Rhonda Faehn
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Rhonda Faehn (born April 28, 1971) is an American college gymnastics coach and former college and elite gymnast. Faehn is currently the head coach of the Division I Florida Gators gymnastics team that represents the University of Florida located in Gainesville, Florida.
Coaching career
After taking over the Florida program in 2003, Faehn has established herself among the top tier of gymnastics coaches in the United States. She has compiled a record of 118–28–2 as the head coach at the University of Florida.[1] Her teams have finished no lower than fourth in the SEC, widely regarded as the toughest gymnastics conference in the country. In 2003 and 2004, Florida placed second in their NCAA regional. From 2005 to 2008, the Gators won four consecutive NCAA regional tournaments. During her six seasons as the head coach of the Gators, Florida has finished in the top ten NCAA gymnastics teams in the nation every year, never finishing lower than seventh at the NCAA championship.
Prior to coaching at Florida, she coached at the University of Maryland from 1997 to 1998, and at the University of Nebraska from 1999 to 2002.[1] She is an alumna of UCLA.
During her elite career, Faehn was coached by Bela Karolyi at Karolyi's gym in Texas. Faehn finished 12th at the 1986 US National Championships, but had her greatest achievements in 1987, when she finished 6th at the National Championships, and won the National title on vault, scoring perfect 10s on her laid-out Yurchenko vaults in both the All-Around Competition and Vault Final. She competed at the 1987 World Championships as part of the American team, and had the highest placement for the American women in the All-Around Final, finishing 19th. In 1988, her last year as an elite senior, Faehn finished 6th at the US Nationals, and defended her national title on vault. She finished 7th at the Olympic Trials and was named the alternate to the US Olympic Team.
Honors
- 2003 NACGC Southeast Region Co-Coach of the Year
- 2005 NACGC Southeast Region Coach of the Year
- 2006 SEC Coach of the Year
- 2007 NACGC Southeast Region Coach of the Year
- 2007 SEC Coach of the Year
- 2007 NACGC Coach of the Year
See also
- Florida Gators gymnastics
- List of University of California, Los Angeles people
- University Athletic Association
References
- ^ a b Gatorzone.com, Gymnastics, Rhonda Faehn. Retrieved July 11, 2010.