March 14-15 in Jesolo, Italy. Olympic veterans
who competed on fewer than four events included Daniele Hypolito, Sandra Izbasa and
Beth Tweddle.
burg, Va. Arizona State claimed the club division.
Varsity Team 1. William & Mary 337.150; 2. U.S.
Naval Academy 333.750; 3. U.S. Air Force Academy
332.750; 4. Springfield College 328.950; 5. MIT
313.300.
Varsity AA 1. Derek Gygax (W&M) 85.150; 2. Ty
Evans (Springfield) 82.700; 3. Dylan Parrott (Navy)
81.300.
Club Team 1. Arizona State 320.250; 2. Washington
309.950; 3. James Madison 291.600; 4. SUNY-Brockport 137.900.
Club AA 1. Alex Gaudour (ASU) 81.350; 2. Sam
Softich (Washington) 79.250; 3. Joey Lawrence
(Washington) 78.050.
Yukio Endo
1937-2009
Senior AA: 1. Lia Parolari ITA 54.75; 2. He Ning CHN
54.60; 3(t). Bruna Leal BRA, Paola Galante ITA 54.50;
5. Anamaria Tamarjan ROM 54.15; 6. Emily Armi ITA
53.90.
Junior AA: 1. Amelia Racea ROM 55.55; 2. Carlotta
Ferlito ITA 54.85; 3. Erika Fasana ITA 54.60; 4.
Francesca De Agostini ITA 53.60; 5. Niamh Rippin
GBR 53.50; 6. Nicole Hibbert GBR 53.05.
IVANETS, BYKOV WIN IN BELARUS
Galina Ivanets and Artyom Bykov won the
all-around title at the Belarus Cup/Roman Vatkin
Memorial, held March 17-19 in Minsk. Vatkin
was a top-level Belarusian gymnast in the 1950s.
INTERNATIONAL I.D.
Women’s AA: 1. Galina Ivanets 53.90; 2. Anastasia
Zaitseva 52.30; 3. Lilia Khoang 51.70; 4. Olga
Mokhovtsova 51.15; 5. Alina Sotnikova 49.55; 6.
Katarzyna Jurkowska POL 49.00.
Men’s AA: 1. Artyom Bykov 84.05; 2. Pavel Bulavsky
82.20; 3. Dmitry Savitsky 78.20; 4. Vladimir Verbovit-sky 76.90; 5. Vladimir Ryabinko 75.80; 6. Alexander
Demchikhin 75.70.
FRANCIS FIRST
Great Britain’s Danusia Francis won the all-around as the British juniors defeated Romania
in a March 21 dual meet held in Lisburn, Northern Ireland. Francis, who finished second all-around at the 2008 British Junior Championships, was 17th all-around at the ’08 Junior
Europeans.
Second in Lisburn was Romania’s Diana
Bulimar, and third was Great Britain’s Nicole
Hibbert.
• Former rhythmic star Irina Gabashvili passed
away March 23 after a five-year battle with breast
cancer. She was 48. Gabashvili, the 1979 world
champion with the ball, had been coaching in the
U.S. since 2000, and was a coach at Westside
Gymnastics Academy in Portland, Ore. A native
of Tbilisi, Georgia, Gabashvili coached the
Malaysian gymnastics team for seven years prior
to immigrating to the U.S.
“Irina was a valued member of the rhythmic
gymnastics community, and she will be missed,”
said Caroline Hunt, rhythmic gymnastics program director for USA Gymnastics. IG
IG contributor John Crumlish lives in Los Angeles.
1964 Olympic all-around
champion Yukio Endo
died of cancer on March
25. He was 72.
Endo began gymnastics
in junior high school and
attended Toyko University
of Education, where he
was coached by Akitomo
Kaneko. While helping Japan win the
team title in three Olympics (1960, ’64,
’68), Endo also won four individual
medals: two golds and two silvers.
In 1996 Endo received the Emperor’s
Medal, Japan’s highest honor. In ’99 he
was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame, where he said, “I
feel greatly honored if I have contributed a
small token to the world of gymnastics.”
Beginning in 1981 he served in various
positions with the Japan Gymnastic Association.
Endo’s name is in the Code of Points
more than once (his forward straddle
swing on high bar is the most well
known), and his legacy in gymnastics will
live on forever.
Team: 1. GBR 160.25; 2. ROM 157.40.
AA: 1. Danusia Francis GBR 54.35; 2. Diana Bulimar
ROM 53.50; 3. Nicole Hibbert GBR 53.30; 4. Larisa
Iordache ROM 53.00; 5. Lizzie Beddoe GBR 51.15; 6.
Jessica Hogg GBR 51.15.
OLYMPIANS DOMINATE IN LONDON
2008 British Olympians Daniel Keatings and
Louis Smith finished first and second all-around, respectively, in the senior division of the
London Open, held March 20-22. Male gymnasts from several countries, including Belgium,
Bulgaria and Russia, took part.
Senior AA: 1. Daniel Keatings/Huntingdon 86.20; 2.
Louis Smith/Huntingdon 86.15; 3(t). Kristian
Thomas/Earls, Yegeny Gryshchenko/Hinckley 86.00;
5. Danny Lawrence/South Essex 85.10; 6. Robert
Payne/Loughborough Studen 84.25.
Age 16 AA: 2. Max Whitlock/South Essex 81.70; 2.
Sam Oldham/Huntingdon 80.60; 3. Max Ben-nett/Huntingdon 77.65; 4. Thomas Neuteleers BEL
76.40; 5. Thomas Gibbs/Heathrow 75.90; 6. Jimmy
Verbaeys BEL 75.40.
WILLIAM & MARY WINS 13TH
William & Mary won its 13th men’s varsity
team title at the USA Gymnastics Collegiate
Championships, held March 27-28 in Williams-
