375 SAS is tops in the region over a point better than second place.

Slowly but surely, the Titans from UW Oshkosh are coming into the picture. Led by a couple of strong seniors and a rookie all-arounder, they have been climbing the rankings to solidify themselves in third place with a 178.0313 SAS. First year student Brianna Lentz won the all-around meet at La Crosse's Gershon/McLellan Invitational with a 36.275 and has been winning all-around meets since then. Seniors Jennie Williams and Melissa Cummins seem to be back in top form and contributing their leadership to the squad. The team having the best year so far though seems to be 2003 NCGA National Championship host - UW Eau Claire. The Blugolds have been breaking school records left and right all year with contributions from Alison Eagles, Kristina Reitzel and Lynn Morris.

It's been a rebuilding and adjustment year for Hamline University and a little bit of an up and down year for UW Stout who are 5th and 6th in the regional rankings respectively. UW Whitewater has been dessimmated by injuries and have struggled all year. With nearly three weeks before the Regional Championships, the four teams advancing to the national championships seem to be clearly defined and in control. Many of the Regional titles will be up for grabs between those teams though. In the East, it is a much different story.....

In the East....

Ursinus' 'rebuilding year' seems to be way ahead of schedule. They basically replaced five seniors with two rookies, and to top it all off, one of them is out for the season with a torn ACL. All Megan Hollern has done though is set a new school all-around mark with an NCGA season high 37.925. Add that to defending Regional All-Around Champion Kristen Grimmel's national leading SAS of 37.4625 and the Bears have a very solid foundation with all of the trimmings as well. It was the Cortland Red Dragons who marched into Ursinus last year to win the team Regional Title though, and they are back full force with additions such as Lindsey Marranca who won the all-around at Division I Cornell's Big Red Invitational with a 37.825. Back atop the national rankings as a team on beam, Cortland will be tough to dethrone.

In the third spot at this time are the ever present Ithaca College Bombers. Ithaca has beaten Cortland two weeks in a row and they will have something to say about who wins the East crown. The Bombers have taken over the team ranking on floor with strong contributions from newcomer Stephanie Smith. Add that to their solid beam team and that has always been their formula for success under Rick Suddaby who hasn't missed an NCGA Championship since 1986. Making a splash like they did last year are the Golden Eagles from Brockport. With no seniors on their team, Brockport has been improving every week, enough to beat both Ithaca and Cortland at this past weekend's Harriet Marranca Invitational at Ithaca. Junior Carrie Santore and sophomore Jordan Christiano have a solid supporting cast with newcomers Kristin Sheerin and Lindsay Margenthaler. Currently, they are the top vaulting team in the NCGA.

Just to make things interesting Springfield College has literally decided to vault themselves into the picture. After a bad loss at Brockport, they've rebounded with two solid meets to take over the 5th spot in the region. Much like Brockport, MIT is competing with basically rookies and sophomores, but it is their lone junior Cindy Chung who has come into the picture to lead the team on both vault and floor. MIT has broken their school record three meets in a row and had been holding onto the number one ranking for team floor until they sat idle this weekend. With back to back meets this weekend, Rhode Island College also put themselves in contention. Sophomore Ashley O'Blenis has been having a great year leading the team and the Anchorwomen will definitely play a part as a team and individuals at the Regional Championship. Wilson College is not in the mix as a team, but they soon will be. They are a much improved team lead by school record holder as a freshman, Sarah Massey who is currently ranked ninth in the all-around.

An interesting phenomenom is unfolding in the East Region. Ursinus leads the rankings followed by Cortland, Ithaca, Brockport, Springfield, MIT, Rhode Island College and Wilson College. Yet, in head to head battles, Ithaca has beaten Cortland twice, Brockport has beaten Ithaca twice and MIT has beaten Brockport twice. Springfield has not won a meet all season and they march into Cambridge this weekend to face MIT who they have never lost to. The all-around and individual event rankings are so tight, that there is no clear favorite for the Regional titles (except for vault and Kristen Grimmel's huge handspring double-full) and subsequently, the top four teams advancing to nationals are more than just a little bit blurry.

What is clear though, is that there is some outstanding gymnastics going on in the NCGA. Do not let the national rankings fool you because of the disparity of the scores from East to Midwest. You could safely add 3.5 to 4 points to the team totals in the Midwest to give you a clearer picture of how these teams may stack up against each other at Nationals. All the battles lead to the Regional Championships first though. The only team with a sure spot to Nationals is the host - UW Eau Claire. All meets count heading into the March 14th Regional date, and those teams with two meets left, have a slight advantage. Regardless of what the rankings going into regionals are though, it seems easy to see that the results from regionals will not match.

Get out and watch the meets if you can, it promises to be a lot of fun down the stretch. Stay tuned.....

Eduardo

"No distance of place or lapse of time can lessen the friendship of those who are thoroughly persuaded of each other's worth." - Robert Southey