SPOILER ALERT: Florida Wins NCAA Women's Gymnastics Crown

The Florida Gators won the team's first-ever NCAA title in women's gymnastics; only four other schools (Alabama, Georgia, UCLA and Utah) had won and each of those schools is a multiple winner.

On our sister blog "The Daily Vampire" http://www.nocturnalguy38.blogspot.com we discussed how Florida performed as a team.

The two gymnasts pictured here are Gators' gymnasts Alaina Johnson (top) and Ashanee Dickerson (bottom). The meet will air on ESPN-U at 8:00 p.m. on ESPN-U.

Here we are going to post individual scores from the four different events; the meet was held on the campus of UCLA:


Vault

1. Bridget Sloan (Florida) 9.995

2. Alaina Johnson (Fla) 9.900

3. Marissa King (Fla) 9.900

4. Kytra Hunter (Fla) 9.900

5. Ashley Sledge (Alabama) 9.900

6. Olivia Courtney (UCLA) 9.900


Beam

1. Sloan 9.9950

2. King 9.925

3. Kim Jacob (Alabama) 9.950

4. Ashley Priess (Alabama) 9.950

5. Rebecca Clark (Oklahoma) 9.925

6. Madison Moorig (Oklahoma)9.925


Bars

1. Johnson 9.950

2. Vanessa Zamarripa (UCLA) 9.925

3. Sloan 9.900

4. Mackenzie Caquatto (Fla) 9.900

5. Jacob 9.900

6. Kaitlyn Clark (Alabama) 9.900

Floor

1. Hunter 9.975

2. Sloan 9.950

3. King 9.950

4. Bridgette Caquatto (Fla) 9.95

5. Jacob 9.950

6. Liominica Hall (LSU) 9.950

Friday Night Tweets: Sports, Sports, Sports...........well, mostly women's college gymnastics

Here are our sports-related tweets on a rainy Friday night which has been overshadowed by surreal, harrowing developments in the Boston Marathon bombing suspect. But, today was also the day of the first round of the NCAA women's gymnastics championships on the campus of UCLA; the home mat Bruins are in the second session, which is going on at this hour. These tweets are in reference to the first session.

The three teams that advanced are 1) Florida, 2) LSU and 3) Georgia. The other three teams were 4)Minnesota, 5) Illinois and 6) Stanford. Minnesota and Illinois were competing in their first NCAA championships.

Here are the tweets:

1. Ivana Hong @IvanaHong (She is a Stanford gymnast, pictured top): "Thank you everyone for such love and support! In the end, competing with this team is the best part of gymnastics."

2. Bridget Sloan Fans @TeamBridgetS (Bridget Sloan is an American Olympic gymnast who competes for Florida): "Yay! Congrat to the #gators on being in the #supersix! And congrats to @bridgetsloan on being the AA winner thus far!"

3. Jamie Christian @JamieAllOver: "So along with manhunt and other things about the terrorists, #supersix is trending. This is why I love America."

4. Between the Hedges @UGAHedgesBlog: "Congrats to the @UGAGymnastics for reaching the #supersix for the first time in 2009."

5. Kytra Hunter @KytraHunter Kytra Hunter is a Florida gymnast from Frederick, Md.): "Started out slow, but ended strong! Way to fight Gators! So excited for tomorrow!"

6. FSU Baseball @FSU_Baseball: "First pitch has been moved back to approximately 8:30 p.m. Stay tuned for more updates from Charlottesville."

7. Boston College @BostonCollege: "Thankful for a peaceful resolution; remember all affected by this week. #BostonStrong

NOTE: Neither Florida State nor Boston College have women's college gymnastics programs, but their tweets helped fill a gap we had!

UPDATE: Alabama, the two-time defending NCAA champion, won the second session with a 197.35; host UCLA and Oklahoma tied for second with a score of 197.200. The three schools that did not qualify for the Super Six are: 4) Michigan 196.85 5) Utah 196.200 and 6) Arkansas 196.150

Tweets for a Snowy Night

It's snowing in Maryland, Washington DC, West Virginia, North Carolina and Virginia, here is a look a some tweets for a snowy, snowy night:

1) Gator Gymnastics @GatorZoneGym: Freshman Bridgette Caquatto makes her debut on uneven bars tonight with a 9.8! #GoGators

2) UNC Women's Lacrosse @uncwlax: Enjoying the snow here in Chapel Hill.

3) NC A&T @ncatsaggies: #NCAT will open at 11 a.m. tomorrow.

4) Robin Reed @wxman7: Looking for reports on road conditions mainly residential- in your area- send me a quick tweet or picture! (Reed is a long-time weather reporter for WDBJ Channel 7 in my hometown of Roanoke, Va.)

5) NC State Gymnastics @PackGymnastics: "Diahanna Ham notches the top-score on beam for the Pack with a 9.775"

6) Cornell Daily Sun @CornellSun: W. Hockey. C.U. heads on the Road to Play Ivy Rivals Yale, Brown.

7) Denver Gymnastics @DU_Gymnastics: The traditional 'calling of the hogs; here at Arkansas just took place. Both teams getting set for the first touch warm-up.

Tweets of the Night_ Politics, Sports and Religion

For those of you who are are yak herders in Mongolia or Buddhist monks in Bhutan, the first image is of Cong. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) who is Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's arch conservative running mate. The other two images are of a college volleyball player (there was lots of college volleyball action tonight) from the University of South Florida and a Serbian priest, who to our knowledge has not endorsed either Romney or President Barack Obama, that is not the case with certain reality tv show 'stars.'

Let's jump in the pool:

1) @uncgsports (UNC-Greensboro Athletics): Women's soccer takes down Davidson on Senior Night 1-0.

2) @GatorZoneVB (University of Florida Gators Women's Volleyball): "No.11 #Gators Earn Ninth Sweep of 2012 with 3-0 Victory over Ole Miss."

3) @uncvolleyball (University of North Carolina Women's Volleyball): "Carolina Holds off Virginia 3-2 as the Tar Heels improve to 14-4, 5-3 (in ACC play) on the season," (the game was played in Charlottesville, Va.)

4) @AlexSemin (Carolina Hurricanes hockey player Alex Semin, a Russian national formerly with the Washington Capitals): "He may only be a teenager, but until Bryce Harper goes to Russia to play hockey for his grandmother, his accomplishments are miniscule." (Semin is referring to one of the star players for the Washington Nationals, a team that lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in the playoffs by a 9-7 score tonight).

5) @TerryMoran (Terry Moran of ABC News): "Some idiot fired shots into Obama's field office in Denver.  Let's all try to calm down and respect each other."

6) @LOLGOP (LOL GOP): "If the math behind Mitt Romney's tax plan worked, George W. Bush would have spoken at the Republican Convention."

7) @theOnion ("The Onion," a faux news publication): "Joe Biden: I'm a flawed man, but there's love in my heart."

8) @VT_Volleyball (Virginia Tech Women's Volleyball): "Hokies drop 3-1 decision to NC State: Kathryn Caine knocked down 13 kills."

9) @MLBJesus (Major League Baseball Jesus): "Some of my best friends are Cardinals," this satiric statement made in reference to the St. Louis Cardinals.

10) @SecretCabDriver (Secret Cab Driver): "GOP: Vote for us because we have guns. And, remember we're not afraid to use them." (this tweet was meant to be satiric in nature)

11) @HuffPostPol ("Huffington Post Politics"): "Democratic Brad Sherman regrets grabbing Howard Berman during debate." (This is a tweet regarding the Congressional battle which actually pits two Democratic Congressional reps from the Los Angeles-area against each other; we have a special interest in this because the Armenian-American lobby sponsored one of the debates and Turkey was mentioned throughout the forum. Turkey and Armenia do not have diplomatic relations in spite of being neighboring countries due to a very ugly and controversial historical dispute).

12) @davidfrum (David Frum, a conservative pundit who has been critical of the current state of the Republican Party; he was actually profiled in an excellent article in "The Nation," a liberal magazine): "Message of the debate poll: Twitter loves politics, is bored with government."

Congratulations to the University of Alabama for Winning Gymnastics Title

Yes, college gymnastics fans will undoubtedly notice that the headline and the photo of Georgia gymnast Kat Ding, a senior from Sparks, Nev., may not seem to go well, but please read the entry first!

And, before we get to that, I forgot to thank blog readers from Belgium, Portugal and Australia on our sister blog "The Daily Vampire,' in addition to them, I want to thank those of you from Bulgaria and Indonesia who have stopped by here in the last 24 hours.

The University of Alabama did indeed win its seventh NCAA championship in women's gymnastics on April 21, and this was the first time that the Crimson Tide had successfully defended its title.

For Tide senior Geralen Stack-Eaton, it must have been a particularly rewarding weekend for she also won an individual title on the balance beam.

Meanwhile, Ding defender her national title on bars with a 9.875 and she had a 9.995 on floor, which gave her a title on that apparatus as well; Ding edged out Stack-Eaton, the defending floor champ, and Ellyse Hopfner-Hobbs of UCLA, who is perhaps the top Canadian gymnast in the world at the moment.

Kyra Hunter of Florida won both the coveted all-around title as well as an apparatus title on vault. The Gators finished a very close second to the Tide in the team competition with the Bruins of UCLA coming in a close third.

Next year, UCLA hosts the NCAA championships in the sport.

Silly Photo to Fill Space- Laundry Time

Yes, in case you were wondering that is Safir, a Turkish laundry detergent, which is undoubtedly used in every laundry place in Bakirkoy (forgive the ethnic humor; Bakirkoy is a large suburban section of Istanbul).

For those not in Bakirkoy, there is always Phoenix Laundry in Gainesville, Fla., which is open 24/7. I suppose those college students from Gator U have lots of dirty boxer shorts!

NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championships Underway in Florida

With our sister blog "The Daily Vampire," I am posting on the NCAA Women's Gymnastics Chamiponships going on literally right now at the University of Florida.

The host Gators are among the six teams competing tonight. UCLA, Utah and Oklahoma advanced earlier in the day at the competition in Gainesville, Fla.

On my other blog, I posted a partial list of my 24 favorite active collegiate gymnasts in alphabetical order. This is a continuation of that list.

The pictured gymnasts here are standouts Sarah Shire (Missouri) and Vanessa Zamarripa (UCLA), whose name I've finally figured out how to spell!

Here are the remaining 12 gymnasts. The two gymnasts with an asteriks are competing individually without their teams:

Marissa King- Florida (freshman)

Anna Li- UCLA (senior)

Leslie Mak- Oregon State (sophomore)

Brandi Personett- Penn State (senior)*

Ashley Priess- Alabama (sophomore)

Taylor Seaman- North Carolina State (senior)*

Sarah Shire- Missouri (senior)

Geralden Stack-Eaton-Alabama (sophomore)

Makayla Stambaugh- Oregon State (freshman)

Kylie Stone- Nebraska (senior)

Hollie Vise- Oklahoma (senior)

Vanessa Zamarripa- UCLA (sophomore)

Women's College Gym Shakeup (Take Two)

Ouch! My whole first attempt at posting this entry went up in smoke and it was quite a long one too!

Let's get to the chase. Last week, Auburn University (pictured here) pulled off a major upset by beating five-time NCAA champion the University of Georgia.

Some of the major college gym meets for this weekend, most of which are scheduled for Friday, include Georgia's home meet with Kentucky, a team which is having a banner year.

I was hoping to see third-ranked Florida come to Raleigh, NC, for a meet with North Carolina State and George Washington University. But, a nasty winter storm is going to affect virtually every place in Virginia and North Carolina, except those lucky Wolfpack fans in Raleigh (but they do get rain!). The NC ST team features two outstanding gymnasts in sophomore Brooke Barr and freshman Jess Panza this year. Hopefully, we will get to see them some time soon (I hope!).

Top-ranked Alabama heads to snow-free Baton Rouge, La., to face 12th ranked LSU. UNC heads to Maryland, but College Park, Md., is in the storm zone! Out west, Denver goes to Provo, Utah, to face Brigham Young U, Utah visits the Arizona State and UCLA heads to the University of Arizona.

Lastly, the Illinois State RedBirds host Ball State. Emily Matko, from my hometown of Roanoke, Va., is a gymnast for the RedBirds and her mom is a friend of mine. I guess everyone knows who I'm pulling for in this one!

Here is a run-down of the Top Ten teams this week. NC St is ranked 22nd.

1. Alabama
2. Oklahoma
3. Florida
4. Utah
5. Oregon State
6. UCLA
7. Arkansas
8. Stanford
9. Georgia
10. Nebraska

UPDATE_ A few minutes after posting this, we learned that George Washington University was not going to compete in Raleigh. For the info on that meet which was between Florida and North Carolina State tonight and other weekend gym meets, go to collegegymfans.com

I'll be there myself after I check out my Twitter page!

SEC Gymnastics Meets for this Weekend

In terms of college gymnastics, the Southesatern Conference is the premiere conference for the sport. This week, all seven SEC teams (five SEC schools do not gymnastics programs) are nationally ranked including Alabama (#4), Arkansas (#7), Florida (#8), Auburn (#9), Georgia (#10), Kentucky (#14) and LSU (#16).

Georgia's ranking is a little surprising because they are the four-time defending national champion, but they will get to prove themselves when they face Alabama in Tuscaloosa for a 7 p.m. meet that will be televised (on tape) on ESPN-2 on Sun., Jan 24. I think the Tide will win this one, but it will be very close!

Georgia's Courtney McCool (pictured) was named SEC Gymnast of the Week. She is a fomrmer national team member who is a senior.

Alabama's Ashley Sledge (pictured) was named SEC Freshman of the Week.

There are a full slate of SEC teams in action tonight, including Kentucky and LSU's participation in the Lady Luck Invitanational in Las Vegas which will also include Arizona State and Missouri.

Here are the other SEC meets, all of which are scheduled for tonight @ 7 p.m. (depending on the time zone of each meet). The Oklahoma Sooners, currently ranked number two, are not in the SEC:

Arkansas @ Florida- 7 p.m.

Oklahoma @ Auburn- 7 p.m.

Other major meets this evening include top-ranked UCLA at Washington as well as traditional powerhouse Utah's home meet with Iowa State. For live updates, check out www.collegegymfans.com