Palo Alto Weekly 06.15.2012 - section 1

Page 31

Sports

Buscaglia

“I’m excited, yes, but more hum“This is my last try,� Sender said. bled and honored that the selec- “To make it back after announcing (continued from page 28) tion committee deemed me worthy I was training again in September, enough to place me in the elite group to do well at Winter Cup and here, him along the way. of 15 guys who even get the oppor- it will at least give me a little bit of “I kept going to the gym because tunity to compete at our Olympic confidence that I belong here. I am it was one thing I could control,� Trials,� said Dixon, a native of San going to have to make a better showBuscaglia said. “Even when I was Jose. “There’s still a lot of work to ing than I did today to really prove sore and didn’t want be done and improve- that I deserve to be on that team.� to work out, I kept ments to be made.� Buscaglia has been working out at it. I didn’t want to The top six all- at Stanford under Cardinal assistant regret anything. This around performers coach and 2004 Olympian Brett is more validation of automatically quali- McClure, in preparation for his bid what effort and desire fied for the Olympic for the Olympics. can produce.� Trials. Nine others “I know I probably am not going When he moved were selected to join to go for another four years,� Buscain with his cousins, them. Sender, in par- glia said. “This was it. Go out there it was an extra two ticular, increased his and do what you can do and leave it hours out of his day value with superb all on the floor and see what hapto travel back and efforts on the vault, pens.� forth from home to rings and parallel In junior competition, Stanford inschool to the gym and bars. coming freshman Jonathan Deaton back. He got used to The nine-time All- finished fifth all-around with a juggling school work American retired score of 165.350 and was named to and gymnastics in a from gymnastics the U.S. Junior National Team. Alex Buscaglia 14-15 hour day. following the 2009 Deaton finished second on the “I didn’t have time to become a VISA championships to focus on floor and third on the vault. He also delinquent,� he said. “There was grad school at Illinois. Sender was finished among the top 10 in pomnever enough time in the day.� the 2008 U.S. all-around champion mel horse and horizontal bars. When he qualified for the U.S. but a bum ankle kept him off the His Olympic dreams are yet to Senior National Team at the VISA Olympic team. come. N National Championships in St. Louis last weekend, uncle Vie, aunt Cyn, cousins Michelle and Tony and his sister were all there to see it happen. “They were my main support system and helped me through the biggest part of my life,� Buscaglia said. “They helped me get to this place. Anybody who had a lasting influence on my childhood were there.� He emerged from his “darkness� a stronger man and while he occasionally looks back, he doesn’t dwell on it. “Just like a friend who does something negative, you want them back,� Buscaglia said. “I wish I had a father, but I never got to know him.� "! Buscaglia, who earned his biomechanical engineering degree, was " " $ " " $ " part of Stanford’s 100th NCAA title in 2011 and the communal feeling # " ! & of that squad remains firmly entrenched within him. $ " $ " ! $ " # ! “The whole year we did not want % "& to let it slip away,� Buscaglia said. “The senior class did not miss a single routine. To see everyone workFree 15-minute consultation with physicians ing together and all truly wanting to from Sequoia’s Joint Replacement Program. be there, we wanted to win a championship together. I’m grateful we Call today 650.482.6000 did not let it slip away.� The Olympic Trials are another sequoiahospital.org opportunity he doesn’t want to let slip away. Buscaglia, Sender and Dixon earned their spots on the senior national team with their performances in St. Louis. Buscaglia scored 174.550 on all-around, placing ninth. Sender was 11th with a 173.550, Dixon finished 13th with a 172.950 and Stanford grad Ryan Lieberman was 15th with a 172.650. “I had to hold all this in because I was picturing the outcome and how it would feel,� Buscaglia said. “It’s surreal to be in this position.� Cardinal redshirt freshman Sean Senters took the title on vault, sharing it with Jacob Dalton, with a score of 32.400. Stanford junior Eddie Penev finished third in the event, while Sender was fifth and Buscaglia ninth. Cardinal grad Sho Nakamori also competed at the championships.

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