U.S.A.'s Top 25 OPEN LETTER TO COLLEGE GYMNASTIC COACHES
MEN - LIST # 4 NAME
SCHOOL
u. s. c.
1. Makoto Sakamoto 2. Fred Rothlisberger 3. Mark Cohn 4. Dave Thor 5. Richard Loyd 6 . Kana ti Allen 7. Arno Lascari 8. Bob Emery 9. Bob Dickson 10.Rick Tucker 11.Sid Freudenstein 12.Neil Schmitt 13.Jim Amerine 14.Fred Dennis 15.Bob Lynn 16.Jim Culhane 17.Paul Mayer 18.Abie Grossfeld 19.Richard Swetman 20.Richard Grigsby 21.Joe Fedorchek 22.Gary Diamond 23.Rich Scorza 24.Greg Weiss 25.Joe Litow WOMEN - LIST
1. Linda Metheny 2. Joyce Tanac 3. Marie Walther 4. Donna Schaenzer 5. Carolyn Hacker 6. Debbie Bailey 7. Kathy Gleason 8. Karen Lively 9. JoAnne Hashimoto 10.Karen Galloway 11.Mary Toth 12.Sue Rogers 13.Kathy Carroll 14.Sally Espe 15.Mary Ann Woolner
Mil. Turners Philadelphia filch. State N.W. La. U.C.L.A. Wisconsin Penn State Iowa So. Illinois California Iowa New York So. Illinois LA Turners So. Conn. So. Illinois So. Conn. Penn State San Fer. Val. Mich. State California Iowa Unattached Penn State
# 3 U. of Ill. Seattle Y. Ohio So. Illinois So. Conn Oklahoma Buf. Turners Cent. Coll. So. Illinois Vadas G. C. So. Illinois So. Illinois Oklahoma Owego, N.Y. Cent. Coll.
I believe a step backward has been made by changing the format of the NCAA Gymnastic Championships. By having the 4 top teams competing in the finals instead of the 8 top gymnasts on each event, we are losing much of the excellence and prestige of the NCAA Championships. Having 4 teams competing in the finals means that 16 gymnasts will be performing on each event. This will mean an extremely long meet if the events are run individually. If the events are run simultaneously it will be distracting to both the competitor and audience to view the finals. Granted there will be a little more prestige to the team winner but much less to the event winners who will be lost in the shuffle of the preliminary competition. I think the format we have used for the last 2 years is the best possible type. The team championship and all around are decided in th~ preliminaries, and the best 8 gymnasts on each event advance to the finals. This makes the NCAA finals just as spectacular as they are in the Olympics and World Gymnastic Championships. This type finish is most appealing to an audience and for TV coverage. I do not think the people who formulated this new format really thought about what they were doing. I believe that this format was presented to the NCAA Gymnastic Rules Committee without the vast majority of the coaches knowing anything about it. I never heard mention of this type change until I read that it was approved in the minutes sent out by the NCAA Gymnastic Rules Connnittee. Every coach I have talked to has been totally satisfied with the format of the NCAA Championships of the last 2 years. So Why Change It!!! Art Shurlock Gymnastics Coach UCLA
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