Newton C. Loken (February 27, 1919 – June 28, 2011) was an

artistic gymnast Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different apparatuses. The sport is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), which designs the Code of Points and regulates ...

and coach of

gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, shou ...

trampolining Trampolining or trampoline gymnastics is a competitive Olympic sport in which athletes perform acrobatics while bouncing on a trampoline. In competition, these can include simple jumps in the straight, pike, tuck, or straddle position to more com ...

and

cheerleading Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants (called cheerleaders) cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense physical activity. It can be performed to motivate sports teams, to ente ...

. While a member of the Minnesota Golden Gophers men's gymnastics team, Loken was

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

all-around gymnastics champion in 1942 and the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

all-around champion in 1941 and 1942. He was the coach of the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

gymnastics team for 36 years from 1948-1983. Loken's gymnasts won the

NCAA championships The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

in 1963 and 1970, as well as 12 Big Ten championships. His record as Michigan's gymnastics coach was 250-72-1. Loken also coached the Michigan trampolining team to NCAA championships in 1969 and 1970.

University of Minnesota

Born in

Breckenridge, Minnesota Breckenridge is a city and county seat of Wilkin County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 3,430 at the 2020 census. Breckenridge's twin city is Wahpeton, North Dakota. It is part of the Wahpeton, ND—MN Micropolitan Statistical ...

, of Norwegian descent, Loken attended West High School in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

where he became Minnesota's all-around gymnastics champion in the late 1930s. After high school, he attended the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

. Loken was named captain of the Minnesota team coached by Ralph Piper in 1942 and was also named an All-American. He won Big Ten all-around championships in 1941 and 1942. He also won the

all-around championship in 1942. Loken later recalled that Coach Piper was so confident in Loken that he had a trophy engraved for Loken's all-around championship in 1942 two weeks before Loken actually won the competition. Loken also won the NCAA individual championship in the

horizontal bar The horizontal bar, also known as the high bar, is an apparatus used by male gymnasts in artistic gymnastics. It traditionally consists of a cylindrical metal (typically steel) bar that is rigidly held above and parallel to the floor by a syste ...

in 1941 and Big Ten championships in the

parallel bars Parallel bars are floor apparatus consisting of two wooden bars slightly over long and positioned at roughly head height. Parallel bars are used in artistic gymnastics and also for physical therapy and home exercise. Gymnasts may optionally we ...

(1941) and the flying rings (1942). Loken was also an All-American cheerleader and captain of the Minnesota cheerleading squad. ''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energ ...

'' magazine published an article featuring Loken on May 18, 1942, titled, "All-around Gym Champion: Newt Loken is a Combination Strong Man and Acrobat."

World War II

During World War II, Loken served in the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

. He taught physical conditioning to the Naval aviators in the pre-flight school in

Iowa City, Iowa Iowa City, offically the City of Iowa City is a city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States. It is the home of the University of Iowa and county seat of Johnson County, at the center of the Iowa City Metropolitan Statistical Area. At the time ...

, and co-authored the Navy's book ''Gymnastics and Tumbling''. He later served on the

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...

USS ''Prince William''. From 1943 to 1944, the ''Prince William'' operated between the west coast and such places as

New Caledonia ) , anthem = "" , image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of New Caledonia , map_caption = Location of New Caledonia , mapsize = 290px , subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...

Canton Island Canton Island (also known as Kanton or Abariringa), previously known as Mary Island, Mary Balcout's Island or Swallow Island, is the largest, northernmost, and , the sole inhabited island of the Phoenix Islands, in the Republic of Kiribati. It i ...

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

and

Espiritu Santo Espiritu Santo (, ; ) is the largest island in the nation of Vanuatu, with an area of and a population of around 40,000 according to the 2009 census. Geography The island belongs to the archipelago of the New Hebrides in the Pacific region o ...

. As an athletic welfare officer in the Navy, he conducted a conditioning program to keep the men on the ship in good physical shape; Loken used a

trampoline A trampoline is a device consisting of a piece of taut, strong fabric stretched between a steel frame using many coiled spring (device), springs. Not all trampolines have springs, as the Springfree Trampoline uses glass-reinforced plastic rods. ...

as part of the program.

University of Michigan

Loken came to the University of Michigan in 1944 as a master's degree student. On the side, he coached the cheerleading team. At the time of Loken's arrival, Michigan did not have a men's gymnastics program, which had been dropped several years earlier during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

. In 1946, Loken received his master's degree and sought to resurrect men's gymnastics as a varsity sport at Michigan. In 1947, the athletic board awarded varsity status to men's gymnastics. Loken, who had been leading a group of club gymnasts on the road performing at the halftime of basketball games, was named the coach of the new men's gymnastics team. Loken remained the coach of Michigan's men's gymnastics team for 36 years and compiled a record of 250-72-1. His teams won NCAA men's gymnastics championships in 1963 and 1970 and 12 Big Ten championships. Loken coached 71 Big Ten individual event winners and 21 NCAA individual event winners. Loken received a doctorate in education in 1955 and was a

kinesiology Kinesiology () is the scientific study of human body movement. Kinesiology addresses physiological, anatomical, biomechanical, pathological, neuropsychological principles and mechanisms of movement. Applications of kinesiology to human health ...

professor at Michigan until 1983. Loken also coached the cheerleading team at Michigan as well as the varsity sport of trampoline. From 1947 through 1964, trampoline was included as an event in gymnastics competitions by both the AAU and NCAA. The first trampoline world championships were held in 1964, and trampoline was first recognized as a sport in its own right in the United States in 1967. Loken led the Michigan trampoline team to NCAA championships in 1969 and 1970. Loken produced more trampoline champions and World Medal winners than any other collegiate coach. Loken was also the author of several books on gymnastics, tumbling, and cheerleading. Among other works, Loken wrote ''Cheerleading'', published by The Ronald Press in 1945, ''Gymnastics'', published by Sterling Publishing Co. in 1966, and the ''Complete Book of Gymnastics'', published by The Athletic Institute in 1963. Loken also led Michigan's efforts as host of the 1971 NCAA championship attended by a record 25,000 fans. The final day's events alone were attended by a record crowd of 16,781, and Loken was presented the American Association of Gymnastics Coaches' "Coach of the Year" award at the conclusion of the event. One of Loken's best trampoline athletes was Ron Munn. Munn described his experience with Loken: “His great personality and tremendous coaching talent helped him develop outstanding teams on a yearly basis; therefore I accepted his invitation to attend Michigan.. . . . His wonderful personality and spirit inspired everyone on the team, and certainly added to the success their success. He always had a very positive attitude and the ability to bring out the best performance in everyone.” As of 2007, the 88-year-old Loken was still a regular at Michigan's men's gymnastics practices and events. It was reported that he not missed a single Michigan home meet from 1948 to 2007. Rich Dopp, a Michigan gymnast from the 1990s, recalled that Loken was still on the field with the alumni cheerleaders at the Homecoming games as recently as 2001 or 2002. Dopp said, “It may sound a little dorky, but it just makes me want to go, 'Meechigan! Meechigan! Rah, rah!' " In 2007, assistant coach Scott Vetere said: “He knows everybody on the team, and if he forgets, he's 80-some years old, and he'll ask again. He's just a pure gymnastics guy - always wants to be around gymnastics, always wants to learn more, (always) wants to praise guys for what a wonderful job they're doing."

Honors and accolades

Loken has received numerous awards, honors and accolades for his lifetime of service to gymnastics and to the University of Michigan. These include: *In 1963 and again in 1971, Loken was named Collegiate Gymnastics Association National Coach of the Year. *In 1968, Loken was given the Richard Aronson Special Service Award. *In 1971, Loken was inducted into the U.S. Gymnastics Association Hall of Fame. *In 1975, Loken received the Collegiate Gymnastics Association Honor Coach Award. *Loken has served on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Collegiate Gymnastics Coaches and held titles as President, Vice President, and Secretary-Treasurer at various times. *Loken was inducted into the

University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor The University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor, founded in 1978, recognizes University of Michigan athletes, coaches, and administrators who have made significant contributions to the university's athletic programs.

in 1981 as part of the fourth induction class. *When he retired in 1983, Loken was honored by the

Michigan Marching Band The Michigan Marching Band (also known as the University of Michigan Marching Band or simply MMB) is the official marching band of the University of Michigan. The band performs at all Michigan Wolverines football home games, select away games, and ...

before 100,000 football fans at

Michigan Stadium Michigan Stadium, nicknamed "The Big House," is the football stadium for the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It is the largest stadium in the United States and the Western Hemisphere, the third largest stadium in the world, and the ...

spelled "NEWT" on the field. *He has been inducted into the University of Minnesota Athletic Sports Hall of Fame. *In 2003, the men's gymnastics training site at the University of Michigan was renamed the Newt Loken Gymnastics Training Center. The building, formerly known as the Weinberg Coliseum, was built in 1913 and was originally an ice rink. *The award for best performance of the night on either team, presented at each men's gymnastics home meet, is named after Loken. *Because of World War II, no Olympic games were held between 1936 and 1948. Loken was part of the generation of athletes that lost the opportunity to compete in the Olympic as a result of the war. In 2002, National Collegiate Gymnastics Alumni Association magazine asked a group of Olympians and Hall of Famers to name an honorary U.S.

1944 Summer Olympics The 1944 Summer Olympics, which were to be officially known as the Games of the XIII Olympiad, were cancelled because of World War II. They would have been held in London, England, United Kingdom, which won the bid on the first ballot in a June ...

Team, and Loken made the honorary team – 58 years after the fact. Loken and his wife, Dorothy, had four children, daughters Christine and Lani, and sons Jon and Newt.

Notes

External links