College Sports

Courtney Kupets Wins 3rd NCAA All Around Title as Georgia Goes for 5

Courtney Kupets (Georgia) NCAA Women's AA Champion Former Olympian and now 3 time NCAA All Around Champion Courtney Kupets from University of Georgia is just amazing. Thursday Kupets scored her 5th perfect 10 of the season (on beam) to secure her third NCAA All Around title. Kupets’ All Around score of 39.80 ties the NCAA record set in 1995 by Jenny Hansen of Kentucky who also won 3 NCAA All Around titles. She also qualified for event finals in all 4 events. WOW.

As Courtney Kupets comes to the end of her NCAA career one only wonders if she is done with gymnastics or will she return to her former club Hills and decide to go Elite again. If anyone can do it, it is Courtney. I have had the pleasure of following the careers of both Courtney and her older sister Ashley (also a very successful UGA gymnast) since they were little kids. I distinctly remember them at early meets (when they were 7 & 8 ish) – there was something about them that left an impression on me then. Courtney has gone on to fight back from multiple injuries both as an Elite gymnast and as a collegiate gymnast (an Achilles injury kept her from last year’s NCAA) and every time she comes back she just looks stronger than before.

Individual results from the NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Championships:

All-around finals (top 10 only)
1. Courtney Kupets, University of Georgia, 39.800
2. Kristina Baskett, University of Utah, 39.600
3. Vanessa Zamarripa, University of California – Los Angeles, 39.575
4. Michelle Stout, University of Arkansas, 39.525
4. Ariana Berlin, University of California – Los Angeles, 39.525
6. Tiffany Tolnay, University of Georgia, 39.500
7. Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs, University of California – Los Angeles, 39.475
8. Ricki Lebegern, University of Alabama, 39.450
8. Ashley Priess, University of Alabama, 39.450
8. Maranda Smith, University of Florida, 39.450

The top four individuals, plus ties, on each event in each prelim session qualified for the individual event finals which will be held on Sunday. (Complete results from preliminaries)

In the team competition, five of the six teams advancing to Saturday’s Super 6 are from the strong SEC conference. The teams include:

Alabama
Arkansas
Florida
Georgia
LSU
Utah

While Utah barely squeaked in winning a tie-breaker with UCLA, Utah is considered to be the only team with a chance at dethroning the mighty UGA team. Georgia is banking on winning their 5th straight NCAA team title in their coach, Suzanne Yoculan’s final season. Yoculan is retiring at the end of this season.

Thursday’s competition is just the beginning of an exciting weekend of college gymnastics (both the mens and the womens titles are on the line this weekend.) You can actually watch coverage of the meet online – here is the viewing schedule. Or watch the Women’s NCAA National Gymnastics Championships May 9 on CBS at 12 PM ET.

Sports Fieldtrip – Take in an NCAA Event

Olympic and NCAA gymnast Courtney Kupets

Courtney Kupets, NCAA Champion Gymnast and former Olympian — photo by Kelly Lambert/Athens Banner-Herald

Looking for ways to keep kids in the sport longer? Try this one – coaches take your team (or parents take your athlete) to a college level game or competition in their sport. Seriously!

While college sports are a lot of work and there are limited spaces and scholarships available, they are fun and are a viable goal for many high school aged athletes.

In a recent discussion with Megan at Because I Played Sports, we both agree that exposing kids to a variety of levels in their sport is important for helping them decide where they fit in – from a local high school team, division 3 college, junior pro team, to everything in between – and will ultimately help keep kids in sports longer.

Over the weekend a group of gymnasts from our gym went to the NCAA Regional gymnastics meet held at UNC. In that meet alone they were exposed to a varying level of skill, intensity, and team spirit. I asked some of them what they thought of the meet and they all loved it. However, it was interesting to see how a few of the girls could really relate – they saw gymnasts doing skills they train everyday.

I also think it was helpful for the girls to see that the teams were all different – from the coaching styles, gymnast skill levels, and the overall team chemistry. For some of the girls who are in high school it helped re-energize them – giving them a new goal to work towards.

In addition to the basic benefit of exposure for your athletes, college sports are an excellent entertainment value as ticket prices are usually inexpensive – plus, they are just FUN!

PS – looking for a fashionable way to show your support of your favorite team? Check out these great ladies team shirts done with Swarovski crystals and a great feminine fit.

Wrapping Up Another Week in Girls Sports

It’s mid-January and half of the US is freezing cold today, but that will not stop thousands of girls from going to sports practice today! It has been a busy week in girls sports this week and I have plenty of good articles to share with you.

Let’s start with a blast from the olden days – Coach Rick found this photo of women doing a group warm up in 1916 – look at the outfits – they don’t look comfortable for working out.
Continuing the push to Chicago winning the bid to host the 2016 Olympics, Chicago is hosting this year’s Tyson’s American Cup Gymnastics competition on February 21. Gymnasts slated to compete include Olympian Bridget Sloan, up and comer Jordyn Wieber and 10 additional athletes. The roster is almost complete and can be found at USA Gymnastics.
USA Swimming’s junior squad finished a very successful competition in Guam at the 2009 Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championships. Dagny Knutsen not only won gold in the 200 IM, she also set a meet record in the process.
The 2008-2009 Gatorade Girls State Cross Country Runners of the Year awards have been posted. What a great achievement for all 50+ of these young women!
Because I Played Sports offers a very interesting commentary on the recent NCAA study on women and careers in athletics. One of the reasons I have continued to coach (albeit at the club level and not collegiate level) is that I feel that kids need great coaches and role models at all levels and of both genders.
On a related note, the USOC and the NCAA are holding a women in coaching conference this weekend in Colorado Springs. I’d love to sit in on some of those sessions.
Youth Sports Psychology really wants to make parents think this week. Are Young Athletes Entertainers for Parents Today? Whether you think they are or not, you really should read the article. As a society, are we getting too wrapped up in winning, chasing scholarships, and the performance of athletics?
And just for fun, did you see Olympic gymnast turned fashionista, Alicia Sacramone reporting/commentating for E! at the pre-Golden Globes Red Carpet show. She is such a natural performer. Here is a link to the You Tube videos of the show.

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