Season brings high expectations for USU gymnastics
The weather outside is cold, but for the Utah State gymnastics team, things are just warming up.
With the new year comes a brand new season for the Aggies and yet another chance to play hard and win big. The team has one obstacle above the rest and just one rival more fierce than the rest – itself.
The Aggies were ranked 30th in the country in a troester.com/gym pre-season coaches poll. Last season they finished 32nd in the nation, but were as high as 22nd during the season.
This year, six of Utah State’s opponents are ranked in the Top 25. Aggie in-state rivals, the University of Utah and BYU, are ranked fourth and 24th, respectively.
Utah State will begin the 2004 season Saturday at the Rocky Mountain Open, hosted by the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.
USU returns nine letterwinners, including All-Western Gymnastics Conference first team honoree Katie Rutherford and second teamers Rachel Ropelato, Jessica Pakenti and Meagan Nelson.
The team is led by Head Coach Ray Corn and assistant coaches Jeff Graba and Ernestine Russell. With this outstanding group of coaches the team is at an advantage.
Corn has been the only Division I coach in the history of USU gymnastics. He has been with Utah State for 25 years.
In 1978, Corn’s first season, the team went 34-4, transforming the club-level Utah State gymnastics into an AIAW powerhouse. The next season the team made the first of four consecutive AIAW National Championship trips. During those years they finished as high as ninth.
In ’91, USU returned to the National Championships, this time under the direction of the NCAA. In each of the last 17 years, USU has qualified for NCAA regional competition.
The team first participated in the Big West Conference Gymnastics Championship in ’92, when they won the title. Since then, USU has won the Big West title three times, in 1996, 1998 and 2001.
Corn has coached three All-Americans, three Olympians, two World Championship competitors and has had 18 gymnasts qualify for NCAA National Championships.
He has also had 23 gymnasts since ’91 who have earned academic All-American honors 47 times.
Assistant coach Jeff Graba, who was named the assistant coach by Corn last year, is the co-owner of the Minneapolis Midwest Gymnastics, where he has coached since ’95.
He was the assistant coach for Hamline University in St. Paul, Minn., from 1992-98. While there, his team made six consecutive trips to NCAA Nationals, finishing second his fourth year there.
Graba has coached 11 different gymnasts to a total of 26 NCGA All-American awards in individual events and in the all-around.
Assistant coach Ernestine Russell is a two-time Canadian Olympian. She was the head coach at Clarion State for 10 years. After that she headed to the University of Florida where she was the head coach for 13 years.
At Florida, her team won one national title and made 11 consecutive NCAA appearances.
In the 23 years that Russell has coached her record is 243-48. She was also the 1980 head coach of the U.S. Olympic team.
-vramirez@cc.usu.edu