BYU hires alum Guard Young as gymnastics coach


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PROVO — When BYU gymnastics coaches Brad and Dawn Cattermole announced their retirement after 28 years with the program last month, the Cougars went about finding a new head coach with a strong gymnastics background as well as a love of BYU.

The school found it in one of its former gymnasts.

Former Oklahoma assistant men’s gymnastics coach Guard Young has been hired to fill the vacancy left by the Cattermoles, BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe announced Thursday. Young, who has four NCAA championships as an assistant coach, accepted his first head coaching job at his alma mater.

“BYU has a special place in my heart,” Young said in a statement. “I am excited to get to know the team and get to work. There is strong support for women’s gymnastics at BYU and I’m looking forward to building a program.”

Young graduated with a bachelor’s degree from BYU in broadcast journalism in 2001. A member of the BYU men’s gymnastics team from 1996-2000, Young was a six-time All-American and two-time NCAA national champion on vault. He also finished second in the all-around at the 2000 NCAA championships, and was inducted into the BYU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2010.

Young first arrived at Oklahoma as an assistant coach with the men's gymnastics program from 2000-2005, helping the Sooners to NCAA championships in 2002, 2003 and 2005 as well as runner-up finishes in 2001 and 2004. A native of Norman, Oklahoma, Young returned in 2011 following several years of youth coaching in northern California, and helped the Sooners win the 2015 NCAA title following three-straight second-place finishes.

“We are pleased to announce Guard as our new gymnastics coach,” Holmoe said in a statement. “He is passionate about gymnastics and comes with an amazing resume both as a coach and as a world-class gymnast. Guard has been successful everywhere he’s been.”

Young spent four years with the USA senior national gymnastics team from 2000-2004 and won a silver medal at the World Championships in 2001 and the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece.

Young’s father, Wayne Young, was also a BYU gymnast from 1970-75, and he later coached the Cougars’ men’s gymnastics squad from 1979-87. Young’s sister Jessica Young Wicherly was a BYU gymnast from 1995-98.

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