© Max Morse
Philadelphia, Pa., December 23, 2008 – 2008 U.S. all-around champion David Sender of Arlington Heights, Ill., is one of 24 gymnasts selected to represent the United States at the 18th Maccabiah Games in Israel, July 13 – 23, 2009. The Maccabiah Games are a quadrennial Jewish Olympics that are held in Israel the year following the Olympic Games.
Sender, a member of the U.S. Men’s Senior National Team, won the all-around title at the 2008 Visa Championships. In his senior year at Stanford University, Sender became the program’s first nine-time All-American and won silver medals in the team, vault and still rings at the 2008 NCAA Men’s Championships. He is currently a volunteer coach for men’s gymnastics at Stanford. Sender was one of more than 120 athletes from around the country who competed in the Maccabi USA Team Trials and the Junior Gymnastics Invitational Meet in Norman, Okla.
The 24-person roster includes gymnasts from 13: California – five athletes; Florida, two athletes; Illinois, 2; Massachusetts, 2; Maryland , 3; Minnesota, 1; North Carolina, 1; new Jersey, 4; New York, 2; Oklahoma, 1; Texas, 2; Virginia, 2; and Washington, 1.
The four coaches are: Stuart Greenberg of Pembroke Pines, Fla., women; Noah Riskin of Cambridge, Mass., men; Sara Biederman of Columbia, Md., junior girls; and Genadi Shub of Fair Lawn, N.J., junior boys. Ben Fox of Norman, Okla., is the gymnastics chairman for the Maccabi USA 18th Maccabiah Organizing Committee.
The 18th World Maccabiah Games will be the world’s third largest international athletic competition, with more than 9,000 of the world’s best Jewish athletes from six continents and more than 60 countries. The Maccabiah Games are a quadrennial Jewish Olympics held in Israel the year following the Olympic Games and feature competition in open, Masters, junior and disabled divisions. The Games are organized by an International Maccabiah Committee and are sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee and World Federation of Sports.
Gymnasts who will compete in the 18th World Maccabiah Games
Listed in alphabetical order
Steffen Beck, Tampa, Fla., men’s gymnastics
Lindsay Bloom, River Vale, N.J., women’s gymnastics
Taylor Chep, Germantown, Md., girls’ gymnastics
Miranda Der, Milpitas, Calif., women’s gymnastics
Hannah Deutsch, Plano, Texas, women’s gymnastics
Joshua Fox, Ellicott City, Md., men’s gymnastics
David Frankl, Franklin Lakes, N.J., boys’ gymnastics
Simone Friedman, Annandale, Va., girls’ gymnastics
Ilana Gordon, San Carlos, Calif., girls’ gymnastics
Samuel Kusnitz, Greensboro, N.C., boys’ gymnastics
Joseph Lawrence, Woodinville, Wash., men’s gymnastics
Aaron Meland, Reston, Va., boys’ gymnastics
Lucy Meyer, St. Paul, Minn., women’s gymnastics
Elana Molotsky, Mount Laurel, N.J., girls’ gymnastics
Hannah Popper, Forest Hills, N.Y., girls’ gymnastics
Arla Rosenzweig, Los Altos, Calif., women’s gymnastics
Benjamin Rudolph, Naperville, Ill., men’s gymnastics
David Sender, Arlington Heights, Ill., men’s gymnastics
Jesse Silverstein, Suffern, N.Y., men’s gymnastics
Joshua Steves, Houston, Texas, boys’ gymnastics
Kayla Sukert, Newport Coast, Calif., girls’ gymnastics
Joshua Ungar, Longmeadow, Mass., boys’ gymnastics
Robin Weissman, Norman, Okla., women’s gymnastics
Brendan Williams, Thousand Oaks, Calif., boys’ gymnastics
Sarah Biederman, Columbia, Md., coach, junior girls
Stuart Greenberg, Pembroke Pines, Fla., coach, women
Noah Riskin, Cambridge, Mass., coach, men
Genadi Shub, Fair Lawn, N.J., coach, junior boys