Southern Utah University Women's Gymnastics

Bauman has overseen the ascent of the squad from a relatively unknown entity to one which has ingrained a reputation as one of the nation's established and respected programs.  The ascent has culminated in four consecutive NCAA Regional appearances, a three-time All-American in Elise Wheeler and the 2010 Western Athletic Conference Championship trophy. Southern Utah would have had even more success at regional meets had the newest rules adopted in 2008 been in play during Bauman's time as head coach.  The Thunderbirds would have appeared in the NCAA post season in 17 of 20 years, finishing in the top 36 of the nation in each of those campaigns. Baumans work with the SUU squad has been a constant process. During his first year at SUU, his gymnasts set school records for practically every individual and team score. That 1992 season set a precedent for those which would follow, as the Thunderbird gymnasts have virtually rewritten the record books in each subsequent year. The only exception was in 1994, when Bauman saw the departure of seven seniors that were at Southern Utah when he joined the program. Under Baumans guidance the team has jumped its all-around average from 182.16 in 1991 (the year before he came) to a school-record 195.181 in 2010. The teams assault on the record books has been relentless. A quick glance at the SUU book shows that every individual record has been equaled or set within the last six seasons and every team mark has been established in the last eight. Correspondingly, school RQS marks have been shattered in the Bauman years, going from a 184.123 in 1991 to an SUU record 195.900 in 2004. Although 2000 was the first time the entire team qualified for the post-season, at least three SUU gymnasts have qualified for at-large berths in all but one of Baumans seasons at Southern Utah, including four in 1995, 1999, 2003 and 2007 while five qualified in 2001. In 1998 the Thunderbirds used just two all-arounders; both advanced for the regional meet. Bauman has earned several coaching honors throughout the years, including the 1993 Midwest Region Coach of the Year, 2010 WAC Coach of the Year and the North Central Region Coach of the Year in 2003 and 2010. A 1990 graduate of Utah State University, Bauman is in his first head-coaching capacity. He cut his coaching teeth under the tutelage of former USU head coach Ray Corn where he helped develop the Aggies into a national power. Bauman spent seven years as both an undergraduate and graduate assistant in Logan. Bauman was initially involved in aerial ski jumping for nine years, creating an interest in gymnastics.  He originally became involved with the sport while in high school in his hometown of Price, Utah, where he served as a part-time coach at Price Gymnastics.  After enrolling at Utah State, Bauman went to work with the USU program, helped out at Logans Ten-O Gymnastics, and eventually moved on to take the head job at SUU. Bauman has also worked at the Lake Owen Gymnastics Camp the past 14 summers and is the founder and administrator of the Southern Utah Gymnastics Academy. Bauman is married to the former Stephanie Green. They have two daughters, Shay and Shaun.

Richards has over 25 years of collegiate coaching experience across Divisions I, II and III. In one season at George Washington, Richards helped the Colonials set school records on the vault and uneven bars, while helping the program to a record five first team All- East Atlantic Gymnastics League performers in 2014. He helped Chelsea Raineri to an EAGL co-championship on the vault - the first conference champion for George Washington since 2002 - and earn the EAGL Rookie of the Year award. Richards spent five seasons at the helm of the Aggies program and was named the 2011 NCAA Division I National Association of Collegiate Gymnastics Coaches North Central Region Co-Head Coach of the Year. His stay in Logan, Utah spanned from 2009-2013 and included 19 student-athletes advancing to the NCAA Regionals. His Aggies sent five individual qualifiers to the NCAA Regional during the 2009 and 2011 seasons, while the 2010, 2012 and 2013 teams each advanced three student-athletes to regional competition. Nine of Richards' pupils garnered All-Western Athletics Conference honors on 13 occasions. In the classroom, Richards had 22 student-athletes earn Academic All-WAC on 36 occasions. Prior to USU, Richards spent the 2005-08 seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Iowa, where he was named the 2008 North Central Region Assistant Co-Coach of the Year with fellow Iowa assistant, Talya Vexler. He served as Iowa's main uneven bars coach and also oversaw travel, equipment and scheduling for the Hawkeyes. Richards began his coaching career as a student-assistant at Utah State from 1988-90, before transferring to Southern Utah, where he finished his student-assistant coaching duties and earned his bachelor's degree in physical education from SUU in 1995. While at Utah State, Richards helped the Aggies to two appearances in the NCAA Regional Championships in both 1989 and 1990, and coached Tana Davis in the all-around to the NCAA National Championships both seasons. Richards also helped coach all-High Country Athletic Conference honoree Stephanie Green in 1990. From 1998-04, Richards was head coach at the University of Wisconsin-Stout and was head coach at Winona State University from 2004-05 before joining Iowa in 2005. While at Wisconsin-Stout, Richards earned the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Coach of the Year Award for both the 2000 and 2001 seasons, and the National Collegiate Gymnastics Association Coach of the Year honors for the 2000 season. He coached seven NCGA All-Americans and eight all-conference award winners, leading the Blue Devils to the 2001 NCGA National Championships. At Winona State, Richards mentored two gymnasts who qualified for the NCGA National Championships. Richards began his official career here at SUU with head coach Scott Bauman from 1996-98 after receiving his bachelors degree from SUU. Richards was born and raised in Logan, Utah and has two daughters, Kanyon and Kennedy.