and earned three 9.9-plus vault scores on the season. Butts was faced with the challenge of filling holes in the bars lineup in 2010, as key contributors were hit with injuries. Under his guidance, the Mountaineers rose to the challenge and finished the season ranked second in the EAGL and fourth in the Southeast region. Additionally, he guided Bieski and Roach to the No. 8 league ranking with matching 9.79 RQS. Butts also helped Chelsi Tabor attain the second-best EAGL vault RQS of 9.855. The mark ranked 10th in the region and 47th nationally. The Mountaineers finished ranked first on floor and second on bars and vault in the EAGL in 2009; they were nationally ranked 17th and 21st on the vault and bars, respectively. Butts helped guide Morris to a fifth place all-around finish at the 2009 Southeast Regional Championships and a qualification for the NCAA Championships. Additionally, she not only repeated as the EAGL bars and floor champion, but she also won the allaround league title and was named the EAGL
Outstanding Senior Gymnast. Three additional Mountaineers won EAGL titles in 2009 – Tabor (vault), Tina Maloney (vault) and Shelly Purkat (beam). In 2008, Morris scored a 9.85 on bars at the EAGL Championship to win the individual title, and the Mountaineers picked up their first league team title since 2004. Morris, along with Erica Watson, was named to the All-EAGL first team on bars, while Bieski was a second-team selection in her rookie season. Butts saw his bars lineup vastly improve through his first season at WVU. After early season struggles, the group came together down the stretch to have the EAGL’s top bars RQS and a score that ranked 23rd in the country by season’s end. WVU placed second at the EAGL Championship on the uneven bars after posting a 48.85. Butts guided Cox and Morris to first team All-EAGL selections in 2007. Morris posted four 9.9s that season under Butts and averaged an impressive 9.85 in 13 meets to rank atop the league’s individual rankings. Morris would go on to place seventh in the NCAA Southeast Regional Championships.
The Athens, Ga., native brought 12 years of club coaching experience to WVU, most recently from Classic City Gymnastics, where he trained men and women from 2001-06. He guided the women and men to Junior Olympic Nationals during that stretch, as well as sending athletes to the Region 8 Championships, while also assisting numerous gymnasts in earning Division I athletic scholarships in the process. Butts has worked at the Woodward Camp (1994-96) and the UGA Gym Dog Camp (2004-06). He competed as a competitive gymnast for 10 years, reaching Class I status and was a Junior Olympic National Qualifier. Butts received a bachelor’s degree in business administration and management from Georgia in 2006. He received a master’s degree in athletic coaching education at WVU in 2012.
BUTTS YEAR BY YEAR Year
Record (Postseason)
Pct.
2012....... 21-5 (NCAA Regional)...............808 Totals..... 21-5............................................808
33
|
2013 Gymnastics