2012 Bio/Record Book - Western Michigan University Athletics ...

2012 Western Michigan Gymnastics
Head Coach Dave Kuzara
DAVE KUZARA
HEAD COACH
THIRD SEASON
MICHIGAN, 1980
COACHING RECORD: 119-90 (12 SEASONS)
RECORD AT WMU: 19-22, 5-7 MAC (2 SEASONS)
Dave Kuzara is in his third season at the helm of the Western Michigan gymnastics program
after being introduced as the sixth head coach in school history on Sept. 30, 2009.
Western Michigan has made steady strides in each of Kuzara’s first two seasons.
2011:
The Broncos placed third in the Mid-American Conference last year in the regular season
and championship meet, after finishing last prior to Kuzara’s arrival, earning Kuzara Mid-
American Coach of the Year accolades. WMU recorded its first program win over in-state
rival Michigan State, defeating the Spartans twice, and totaled its second-highest score in
school history with a 194.975 at Kent State. The Broncos posted an overall record of 7-7
in 2011, going 4-2 in MAC duals.
The Broncos also recorded the program’s best ever score at the MAC Championships, with
a 194.150, and its third place finish was the highest since winning the title in 2006. WMU
had six top 10 finishes and was led by freshmen in three out of four events. Throughout
the season, WMU had two individuals recognized as MAC Gymnasts of the Week in Kristine
Garbarino and Caitlin Sullivan.
WMU sent three gymnasts to the NCAA Regional held by the University of Alabama and
just missed out qualifying as a team for the regional. The Brown & Gold finished 2011
ranked No. 37 in the nation, one off making the 36-team cut. Garbarino qualified as an allarounder
for the third straight year, becoming the first Bronco to earn the invite three times
in a career. Sophomore Caroline O’Brien and freshman Kelsey Turnquist made their first
regional trip, O’Brien competing on the uneven bars and Turnquist on the balance beam.
The Broncos got the job done in the classroom as well. The team was honored by the NCAA
for posting an Academic Progress Rate in the top 10 percent of their respective sport and
had the 12th highest team GPA in the nation with a 3.5190. Four Broncos earned Academic
All-MAC honors (Garbarino, O’Brien, Stacy Kramer, Sarah Wright) and 14 individuals collected
NACGC Scholastic All-America honors.
2010:
Western Michigan made vast improvements in Kuzara’s first season, as the Broncos concluded
2010 with six more victories than the previous year. WMU posted an 8-13 regular
season record, marking the most wins since 2006. The Broncos’ season-high score of
193.925 was the highest team total in three years and WMU’s 192.875 at the MAC Championships
was its best showing at the conference meet since winning the title in 2006. The
2010 team featured just two seniors and one true junior.
Garbarino continued to blossom under Kuzara, as she was named First Team All-MAC,
Academic All-MAC and earned MAC Gymnast of the Week honors in back-to-back weeks to
start off the season. Garbarino also earned a bid as an at-large all-arounder to the NCAA
Central Regional, where she placed 14th. At the MAC Championships, Garbarino tied for
first on the floor with a 9.850. It was just the 14th time in school history WMU produced a
conference champion and just the fourth time ever on floor.
Boasting a 3.6323 grade-point average, Western Michigan placed fourth in the National
Association of Collegiate Gymnastics Coaches/Women (NACGC/W) 2010 Academic Team
Rankings. In total, four Broncos recorded GPAs of 4.0 and 11 of the team’s 15 members
had GPAs of 3.5 or better, earning individual honors.
PRIOR TO WESTERN MICHIGAN
Success is nothing new to Kuzara, who had 10 years of head coaching experience prior
to his arrival in Kalamazoo. Kuzara built a 100-68 career record at the University of Massachusetts,
where he was the head coach from 1992 until UMass dropped the program,
in addition to five other sports, in 2002. Kuzara was named Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year
three different seasons (1996, 1997, 2002), and his UMass teams won back-to-back A10
titles (1996, 1997) and had five runner-up finishes during his tenure. He qualified individuals
to NCAA Nationals on four different occasions and his teams qualified to the NCAA
Regionals nine out of 10 years. Kuzara coached Jill Fisher to a third place finish on the floor
at the NCAA Championships, on her way to First Team All-America status. Academically,
UMass garnered 35 NACGC Academic All-America recognitions.
Kuzara arrived at Western Michigan after serving in an assistant role at the University
of Arkansas, where he helped the Razorbacks to a program-best fifth place finish at the
2009 NCAA Championships. In 2008, Arkansas placed 10th at the NCAA Championships.
Primarily in charge of coaching and developing floor exercise routines, the Razorback floor
team was ranked in the top five all season and as high as No. 1 in 2009. Kuzara worked
with three All-Americans on the floor during his time at Arkansas and was responsible for
recruiting activities in Region 5 (Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky).
Prior to his three seasons at Arkansas, he was an assistant at West Virginia from 2003-
2006, helping the Mountaineers to the 2004 EAGL team title and three NCAA Regional
appearances. Primarily an uneven bars coach at West Virginia, Kuzara’s bar workers only
counted one fall during the entire 2006 season.
In addition to his duties in the gym, Kuzara assisted student-athletes in the classroom
helping the Mountaineer gymnastics team improve its overall grade point average from a
2.6 to a 3.34. In addition, the program posted seven NACGC/W academic all-scholars in
2005 and had nine in 2006.
Kuzara also served as an assistant coach at Michigan from 1991-93, where he helped the
Wolverines to two Big Ten titles (1992, 1993) and its first-ever NCAA Championship appearance
in 1993. Kuzara was named 1992 NCAA Central Region Assistant Coach of the
Year. He helped oversee the development of Beth Wymer, who became U-M’s first national
champion on the uneven bars in the ‘93 season.
From 1980-1991, Kuzara worked as a private club gymnastics coach.
PERSONAL:
Kuzara obtained a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Michigan in
1980. He started his undergrad coursework at Western Michigan, where he attended for
THE KUZARA FILE
COACHING EXPERIENCE
2010-Present Western Michigan University Head Coach
2007-09 University of Arkansas Assistant Coach
2003-06 West Virginia University Assistant Coach
1993-2002 University of Massachusetts Head Coach
1991-93 University of Michigan Assistant Coach
1980-91 Private Club Coach
COACHING ACCOLADES
2011 Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year
2009 South Central Regional Assistant Coach of the Year
2002 Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year
1997 Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year
1996 Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year
1992 NCAA Central Regional Assistant Coach of the Year
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