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Sarah Finnegan

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In this Philippine name, the middle name or maternal family name is Cruz and the surname or paternal family name is Finnegan.
Sarah Finnegan
Full nameSarah Cruz Finnegan
Country represented United States
Born (1996-11-14) November 14, 1996 (age 27)
HometownSt. Louis, Missouri, United States
ResidenceKansas City, Missouri, United States
DisciplineWomen's artistic gymnastics
LevelSenior International Elite
ClubGreat American Gymnastics Express
College teamLSU Lady Tigers
(2016–19)
Head coach(es)Al Fong and Armine Barutyan Fong
RetiredMay 30, 2019
Medal record
Representing the  United States
Pan American Championships
Gold medal – first place 2010 Guadalajara Team
Bronze medal – third place 2010 Guadalajara Balance Beam
Representing Louisiana State Tigers
NCAA Championships
Gold medal – first place 2017 St. Louis Uneven Bars
Gold medal – first place 2019 Fort Worth Uneven Bars
Silver medal – second place 2019 Fort Worth Team
Silver medal – second place 2019 Fort Worth Balance Beam
Silver medal – second place 2016 Fort Worth Team
Silver medal – second place 2017 St. Louis Team
Bronze medal – third place 2017 St. Louis Floor Exercise

Sarah Cruz Finnegan[fn 1] (born November 14, 1996) is a Filipino-American artistic gymnast and was an alternate for the 2012 Summer Olympics Gymnastics team.[2] She competed for the Louisiana State Lady Tigers at the collegiate level, and was the 2017 and 2019 NCAA champion on uneven bars.[3] She is the older sister of Aleah Finnegan.

Personal life

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Finnegan was born on November 14, 1996, to Don and Linabelle Finnegan. She has three sisters, Hannah, Jennah, and Aleah, who are all also gymnasts. Finnegan was home schooled in order to train as an elite gymnast.[2] Finnegan began gymnastics in 1999.[4] Her father died in August 2019.[5]

In 2008, she and her family moved from St. Louis to Kansas City, Missouri so that she could train at GAGE. She said, "When I was at my old gym, I went to Regionals in 2008 and I saw GAGE there and I was like, 'Wow they're really good - I want to be like that,' so I talked with my parents and I've been there ever since." When asked how her gymnastics has changed she said, "It has improved a lot. I've gotten a lot stronger and my skills have improved. They focus on a bunch of technique and the little details have really helped me a lot. I really like trying new stuff. Especially tumbling passes and on beam. Just go up there and flip and twist and see what you come up with."[6]

Junior career

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2010

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In August, Finnegan competed at the Visa Championships in Hartford, Connecticut. She placed sixth in the all around with a two-day combined score of 111.350. In event finals, she placed fourth on balance beam scoring 28.400 and first on floor scoring 29.200.

In September, Finnegan competed at the Pan American Championships in Guadalajara, Mexico. She contributed a balance beam score of 14.400 towards the American team's first-place finish and placed third in the balance beam event final with a score of 14.150.

2011

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In July, Finnegan competed at the Covergirl Classic in Chicago, Illinois. She placed fourth in the all around with a score of 56.650. In event finals, she placed third on uneven bars scoring 14.200, seventh on balance beam scoring 14.200, and first on floor scoring 14.500.

In August, Finnegan competed at the Visa Championships in Saint Paul, Minnesota. She placed third in the all around with a two-day combined score of 115.300. In event finals, she placed fifth on uneven bars scoring 27.800, third on balance beam scoring 29.050, and third on floor scoring 29.100.

Senior career

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Elite career: 2012

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In March, Finnegan competed at the City of Jesolo Trophy in Jesolo, Italy. She placed third in the all around with a score of 58.650. Finnegan said, "It was very cool that it was Italy. It was my second time there, but my first year I didn't get to compete because I injured my back. Competing this time was really cool because I got to see how everything works and see where I am in the competition. I learned a lot."[6]

In May, Finnegan competed at the Secret U.S. Classic in Chicago, Illinois. She placed third on balance beam with a score of 14.900 and second on floor with a score of 15.200.

In June, Finnegan competed at the Visa Championships in St. Louis, Missouri. She placed sixth in the all around with a two-day combined score of 117.600. In events, she finish second on balance beam scoring 30.400 and fourth on floor scoring 29.950. She said, "It wasn't my best performance, but I have to learn from it and work hard and make it better for trials." Marta Karolyi said that Sarah is a "world-class gymnast, has the international look. She still has to get a tiny bit sturdier. Yesterday or the day before, the beam routine was solid and beautiful. Today it was a little bit shaky. She needs to work on just presenting very consistently what she can do."[7]

At the beginning of July, Finnegan competed at the Olympic Trials in San Jose, California. She placed sixth in the all around with a two-day combined score of 118.500. In events, she placed sixth on uneven bars scoring 29.150, fifth on balance beam scoring 29.900, and sixth on floor scoring 29.550. She was named as one of the three replacement gymnasts for the 2012 Summer Olympics team known as the Fierce Five.[8]

Club career: 2013-2015

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Finnegan missed the 2013 club season due to an injury, but competed for St. Louis Gymnastics Centre in 2014.[9]

Sarah and her sisters, who are involved in competitive gymnastics, moved back to St. Louis Gymnastics Centre in Webster Groves, Mo., a gym they used to train at until 2008.[10] Finnegan competed in a few Level 10 invitationals during the J.O. season.

College career

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Finnegan started college at Louisiana State University in the fall of 2015 and started competing with the LSU Lady Tigers gymnastics team in 2016.[11] She was a kinesiology major.[9]

2016

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At the 2016 SEC Championships, Finnegan helped the Lady Tigers win team silver. She finished the 2016 season ranked fourth nationally on beam and eleventh on bars.[9]

2017

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At the 2017 NCAA Championships, she won individual gold on the uneven bars and bronze on floor,[4] becoming the first NCAA bars champion from LSU.[9] Finnegan also contributed to the Lady Tigers' team silver.[2]

2018

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At the 2018 NCAA Championships, the Lady Tigers placed fourth and Finnegan individually placed seventh on balance beam and eighth in all-around.[4]

2019

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At the 2019 SEC Championships Finnegan helped LSU win the team competition. Individually she placed first in the individual all-around, on uneven bars, on balance beam, and on floor exercise and placed third on vault.[12] In April it was announced that Finnegan had won the AAI Award for 2019 for being the top senior gymnast.[13] At the 2019 NCAA Championships Finnegan won gold on the uneven bars. In the all-around she finished fourth behind Maggie Nichols of Oklahoma, Kyla Ross of UCLA, and Lexy Ramler of Minnesota and on balance beam she finished second behind Natalie Wojcik of Michigan.[14] The following day she helped LSU place second behind Oklahoma for the team title.[15]

Career perfect 10.0

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Season Date Event Meet
2018 March 4, 2018 Floor Exercise LSU vs Auburn
March 17, 2018 Balance Beam LSU vs Arizona
Uneven Bars
2019 March 1, 2019 Balance Beam LSU vs Georgia
March 15, 2019 Uneven Bars LSU @ Arizona
March 23, 2019 Floor Exercise SEC Championships

Competitive history

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Year Event Team AA VT UB BB FX
Junior
2010 U.S. National Championships 6 4 1st place, gold medalist(s)
Pan American Championships 1st place, gold medalist(s) 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
2011 U.S. Classic 4 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 7 1st place, gold medalist(s)
U.S. National Championships 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 5 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Senior
2012 City of Jesolo Trophy 1st place, gold medalist(s) 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 6 7 4 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
U.S. Classic 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
U.S. National Championships 6 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 4
U.S. Olympic Trials 6 6 5 6
NCAA
2016 SEC Championships 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 11 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
NCAA Championships 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 4
2017 SEC Championships 1st place, gold medalist(s) 4 11 5 7
NCAA Championships 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 4 1st place, gold medalist(s) 8 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
2018 SEC Championships 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 13 7 4 8
NCAA Championships 4 8 7
2019 SEC Championships 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s) 1st place, gold medalist(s)
NCAA Championships 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 4 12 1st place, gold medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s)

Controversy

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Finnegan caused a controversy in 2019 when she announced that she is selling her National team leotards to raise funds for a non-profit organisation called "ABBA Helps". Finnegan has claimed that the objective is to fight human trafficking, but it has soon come to public attention that the organisation, whose abbreviation stands for “Aborted Babies Born Alive”, is a non-profit run by her parents and its main focus is to fight women's right to abortion. The organisation has also perpetuated the right-wing myth of Planned Parenthood harvesting and reselling organs of aborted fetuses for profit.[16]

Notes

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  1. ^ Although born in the United States, Sarah Finnegan still possesses her mother's maiden name (Cruz) as is the convention in the Philippines as indicated on public records.[1]

References

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  1. ^ Missouri, Voter Registrations
  2. ^ a b c ":: USA Gymnastics :: Sarah Finnegan ::". Usagym.org. Retrieved 2012-07-04.
  3. ^ "LSU gymnastics posts second-best score ever in NCAA championship final but finishes second to Oklahoma again | NCAA.com". www.ncaa.com. Retrieved 2019-05-20.
  4. ^ a b c "USA Gymnastics | Sarah Finnegan". usagym.org. Retrieved 2019-05-20.
  5. ^ @LSUgym (26 August 2019). "Tiger fans, our thoughts and prayers are with the Finnegan family after the passing of Don Finnegan this weekend. W…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  6. ^ a b "Getting to know Sarah Finnegan - Gymnastics News". NBC Olympics. Archived from the original on 2016-12-31. Retrieved 2012-07-04.
  7. ^ "Karolyi talks up St. Louisan Sarah Finnegan". Stltoday.com. 2012-06-11. Retrieved 2012-07-04.
  8. ^ "International Gymnast Magazine Online - Douglas Wins U.S. Olympic Trials". Intlgymnast.com. Retrieved 2012-07-04.
  9. ^ a b c d "Sarah Finnegan". LSU Gymnastics. Retrieved 2019-05-20.
  10. ^ "GymDivas.Us | Online Resource for Gymnasts in the United States". Archived from the original on 2014-10-13. Retrieved 2015-02-25.
  11. ^ "From cartwheels in the basement to nearly quitting, freshman Sarah Finnegan etches her name in gymnastics history". The Daily Reveille. January 20, 2016.
  12. ^ "LSU wins SEC Champ, Finnegan wins all-around". Southeastern Conference. March 24, 2019.
  13. ^ "LSU's Sarah Finnegan Wins AAI Award as Nation's Top Senior Gymnast". USA Gymnastics. April 18, 2019.
  14. ^ "Nichols wins NCAA all-around title". USA Gymnastics. April 19, 2019.
  15. ^ "Oklahoma wins women's NCAA team title". USA Gymnastics. April 20, 2019.
  16. ^ "Sarah Finnegan asked fans to donate to an anti-abortion organization". Gymnovosti. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
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