The NCAA Men's and Women's Gymnastics Committees conducted their annual meetings recently -- the men's committee June 16-18 in Indianapolis and the women's committee June 14-18 in Key West, Florida.

Among decisions the men's committee made was to recommend retaining the new rotation format used at this year's championships. The format featured seven groups of student-athletes who rotated through the six events, with each group having a bye during one of the rotations. The committee decided to keep this format in place and evaluate it after the 2005 championships, set for April 7-9 in West Point, New York.

The men's committee also increased from three to four the number of student-athletes from any school who may compete in individual finals. This change will go into effect for the 2005 championships.

The group also discussed changes to the way judges are recommended for the championships. The committee will ask coaches to recommend five judges from their own region and five judges from the other three remaining National Gymnastics Judges Association regions. Previously, coaches were asked to recommend 10 judges from their own region.

Also, the men's committee adjusted the calculation of rankings used in the NCAA poll. To provide for more accurate rankings, polls in the first part of the season will be based on the average of all scores, and for the second part of the season they will be based on the average of the three highest scores. Rankings for the first part of the season run from January 18 through February 15, and for the second part of the season they run from February 22 through March 22. The final rankings will be posted March 29.

Women's committee actions

The women's committee is considering the use of a podium, such as those used in Olympic and international competition, for future women's gymnastics championships.

A podium was used at the 2004 championships at the University of California, Los Angeles, because UCLA was able to take advantage of a podium already being in Anaheim for the world championships this past summer. Also, the Olympic Trials were held last month in Anaheim.

Committee members said that the podium was a positive addition to the championships, and student-athletes claimed it reduced the physical wear and tear on their bodies, especially when having to compete three days in a row.

The podium also allows the audience to more easily focus on the student-athletes who are competing.

The committee said the podium may be used at championship finals only. However, schools that wish to host a championship will not be excluded from that opportunity because their facility is not large enough to support a podium.