1999 Hall of Fame Inductee

GARY BUCKMAN &endash; San Ramon, CA
Gymnastics &endash; 1971, 1972, 1975

Gary came to Chico State in the fall of 1970 from Concord, where he graduated from College Park High School. He was an excellent addition to Coach Ray Bright's Wildcat Gymnastic Teams of 1971, 1972 and 1975. All three years he was All-Conference in All-Around and was CSU, Chico Sports MVP in 1975 and 11th in the NCAA Championships in 1975. This was amazing, as he had suffered a broken neck in February 1972. He has been, even to this day, a tremendous athlete and coach.

His coaching career has included USA Elite Coach 1976-84, USA Head National Gymnastics Junior Coach 1981-1982, USA Senior National Coach 1982-84, USA Coach for USA teams competing in South Africa 1980, Japan 1981, Canada 1981, New Zealand 1981, and Japan 1983.

He was coach of the 1977 National Championship Class I Team and Coach of Merelyn Chapman, the 1977 Jr. Elite All-Around National Champion. In 1981 he was coach of Karen McMullin, the National All-Around Class I Champion.

He was the owner of Diablo Gymnastics in San Ramon from 1980 to 1995. He is now a private gymnastic consultant and can be contacted via e-mail: gbuck@pacbell.net.