K.J. Kindler

Last updated
K.J. Kindler
Current position
Title Head coach
Team Oklahoma
Conference SEC
Biographical details
Born (1970-06-26) June 26, 1970 (age 53)
Lake Elmo, Minnesota
Alma mater Iowa State (1988-92)
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1992–2001 Iowa State (asst.)
2001–2006Iowa State
2006–present Oklahoma
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
13x Big 12 Champions (2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023)

13x NCAA Regional Championships (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023)

6x National Champions (

Contents

2014, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2022, 2023)
Awards
3x National Head Coach of the Year (2005, 2010, 2015)
8x Big 12 Coach of the Year (2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021)

K.J. Kindler (born June 26, 1970) is an American college gymnastics coach and the current head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners women's gymnastics team, a role she has held since 2006. [1]

Coaching career

1992–2006: Iowa State

Following her graduation from Iowa State University in 1992, Kindler became the Iowa State Cyclones assistant coach. She was an assistant coach for nine years until 2001 when she became head coach. She was the head coach of the Cyclones team until 2006, when she was offered the position at University of Oklahoma.

2006-present: Oklahoma

She has been the Oklahoma Sooners' Head Coach since 2006 and has transformed the program into one of the nation's elite with the program being ranked either first or second every year in the Pre-Season Poll.

Personal life

Kindler is married to Lou Ball, the assistant coach of the Oklahoma Sooners gymnastics program. [2] The couple have two daughters, Maggie and Adelade.

Kindler grew up in Minnesota but moved to Connecticut during high school for her junior (1987) and senior(1988) seasons. She graduated from Wilton High School in 1988 and was a former gymnast at Arena Gymnastics in Stamford. [3]

Competitive gymnastics career

As a high school gymnast at Wilton, she won several Connecticut (CIAC) state division M and state open titles during her junior and senior years. Arguably, her best event was Floor Exercise where she was a two time Class M champion in '87 and '88. She also won the State Open title on Floor exercise in '87 and was runner up in '88. At the time, the CIAC did not hold a team event at State Open. If one was held, Wilton would have been in the hunt to claim the team title in both years that Kindler was on the team.

In 1987, she helped the Wilton Warriors win the Class M team title and nearly swept the gold medal on every event, placing first in the All Around, Uneven Bars, Balance Beam, and Floor Exercise. She placed 5th on Vault. At the Connecticut State Open championship, she won Floor Exercise. [4]

In 1988, Kindler and the Wilton Warriors repeated as the Class M team champion. Individually, Kindler repeated as Floor Exercise Class M champion. She placed 4th in both the All Around and Balance Beam, 3rd on both Vault and Uneven Bars. At the Connecticut State Open Championships, Kindler was 2nd in the All Around with a 36.800 (VT 8.850, UB 9.150, BB 9.300, FX 9.500). These individual event scores placed her 6th on Vault, 3rd on Uneven Bars, 2nd on Floor Exercise, and 1st on Balance Beam, her 2nd state open title overall. [5]

Kindler's high school and club results earned her an athletic scholarship to Iowa State University and the Iowa State Cyclones women's gymnastics team from 1989 to 1992 seasons. Upon graduating from Iowa State in 1992, she joined the gymnastics team as assistant coach. [6]

Related Research Articles

Tatiana Gutsu, rarely Tetiana Hutsu, is a Ukrainian former artistic gymnast from the Soviet Union and the winner of the all-around title in the 1992 Summer Olympics. She was renowned for performing some of the most difficult routines in the sport. She was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniela Silivaș</span> Romanian artistic gymnast (born 1972)

Daniela Viorica Silivaș-Harper, is a Romanian former artistic gymnast best known for medaling in every single event at one Olympics, winning six medals at the 1988 Summer Games in Seoul. In doing so, she was the fourth female gymnast to achieve this, after Maria Gorokhovskaya (1952), Larisa Latynina and Věra Čáslavská (1968). As of 2024, Silivaș is the last gymnast, male or female, to have accomplished this feat.

Kristen Ann Maloney is a retired gymnast from Pen Argyl, Pennsylvania, in the United States. She won bronze in the team event at the 2000 Olympic Games. Maloney was also the U.S. senior all-around national champion in 1998 and 1999 and the 1998 Goodwill Games gold medalist on the balance beam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cristina Bontaș</span> Romanian artistic gymnast

Cristina Bontaş is a Romanian former artistic gymnast, who competed in international events between 1987 and 1993. Her best events were the floor exercise, the vault, and the all around. She is a world champion on floor, a double olympic medalist and a six-time world medalist. Bontaş scored a perfect ten on floor in the all around event of the 1989 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kyla Ross</span> American artistic gymnast

Kyla Briana Ross is a retired American artistic gymnast and current assistant coach for the Arkansas Razorbacks gymnastics team. She is the first female gymnast to win NCAA, World, and Olympic championship titles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anna Dementyeva</span> Russian artistic gymnast

Anna Yurievna Dementyeva is a retired Russian artistic gymnast. She is the 2011 European all-around and beam champion, and a world gold medalist with the team.

Ashley Miles Greig is a retired American artistic gymnast and current head coach of the Iowa State University Women's Gymnastics team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gabby Douglas</span> 2012 Olympic gymnastics all-around champion

Gabrielle Christina Victoria Douglas is an American artistic gymnast. She is the 2012 Olympic all-around champion and the 2015 World all-around silver medalist. She was a member of the gold-winning teams at both the 2012 and the 2016 Summer Olympics, dubbed the "Fierce Five" and the "Final Five" by the media, respectively. She was also a member of the gold-winning American teams at the 2011 and the 2015 World Championships.

Carol Michelle "Chelle" Stack is a former gymnast. She competed for the United States national team at the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics. She is currently active as a brevet rated judge at US national gymnastics competitions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Valeria Maksyuta</span> Israeli artistic gymnast

Valeria Vladimirovna Maksyuta is a former artistic gymnast who represented Ukraine for several years before immigrating to Israel in 2007.

Brenna Dowell is a former American artistic gymnast. She was a member of the gold medal-winning U.S. team at the 2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. A prevalent gymnast on the National scene throughout the 2010s, Dowell has combined elite and collegiate gymnastics; she deferred her sophomore season with the Oklahoma Sooners in order to make a bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rebeca Andrade</span> Brazilian artistic gymnast

Rebeca Rodrigues de Andrade is a Brazilian artistic gymnast. She is the 2020 Olympic, 2021 and 2023 World champion on the vault and 2022 World all-around champion. Andrade is the first Brazilian female gymnast to medal at an Olympic Games, and she is only the second Brazilian woman to win a gold medal at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. She is also the 2020 Olympic silver medalist, the 2023 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships silver medalist and the 2021 Pan American champion in the all-around, and won silver on the uneven bars at the 2021 World Championships, silver on the floor exercise at the 2023 World Championships, bronze on the balance beam at the 2023 World Championships and a bronze on the floor exercise at the 2022 World Championships. Andrade is one of only 11 female gymnasts to have medalled on every event in the history of World Championships, and one of only three gymnasts to have done so in the 21st century, alongside Simone Biles and Aliya Mustafina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maggie Nichols (gymnast)</span> American artistic gymnast

Margaret Mary Nichols is an American former collegiate artistic gymnast. She was the ninth NCAA gymnast to complete a Gym Slam, the first to do so for Oklahoma, and the first NCAA gymnast to have achieved it twice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ragan Smith</span> American artistic gymnast

Ragan Elizabeth Smith is an American collegiate gymnast currently competing for the University of Oklahoma. She is a five-time member of the US National Team (2014–2019). She is the 2017 United States national all-around champion and was an alternate for the 2016 Olympic team.

Trinity Lemyra Thomas is an American artistic gymnast and a four-time National Team member (2016–20). She was a member of the gold medal-winning team at the 2018 Pan American Gymnastics Championships, where she also won silver medals in the individual all-around and on the uneven bars, as well as the bronze medalist on balance beam and floor exercise at the 2017 national championships. She was a member of the Florida Gators women's gymnastics team. One of the most successful NCAA gymnasts in history, Thomas finished her collegiate career with a record-tying 28 perfect-10 scores and a record-breaking five Gym Slams.

Ariana Gabriela Orrego Martínez is a Peruvian former artistic gymnast. She represented Peru at the 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games. She was the first ever Peruvian gymnast to compete at the Olympic Games. She is a six-time gold medalist at the South American Championships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iowa State Cyclones women's gymnastics</span>

The Iowa State Cyclones women's gymnastics team represents Iowa State University (ISU) and competes in the Big 12 Conference of NCAA Division I. The team is currently coached by Ashley Miles Greig. The Cyclones host their home meets at Hilton Coliseum on Iowa State's campus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jade Carey</span> American artistic gymnast

Jade Ashtyn Carey is an American artistic gymnast who represented the United States at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Best known for her abilities on vault and floor exercise, she is the 2020 Olympic champion on floor exercise, a two-time World medalist, the 2018 Pan American Champion, and a four-time American national silver medalist. On vault she is the 2022 World champion, a two-time World silver medalist, the 2018 Pan American champion, and a two-time American national champion. She was a member of the teams that won gold at the 2019 World Championships, the 2022 World Championships, and the 2018 Pan American Championships. With a total of eight Olympic and World Championship medals, Carey is the sixth most decorated U.S. female gymnast of all time.

Maile O'Keefe is an American artistic gymnast. She was a member of the U.S. National Team and is the 2016 and 2017 U.S. Junior National Champion. She is the 2023 NCAA all-around champion as well as a 4x NCAA event champion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Faith Torrez</span> American artistic gymnast

Faith Torrez is an American artistic gymnast. She became a member of the United States national team in 2020 and made her international debut at 2020 Gymnix International, winning two golds and a bronze. She is currently a member of the University of Oklahoma women's gymnastics team.

References

  1. "K.J. Kindler - Oklahoma Sooners". Archived from the original on 2015-02-27. Retrieved 2015-02-26.
  2. "School-bio_lou_ball - Oklahoma Sooners". Archived from the original on 2015-02-27. Retrieved 2015-02-26.
  3. "Former WHS gymnasts Kindler, McKinney are at the top of their game". 15 January 2009.
  4. https://storage.googleapis.com/files-gcs.casciac.org/TournamentBracketsArchive/gym1987.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  5. https://storage.googleapis.com/files-gcs.casciac.org/TournamentBracketsArchive/gym1988.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  6. "K.J. Kindler - Head Coach - Women's Gymnastics Coaches".