The 2016 NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Championships will go down in history as one of the greatest competitions in collegiate gymnastics. All six teams were in top form, resulting in an exciting battle for the top spot. This year’s Super Six final was historic for another reason as well - it’s the first time that all six teams had female head coaches.

The power and precision of the gymnasts who competed at Super Six are testament to the great coaches who led them there. To celebrate these great women, we’re taking a look back at their amazing careers.

K.J. Kindler - Head Coach, Oklahoma

This year, K.J. Kindler led the Oklahoma Sooners to their second NCAA title win in three years. Kindler became head coach at Oklahoma in 2006 and has improved the program tremendously during her tenure. Her accomplishments with the Sooners are many, including four undefeated regular seasons, six top-3 finishes at Super Six, and the first NCAA Championship in program history, including a championship-record score of 198.175.

Prior to Oklahoma, Kindler was head coach at Iowa State for six seasons, where she coached nine regional event champions, seven NCAA individual championship qualifiers, and thirteen Big 12 champions. She started coaching at Iowa State as an assistant in 1992, after graduating from the school herself.

Kindler was an accomplished gymnast at Iowa State as well. She became the school’s first individual qualifier to NCAA Regionals and was also the runner-up in the all-around at the Big Eight Championships in her final year.

Check out our interview with Kindler at NCAAs training here as well as the Super Six press conference here.

D-D Breaux - Head Coach, LSU

Head Coach D-D Breaux lives and breathes all things LSU. She has led the team to much success over her 39 years of coaching, including five appearances in the Super Six, 32 consecutive NCAA Regional appearances, and 27 NCAA Championship appearances. She has been named SEC Coach of the Year seven times and National Coach of the Year in 2014.

Breaux was a successful gymnast herself before LSU came into her life. She was a J.O. Champion and was forced to retire from elite just before the 1972 Olympic Trials due to a knee injury. She competed for Southeastern Louisiana University for two seasons and contributed to their second place finish at the AIAW Championships in 1972. Breaux became an assistant coach for the university for three seasons, served as a judge and became director for Louisiana’s USA Gymnastics program, before transferring to LSU to earn her undergraduate and masters degrees.

Check out our interview with Breaux after Super Six Finals here, as well as the press conference here.
You can also watch our Workout Wednesday with DD and the Tigers before NCAAs this year here.

Dana Duckworth - Head Coach, Alabama

Dana Duckworth became Alabama’s head coach in 2014, replacing longtime coach Sarah Patterson. Duckworth made history in her first year, with her team winning the SEC Championship - the first time a team had done so in its head coach’s first year. Alabama also went on to finish first at Regionals that year and also qualified to Super Six Finals, where they finished 4th. Duckworth kept up the momentum in her second season as head coach, once again keeping the team at the top of the rankings all season, winning Regionals and finishing in 3rd place at Super Six.

Duckworth’s career at Alabama started early when she was a student. She won two consecutive NCAA beam titles, the second one in her final year scoring a 10.0, and contributed to the team’s 1991 title win. In addition to her undergraduate degree, Duckworth also got her MBA from Alabama before joining the corporate world. She left a career at Pfizer to join the Alabama gymnastics program as an assistant coach in 2008 - she had previously been volunteer coaching for eight years. As an assistant coach, she helped lead the team to championship wins in 2002, 2011 and 2012.

Check out our interview with Duckworth after Super Six finals here.

Jenny Rowland - Head Coach, Florida

Jenny Rowland has done an excellent job stepping into the head coach role at Florida this year, taking over for Rhonda Faehn. She successfully led the team to Super Six finals and also coached Bridget Sloan to an all-around championship title. Most recently, Rowland was the associate head coach at Auburn, where she helped lead the team to Super Six Finals for the first time in 22 years. She was also named co-National Assistant Coach of the Year during her final year at Auburn, only the 7th in team history.

Prior to her role as associate head coach at Auburn, Rowland joined the team in 2010 as an assistant coach. She came to Auburn from Oklahoma, where she was an assistant coach from 2001-2006. She coached elite before that at Bart Conner Gymnastics Academy.

Rowland’s collegiate career took place at Arizona State, where she was a star on the uneven bars, scoring the program’s first 10.0 and achieving All-American honors. Fun fact- Rowland is also a Category 3 International Brevet level judge, and she judged at the 2008 and 2012 US Olympic Trials.

Check out interviews with Rowland after Super Six here and here, as well as our interview with her right before NCAAs here.

Valorie Kondos Field - “Miss Val” - Head Coach, UCLA

Valorie Kondos Field is famous in collegiate gymnastics for her many accomplishments as head coach at UCLA. Miss Val’s coaching career began at UCLA in 1983, when she was hired to be an assistant coach and choreographer. She was appointed head coach in 1991 and has since coached the team to four NCAA titles. The team has also won 12 conference championships and 17 regional titles under her leadership, and she has been named National Coach of the Year four times. Kondos Field is known for being one of the best choreographers in the gymnastics community, having choreographed a total of 18 NCAA Championship routines on beam and floor.

Miss Val also opened up this year about her battle with breast cancer last year, talking about it in detail in a Bruin Banter interview with Danusia Francis. Her courage and positive attitude throughout the process has touched a lot of people - see the video here.

Interestingly, Miss Val never competed gymnastics herself and instead started as a professional ballet dancer, dancing with Sacramento Ballet, Capital City Ballet and Washington D.C. Ballet.

Check out our interview with Miss Val after Super Six finals here.

Danna Durante - Head Coach, Georgia

Head Coach Danna Durante has just completed her fourth season with the Georgia Gymdogs. In those four years, she has helped lead the team to a top-10 national finish every year. In 2013, her first season with the team, she helped lead them to the Super Six for the first time since 2009, with Georgia also receiving its highest ranking in four years. This year, Durante coached the team back to Super Six once again, putting up a remarkable performance.

Prior to Georgia, Durante was the head coach at California-Berkeley in 2012 and their assistant coach prior to that. She was named the 2007 Assistant Coach of the Year while at Nebraska and was promoted to associate coach that same year. Her first collegiate role was at Washington, where she served as an assistant coach for five years.

A former elite gymnast, Durante competed internationally and qualified to the 1988 Olympic Trials. She competed collegiately for Arizona State, where she scored five 10.0s.

Check out our interview with Durante after Super Six finals here, and the press conference here.


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