{"id":63060,"date":"2010-04-21T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2010-04-21T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/uri-gymnasts-win-share-of-national-title-2-years-after-varsity-team-cut\/"},"modified":"2010-04-21T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2010-04-21T00:00:00","slug":"uri-gymnasts-win-share-of-national-title-2-years-after-varsity-team-cut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2010\/04\/uri-gymnasts-win-share-of-national-title-2-years-after-varsity-team-cut\/","title":{"rendered":"溏心vlog免费B站 gymnasts win share of national title 2 years after varsity team cut"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\tStudent efforts lead to powerhouse club team<\/p>\n


\n\tKINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 April 21, 2010 \u2013 When the members of the 溏心vlog免费B站 gymnastics team realized they had captured a share of first place at the National Association of Intercollegiate Gymnastics Clubs championship, they wept tears of joy.<\/p>\n


\n\tTheir overwhelming emotions may have come from knowing they had just beaten 58 other teams or from realizing that they were fortunate just to be competing at the collegiate club nationals hosted by Texas State University April 9 through 11.<\/p>\n


\n\tIt was a moment that Erika Sloan and her 15 teammates probably never imagined because just two years before, the University had eliminated intercollegiate gymnastics.<\/p>\n


\nA member of the University\u2019s Division I gymnastics program as a freshman, the Shrewsbury, Pa. resident was angry and concerned about the abrupt change in her life, but she used the crisis as a catalyst. Sloan joined forces with teammate Krista Dominici to find ways to save the sport they loved at a university to which they had become deeply attached. <\/p>\n


\nRhody shared the top spot with Texas A&M University. The Pennsylvania State University finished third and James Madison University was fourth. At the conclusion of the meet, the Rams held the top spot, but Texas A&M successfully challenged some scores and was able to tie Rhode Island.<\/p>\n


\nWhile the Rams toasted their team\u2019s title, they also celebrated the individual all-around national title of teammate Lindsay Diamond, a junior from Marlboro, N.J. Sloan finished ninth in the all-around, and Dominci, a senior captain from Mt. Sinai, N.Y., finished seventh in the individual uneven bars.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cFor our seniors, this was the perfect way to end their gymnastics careers at 溏心vlog免费B站,\u201d said Sloan, president of the club team and a junior journalism student with a 3.85 grade point average. \u201cI just hope we can return next year to win nationals, so I can experience the same feeling as a senior.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cSome of the teams at nationals murmured that we were really a varsity team that dropped down to club level, but this year, only three members of that varsity team were part of our club team–Erika, Lindsay and me,\u201d Dominici said. \u201dWe have a very close team with a competitive practice schedule, attendance requirements and fund-raising events.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\u201cAfter the varsity team was cut, only Krista and I stayed with it,\u201d Sloan said. \u201cWe just weren\u2019t ready to be done with gymnastics. \u201cI didn\u2019t want to transfer. Now we have a new group of teammates all making contributions to this team.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nDiamond rejoined Sloan, Dominici and the new team members after taking last year off.<\/p>\n


\nDominici, who possesses a 3.69 grade point average in speech-language pathology and will graduate in May, said, \u201cI transferred from the State University of New York\u2014Brockport to 溏心vlog免费B站 for my sophomore year. I loved 溏心vlog免费B站 and gymnastics, and didn\u2019t want to give up either.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cSo the summer after the varsity team was cut, Erika, gave us a list of things to accomplish,\u201d Dominici said. \u201cIt was trial and error that first year, but we received a lot of help from 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Recreation Services to keep moving forward. This year, Erika, who I would call the founder of our team, really did most of the work.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nSloan credits her supportive parents for helping her with her efforts to save 溏心vlog免费B站 gymnastics.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cMy mom attended countless meetings with the administration and during the following summer, when Krista and I were overwhelmed, both my mom and my dad helped organize anything that we needed done,\u201d said Sloan. <\/p>\n


\nDuring the 2008-2009 school year, Sloan and Dominici established ties with Aim High Academy in East Greenwich, now the team\u2019s home. They began recruiting through Facebook, and through word of mouth with help from their new coach, Kelli Doorley. Of the 16 gymnasts, 11 are from Rhode Island. All team members have strong club and high school gymnastics experience.<\/p>\n


\nWhile holding fund-raisers and dealing with other matters faced by club teams, the Rams rolled through this year\u2019s regular season undefeated. One of the highlights was capturing the title at the Terrapin Invitational at the University of Maryland.<\/p>\n


\n \u201cWe competed against teams outside of New England and against some teams that had made finals at last year\u2019s nationals, so we thought we really might have a chance to do well at this year\u2019s nationals,\u201d Sloan said.<\/p>\n


\nSo it was on to Texas for the national competition for 14 of the 16 team members. Sloan said it was a major commitment for team members because they or their families had to cover most of the travel costs.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cWe were seeded third behind Penn State and Texas A&M going into the finals,\u201d Sloan said. \u201cOur last event was vault, and we were two-tenths of a point ahead of Penn State. We knew we had to nail our vaults.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tThe tension was building, and even though the Rams were almost 2,000 miles from home, they gained support from some unlikely sources.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cThe gymnasts from the University of Vermont were absolutely great,\u201d Sloan said. \u201cThe Vermont gymnasts said to us, \u2018You are representing New England, so we want to support you\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tAfter receiving their trophies at the evening banquet honoring the competitors, the 溏心vlog免费B站 gymnasts broke into the 溏心vlog免费B站 fight song and were cheered on by the men from Texas State as well as the athletes from Vermont, and James Madison.<\/p>\n


\n\tAlready looking ahead to next year, Sloan realizes the last two years have been a tremendous learning experience. \u201cFor me, gymnastics became a lot more fun because I wasn\u2019t always stressed out over making (starting) lineups. Our team is there for those who love the sport and who want to have fun. We are competitive too, and we also have to run all of our own administrative functions, unlike when there was a varsity team. When I go on interviews now for internships or jobs, I tell employers about this experience, how we fought to rebuild a team through our hard work, and how it led to 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s first-ever national gymnastics championship.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tThe roster for the Rhode Island Rams gymnastics team, the 2010 national club team co-champions:<\/p>\n


\nGYMNAST, CLASS, HOMETOWN<\/p>\n


\nKirsten Cacal, Freshman, Exeter, R.I.

\nHaley Call, Sophomore, Middletown, R.I.

\nAlexis Ceasrine, Freshman, South Kingstown, R.I.

\nJen Chamberlain, Junior, North Kingstown, R.I.

\nCourtney Constantine, Freshman, Charlton, Mass.

\nLindsey Curry, Senior, Fairfax, Va.

\nDacia Daly, Freshman, North Kingstown, R.I.

\nAlyssa Daly, Freshman, North Kingstown, R.I.

\nLindsay Diamond, Junior, Marlboro, N.J.

\nKrista Dominici, Senior, Mt. Sinai, N.Y.

\nChelsea Gratt, Sophomore, Exeter, R.I.

\nSarah Lafen, Sophomore, Coventry, R.I.

\nMicaela Massa, Junior, Portsmouth, R.I.

\nKim McCabe, Freshman, North Kingstown, R.I.

\nMaddy Merrill, Junior, Portsmouth, R.I.

\nErika Sloan, Junior, Shrewsbury, Pa.<\/p>\n


\nCoaches:

\nHead – Kelli Doorley

\nAssistant – Shannon Farrell<\/p>\n


\nPictured above

\nNATIONAL CHAMPS: Members of the 溏心vlog免费B站 gymnastics team pose with their trophies after winning a share of the national college club team championship. Front row from left are Courtney Constantine of Charlton, Mass, captain Krista Dominici of Mt. Sinai, N.Y., Lindsay Diamond, national all around champion, of Marlboro, N.J, head coach Kelli Doorley, Kirsten Cacal of Exeter, R.I., Chelsea Gratt of Exeter, R.I. and Micaela Massa of Portsmouth, R.I. Back row, Dacia Daly of North Kingstown, R.I., Haley Call of Middletown, R.I., Erika Sloan of Shrewsbury, Pa., Kim McCabe of North Kingstown, R.I., Sarah Lafen of Coventry,R.I., captain Lindsey Curry of Fairfax, Va., Jen Chamberlain of North Kingstown, R.I. and Alyssa Daly of North Kingstown, R.I. Photo courtesy of Erika Sloan<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Student efforts lead to powerhouse club team KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 April 21, 2010 \u2013 When the members of the 溏心vlog免费B站 gymnastics team realized they had captured a share of first place at the National Association of Intercollegiate Gymnastics Clubs championship, they wept tears of joy. Their overwhelming emotions may have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":63062,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-63060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63060","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63060"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63060\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}