OHIO STATE WOMEN S GYMNASTICS FRIENDS & FAMILY

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1 WOMEN S GYMNASTICS OHIO STATE WOMEN S GYMNASTICS FRIENDS & FAMILY Hello Friends & Family! We hope that you had a great summer and are enjoying the start of fall! It s been beautiful here in Columbus, and we are loving having the whole team together! There has already been so much going on with our 16 team members, and you can read all about it in the following pages of this newsletter. I want to invite you to join our Friends & Family program, and if you are already a member, to continue to support us this year. We began our Women s Gymnastics Friends & Family program three years ago, and have grown it significantly thanks to all of your generous support! The Friends & Family program provides our team with additional funds in our discretionary account to be used for team activities, new equipment, new leotards, medical massages, updates to our training facility, promotions for our home meets during competition season, and much more. The student-athletes on our team have benefited greatly throughout the past three years from the contributions that have been made, especially lately from the generous gifts of an Endowed Scholarship by the Tomski Family and an Endowed Annual Award from the Pausch Family. Below you will find a chart detailing the growth we have had in the past three years, and our goal for the season. As a Friends & Family member, you can expect to receive special insight into The Ohio State Women s Gymnastics Team, as well as invitations to exclusive events throughout the year. We will four more newsletters, like this one, throughout the year, as well as send out weekly updates throughout the competition season on how the weekend s meet went. You will also be invited to attend our Friends & Family reception, which includes dinner in the football stadium s Varsity O Room and time to socialize with team members after one of our home meets. We are also planning new special events this year, which we will send details about as we get closer to the competition season. We hope that you enjoy this newsletter and that you will join us as a Friends & Family member this season! Your support and encouragement means so much to these young ladies, and we re looking forward to making Buckeye Nation PROUD this year!! GO BUCKS! Carey, Bill & Meredith 1

2 HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE 1ST MONTH OF SCHOOL ipads Ohio State instituted a new ipad program this year, in which all current studentathletes have been given their own ipad to use as both an academic and athletic tool. They even get to keep them after they graduate! The ipads will be loaded with all kinds of apps and information from our team, as well as the Compliance, Nutrition, and Academic Advising departments. Self-Defense Class Another team activity the girls had in the first week was a self-defense class, taught by Ohio State campus police officers. The officers came to our gym in Steelwood to teach the girls some steps to take in order to properly defend themselves and the team got to practice punching and kicking at padded dummies, as well as trying out their new moves on each other. Don t mess with these ladies! Meeting Olympians at the Union After practice on Thursday, September 5th, several of our team members had the opportunity to attend a Q&A session sponsored by Ohio State with Olympic Champions Aly Raisman, Ryan Lochte, and Kerri Walsh Jennings. It was an inspiring event, and the girls even got to meet these fantastic athletes or catch up with old friends, as Sophomore Maggie Dunn used to train at the same club as Aly Raisman! Scarlet & Gray Game On Saturday, August 31st, the team was recognized at the first football game of the year against Buffalo! The team got front row seats, and was honored at half-time along with all the other sports at Ohio State, in front of the 104,000 Buckeye fans in Ohio Stadium! Shooting at the Pistol Range with Coach Sweeney Right before classes started, the team got to try their hand at one of the other 36 sports at Ohio State pistol! Coach Sweeney taught the team the basics of handgun safety, and then showed them how to actually shoot a gun. The girls had a BLAST (no pun intended!) and some found out they are actually pretty good marksmen! Some fun trivia as well Coach Sweeney used to be the Men s Gymnastics coach at Ohio State, and is the only current coach who has coached two different sports at Ohio State. 2

3 WOMEN S GYMNASTICS WELCOME TO OUR FRESHMEN CLASS! Tenille Funches Tenille joins us from Chicago, Illinois, where she trained at United Gymnastics Academy. Tenille placed 5th All-Around at the 2013 Junior Olympic National Championships, and was a member of the Region 5 All-Star team in 2012 and Tenille was the 2012 Region 5 All-Around Champion, and will be a strong contributor to the Buckeyes on every event. Jaine Van Putten Jaine is from Piscataway, New Jersey, and was a club gymnast at NorthStars Gymnastics. Jaine s strongest event is Vault, in which she was the 2013 Region 7 Vault Champion and placed 5th on the event at Junior Olympic Nationals. Jaine is also a powerful tumbler who will add to the floor line-up and have an impact for the Buckeyes on Bars and Beam. Michelle Burns Michelle hails from St. Louis, Missouri where she trained at St. Louis Gym Centre. Michelle is a two-time Junior Olympic Nationals qualifier, and placed 2nd on Beam at the 2010 Region 4 Championships. In 2012, Michelle placed in the top 4 on Vault, Beam, Floor and All-Around at the Regional meet. Michelle is looking very strong this pre-season and will be a factor on all four events. Erin Malone Erin s hometown is Southington, Connecticut and she formerly was a gymnast at Connecticut Gymnastics Academy. Erin qualified to the Junior Olympic National Championships in 2012, and was placed 3rd on Vault at the Region 6 Championships in both 2012 and In 2011, she was also the runner up at Regionals on Balance Beam. Erin s strengths are Vault and Floor, and she will also add depth for the Buckeyes on Beam. 3

4 2014 SEASON INFORMATION SCHEDULE January 11 HOME Oregon State & Bowling Green January 19 HOME Rutgers January 25 AWAY Michigan February 1 HOME Penn State February 7 HOME Minnesota February 15 AWAY Iowa February 23 AWAY Illinois March 2 AWAY WVU March 8 HOME Ball State March 15 March 22 April 5 April 19 Big Ten Quad MSU with Nebraska and Illinois Big Ten Penn State NCAA Regional Championship, location TBD on March 24 (Minnesota, Georgia, Arkansas, LSU, Penn State or Washington) NCAA Birmingham, AL Season Tickets For the first time in five years, we are pleased to announce that we will be selling season tickets for our home meets! We have five home meets, and season tickets will cost $32 for adults and $20 for youth, which saves season ticket holders the cost of admission for one of the meets. Tickets will be available for purchase beginning on Wednesday, October 9th. For more information, contact: Holly Simms ATH-TicketSales1@osu.edu Or visit OhioStateBuckeyes.com Block O Gymnastics On August 24, the team helped Block O, the official student fan section, promote our Gymnastics Group at Ohio Stadium. There were over 4,000 freshmen, and many of them signed up to be a part of Block O Gymnastics! We hope to see many new faces at our meets this season, and build the support from our own Ohio State students! 4

5 WOMEN S GYMNASTICS BUCKEYE CHAT WITH SOPHMORE RACHEL ABRAMS Hello Friends & Family! My name is Rachel Abrams and I am a sophomore this year on the Ohio State Women s Gymnastics Team. I just wanted to write a quick letter to all of you to share how this year is going so far and what is in store for us in the future. Pre-season has already been a fun ride with official practice starting on September 24th, and every one of us are already working extremely hard to start the year off right. Even at our early morning workouts, we pick a theme and wear goofy outfits to brighten up the atmosphere and make it even more exciting. The new freshmen have been adjusting really well to the college gymnastics type of practicing and conditioning, and we are very excited to have some new faces on the team. They all fit in really well, and the team dynamic is continuously growing closer to each other. This year, I believe the team is capable of doing great things! Every person on the team has something special to add and I cannot wait until official practice begins. This year, our team goals are to start the season off strong at our first meet with a high team score, and then continue to build off of that to eventually make it back to NCAA Nationals. I know that this great group of girls that I call teammates is committed to reaching this goal, and we are ready to do whatever it takes to make it happen! Make sure you stay updated through our Facebook page and Youtube videos to see how us Buckeyes are doing. Thank you for all of your support, and I hope to see you in St. John Arena in just a few months! GO BUCKS! Rachel Abrams, Sophomore 5

6 ALUMNI UPDATE Recently Married & Engaged Emily Sineway Boyd, 2006 April 14, 2013 Married Australian Chris Boyd and graduated from medical school. Emily is now an intern at the University of Louisville, and hopes to make it to some meets this season before she moves back to Atlanta to finish her residency at Emory. The couple has an energetic dog named Tucker. Nicole Krauter Jontony, 2012 June 22, 2013 Married Dominic Jontony, former Ohio State wrestler, and resides in Columbus, Ohio. Nicole is currently working with Ohio State s sports nutrition program and is actually our team nutritionist! Bethany Dworkin Engaged to marry Greg Mormol in 2014, and Bethany will also officially become the stepmother of his three children. Kiki Holman Kraft, 2009 May 26, 2013 Married Garrett Kraft and lives in Plymouth, Minnesota. Shelley Harris Pittman, 2005 Shelley is currently married and has twin five year old daughters and a 10-year-old stepdaughter. Shelley is enjoying coaching gymnastics and resides in Greenville, NC. Amanda Surine Johnson, 2009 June 1, 2013 Married Dan and lives in Cincinnati, Ohio. Amanda is currently coaching level 8 s, 9 s, and 10 s at Cincinnati Gymnastics Academy. Kristin Perchatsch Wade, 2010 August 24, 2013 Married Rob Wade, former Ohio State track & field athlete. The couple resides in Chicago, Illinois, where Kristin is in her final year of graduate school for a degree in Psychology. KP will be doing an internship this fall with foster children in need of trauma therapy. Sarah Gillespie Rice, 2013 August 31, 2013 Married Josh Rice, and the couple resides in Newport News, Virginia. New Babies Kaylin Schlect Ward, 2006 Brooks Timothy Ward, born August 9, 2013, 5 lbs. 15 oz. and 17 inches long (PICTURE attached) Brittany Livingston Ullrich, nd Baby on the Way! Emma Rose is due October 17, Brittany, Zach, and soon-to-be big sister Grace reside in Birmingham, MI. 6

7 WOMEN S GYMNASTICS PRE-SEASON SNAPSHOTS Team members past and present at recent graduate Sarah Gillespie s wedding Senior Victoria Aepli learning some self-defense The new look of our offices at Steelwood The new athlete entrance at our training facility Team goals proudly posted in our locker room! An 80 s themed Zumba workout! The focus is on Birmingham, for NCAA Nationals After the team finished the mile test! The new Champions Lounge in Steelwood 7

8 MEMBERSHIP FORM Name: (as you would like it to appear for official donor recognition) Address: City: State: Phone (H): Zip: Phone (C): MEMBERSHIP LEVEL Please check the level you are joining and indicate your donation. SCARLET Under $99 SILVER $100-$499 GOLD $500-$999 DIAMOND $1,000+ PAYMENT OPTIONS Type of card: Visa Master Card Discover Name as it appears on the card Card Number Expiration Date Signature Please make checks payable to: The Ohio State University, Women s Gymnastics Project # (memo) Send completed application and donation to: The Ohio State University Women s Gymnastics Team 1160 Steelwood Road Columbus, Ohio In appreciation of your support, all Friends and Family program members will receive invitations to exclusive women s gymnastics events, quarterly e-newsletters, and updates from the coaching staff throughout the season. To make a contribution online visit 8 WOMEN S GYMNASTICS FRIENDS AND FAMILY PROGRAM Support Buckeye Women s Gymnastics