| Corrinne Tarver | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Alternativename(s) | Corrinne Wright | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 1968 (age 56–57) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 4 ft 9 in (145 cm)[a] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gymnastics career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years on national team | 1985–1986 (U.S.) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| College team | Georgia (1987–1990) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Formercoach(es) | Suzanne Yoculan (Georgia) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| Coaching career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Current position | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team | Fisk (2022–) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Corrinne Wright Tarver (born 1968) is an American gymnastics coach and formerartistic gymnast. In 1989, representing theGeorgia Bulldogs, she won theNCAA All-Around Gymnastics Championships, becoming the first African-American woman to do so. In 2022, she became the inaugural coach of theFisk University gymnastics team.
Corrinne Wright grew up inMount Vernon, New York.[3] She took up gymnastics in the footsteps of her older sister.[4] Early on she trained at a localYWCA without a dedicated space for gymnastics before beginning to commute to practice more intensively at a gymnastics facility inStamford, Connecticut.[3][4] In 1985 and 1986, she competed for theU.S. national artistic gymnastics team.[4] Recruited by theUniversity of Georgia Bulldogs coachSuzanne Yoculan, Wright decided to go to Georgia after her first visit to the campus, inAthens.[4]
Wright was the first African-American member of the Georgia Bulldogs gymnastics team.[4] A nine-timeAll-American in her four years with the GymDogs, she helped win NCAA Team Championships in1987 and1989 as an early standout for Yoculan's burgeoning dynasty.[4] Yoculan remembered Wright as a stellar and fierce competitor who could sometimes be loath to practice.[2][4] Wright later called herself "a ham ... I loved having all the eyes on me".[3] She would be inducted into the Georgia Bulldogs' Circle of Honor in 2005.[5]
In her first year, while helping Georgia to win its first team NCAA title, Wright placed third in all-around at the 1987 NCAA Championships with a score of 37.80, 0.30 behind championKelly Garrison-Steves ofOklahoma, and second infloor exercise with a score of 9.70, 0.10 behindKim Hamilton ofUCLA.[6] In her floor routine, she became the first NCAA gymnast to perform three doublesaltos in one routine and the first to land a doublelayout.[7] She was considered a contender for all-around at the1988 Championships, despite some consistency issues, and sought to increase the difficulty of her routines, but an ankle injury restricted her practice during the season.[5][8] She ended up repeating her floor result for second place by the same margin behind Hamilton, and made all-American onvault, but did not contend for all-around.[5][9]
As a junior in 1989, while helping to win a second team NCAA title for Georgia, Wright won the NCAA's all-around title, becoming the first African-American woman to do so.[4] Her total score of 38.90, tied for the all-around record at that point, edged her nearest competitors by 0.20.[1][10] Her strong floor routine—an ebullient display oftumbling, including a double layout, set to the music ofWho Framed Roger Rabbit—earned her a score of 9.90, tied with Hamilton for first place.[1][10][11] The co-champion floor routines, performed back to back, were "as different as night and day": following Wright's effervescent and crowd-pleasing routine (with her coach describing her as "a little dynamo"), 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) Hamilton's balletic performance "was all lines and grace".[1][2] Wright additionally medaled inuneven bars (9.80 in the event finals) and vault (9.675).[1][10] She finished her college career the next year with an all-American showing in all-around in1990.[4]
After completing herBachelor of Social Work (BSW) degree at Georgia in 1991, Wright went toNew York Law School, earning herJuris Doctor (JD) in 1996.[12][13] She worked afterward in athletic administration for the NCAA'sNortheast Conference and as a member of the athletic departments ofStockton andSyracuse.[12][13] She has worked as a gymnastics coach since the 1990s, including at Star Bound Gymnastics Academy inBridgeton, New Jersey, and as an assistant coach forThe University of Pennsylvania beginning in 2009.[12][14]
In March 2022,Fisk University in Nashville hired Wright (by now known as Corrinne Tarver) as the head coach for its fledglinggymnastics program, the first such team at ahistorically black college in the country.[12][15] While building the team, Tarver asked recruits, "Do you want to make history?"[16][17] Tarver additionally became Fisk'sathletic director in July 2022.[18] The Fisk Lady Gymdogs held their first practice on August 8, 2022,[19] and made their competitive debut at aSuper 16 meet in Las Vegas on January 6, 2023, but placed last out of four teams.[16] The Fisk team, composed of freshman and transfers, attracted support on social media.[20] They had a poor win–loss record but managed to close their first regular season with a home win overGreenville.[21] Three Gymdogs—Morgan Price, Liberty Mora, and Zyia Coleman—competed at the 2023USA Gymnastics Collegiate National Championships, two winning All-American honors (Price on floor and Mora on beam).[22]
