I watched the Pacific Rim Championships and cried, all due to the backstory of one Darling "Darlene" Hill. The Philadelphia Inquirer has a small online piece by columnist Phil Sheridan, which you can find here. A couple of lines and I hope she does well:

A small little piece on Jana Bieger can be read at this link.

Sam Peszek and Bridget Sloan share the spotlight at this article on IndyStar.com

Nationals First Step for US Gymnasts

Switching briefly to trampoline there is this piece focusing on Canadian Karen Cockburn, one of the three named to the Olympic squad.

From the L.A. Times is an article on Shawn Johnson , although it also mentions that Marta is focussing on Uneven Bars to help boost the team. And has the following information - say it isn't so - Ashley Priess.

Quick hits

Ashley Priess, 18, who was on the 2006 silver medal-winning U.S. team and
whose strong work on the uneven bars made her a candidate for the Olympic team,
pulled out of nationals, and a U.S. gymnastics spokesperson said Priess was
retiring from elite competition to concentrate on getting a college scholarship.
. . . Chelsea Davis, 15, who is coached by former world champion Kim
Zmeskal-Burdette, is recovering from a knee injury and won't arrive in Boston
until today. Karolyi said her participation in nationals was "doubtful" but that
Davis probably would get invited to the Olympic trials. . . . Bridget Sloan, an
alternate on last year's world championship team, is also recovering from a knee
injury and may participate in only two of four events on the first day. Karolyi
said Sloan would also move on to the trials.

From the Los Angeles Times is a story looking at Mattie Larson. Whilst there are also pieces that I have seen on Chellsie Memmel and Alicia Sacramone.
USA Today has a Johnson vs Liukin article which you can read here. It's a good piece and my favourite part is this quote from Alicia Sacramone "Johnson is full of spunk and power, and Liukin's routines are a work of art."

Flipping Over Tuition - I am a newly interested T&T fan, I don't understand it as yet but I'm sure I'll work it out. Anyways this is a little piece on Amy McDonald who was 4th in power tumbling at this year's VISA Champs and the scholarship she was rewarded.

Back from Injury, Liukin Looking for Gold: A short piece focusing on the injury Nastia has been struggling with, the age debut and her recent performances putting her "back into the center of gold medal conversations - alongside Johnson".

Mesa gymnast looks ahead to 2012 Olympics: Melissa Metcalf (one to watch apparently) has a smoother road set out for her than Carly Janiga. I wish her well at the VISA Champs and I will be watching her closely.

hofmag.com has come up with a list of "The 15 Best Student-Athletes You've (Probably) Never Heard Of", which as you can see here includes one Miss Katie Heenan.

USA today also has an article on Hamm's Optimism towards Beijing which you can find at this site. I think it's really sweet for the Hamm boys to support the Red Ball Child Play program. And the fact that Paul's doing some backflips and working on maintaining a high level of fitness is fantastic and a good sign.

USA Today is gym-crazy, with an article on Shawn Johnson titled Johnson turns attention from school to scores. It talks about the incredible depth to Team USA, the fact that she took all four exams last Friday to make the end of her sophomore year at highschool and looks at the Shawn vs. Nastia debate. And talked a little about prom where she went with a group of 42 friends! Incredible much? Oh and it says:
Ropes and Mats: Sloan will only do uneven bars and balance as she continues to recover from a knee injury. ... Chelsea Davis is injured and isn't expected to compete. ... The 1988 U.S. women's team that was fourth at the Seoul Olympics will be recognized Saturday.
Does this say something about Bridget's chances - I would love to see her on the team - well actually I have a lot of favourite US seniors so lets just cross our fingers for all of them.

Sophomore gymnast Lauren Gildemeyer has won the Rochester Area College Athletics Women's At-Large Athlete of the Year. Apparently she was "the unanimous choice for the award after winning the National Championship in the floor exercise at the National Collegiate Gymnastics Association (NCGA) National Championship competition". Kudos to her and check it out here.

News from SUKMA: Jonathan Chien has had a good competition, this article is about the fact that it is the first time that they have had to award 2 golds for Men's floor exercise. And 15 year old WAG competitor See Ting swept the competition claiming 5 gold medals (vault, beam, joint on floor, AA, team) which you can read about here.