University of Minnesota Athletics
Burns Blog: Visa Championships Report
8/13/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics
Hi folks, greetings from Hartford, Conn., site of the 2010 VISA Championships. Former Gopher Aaron Fortunato competed on Wednesday night in a field of 43 national-caliber gymnasts in an effort to qualify to Day 2, which is today (Friday).
Aaron finished Wednesday's meet with an all-around score of 83.15 to finish in 28th place.
He did a nice job on Wednesday. Starting on Vault, Aaron did one of his best Yurchenko 1 ½ twists for a score of 15.25. On to parallel bars and he got through a nice set for a score of 14.15.
At this point we had a nice head of steam going as we headed over to high bar, Aaron's best event. At the high bar, Aaron was performing a great set but then pinged off on his dismount and landed in a very precarious position that impacted his knee. I thought Aaron might be unable to finish the meet, but the doctors checked him out and he was fine so he was able to continue. His score of 13.0 knocked him down in the standings, but on he pushed.
On the floor exercise, Aaron was able to do a great routine in spite of the soreness in his knee and he posted a score of 13.75 which included a tenth of a point deduction for going out of bounds on his first pass. Pommel horse and rings were his last two events and he got through both sets pretty well with scores of 13. 65 and 13.354 respectively.
Although Aaron didn't make second day and was very disappointed, I feel like the experience of competing at this level was invaluable for him.
Incoming Gopher freshman Yoshi Morinishi also competed in the Junior Division and finished 18th in the all-around with a solid meet. It was great to see Yoshi in action and on the podium. I am excited about the chance to work with him as freshman next month.
-Head Men's Gymnastics Coach Mike Burns
Players Mentioned
