Entering his fifth season with the Tigers, John Figueroa has clearly made an impact on the Missouri squad. The Tigers turned in impressive performances on the vault and uneven bars under his guidance, and averaged 49.225 and 49.250, respectively, on the events in 2010. His work with Sarah Shire on vault helped her to first team All-America honors on the event in 2009. With Figueroa's coaching, Shire went on to earn All-America honors on vault, floor and bars, making her the school's first four-time All-American. In total, Figueroa has coached six All-American athletes while at Mizzou, and he worked with three All-Americans during his previous tenure at the University of Denver.
"Fig" as he is notoriously known, serves as the recruiting coordinator for the Tigers as he brings in a wealth of experience from his time with the Pioneers of the University of Denver. He has helped to sign several talented recruiting classes to Missouri beginning in 2007 and continuing up to the most recent class, 2012 which is now poised to catapult the Tigers' success. Fig has also successfully recruited and coached several National Qualifiers for the first time in school history at Mizzou, including individuals Adrianne Perry and Sarah Shire as well as the 2010 gymnastics team.
While at Denver, Figueroa had his hand in recruiting the 2004 class, the most successful class of gymnasts in school history. During his tenure, that class qualified for NCAA Regional competition during all four years and qualified for the NCAA National Championships for the first time in DU history.
Figueroa specializes in the Tiger gymnast's skills on the vault and uneven bars. During his eight seasons at DU, Figueroa had some of the most successful vault rotations in the nation. The 2005 Pioneer squad spent almost the entire season ranked in the top-10 in the event, ultimately finishing 11th in the country. His teaching and guidance on the vault has led to three national qualifiers, and one All-American, Ashley Shible, who finished seventh in 2001. Shible, a freshman at the time, is only the third All-American in DU history. Casey Dobyns is the most recent qualifier under Figueroa as she finished 27th on the vault in 2007.
Another accomplishment under his belt, Fig took part in coaching international recruit, Jessica Lopez, who now competes for the Venezuelan national team. She has competed in the 2008 Beijing Olympics as well as the 2009 and 2010 World Gymnastics Championships.
Figueroa began coaching at DU in 2000 and made his impact felt immediately. Fig helped turn around an uneven bars rotation that had been inconsistent over previous years into the 10th-best in the nation. With his team's performance on the bars, Figueroa was acknowledged by his peers as the 2000 National Association of Collegiate Gymnastics Coaches for Women's (NACGC/W) Region 2 Assistant Coach of the Year.
Despite only 12 seasons of college gymnastics under his belt, "Fig" brings with him an impressive amount of experience. Figueroa, a Michigan native, owned and operated Kentwood Gymnastics USA in Kentwood, Mich., from 1992-99. Before starting his career in collegiate gymnastics, Figueroa coached several international outfits as a USA National team coach. For his efforts on the international scene, Figueroa was named the USA Gymnastics Region 5 Coach of the Year in 1994 and 1999.
Under the direction of Figueroa, at least one gymnast qualified for the Championships of USA each year from 1994-2000, while three of his teams won consecutive Junior Olympic National Championships from 1994-96. Six of Figueroa's gymnasts earned Level 10 National Championship titles from 1994-1999.
John and his wife, Diane, currently reside in Columbia. His daughter Angela (23) was a member of the Metropolitan State College of Denver volleyball squad before graduating in May of 2011. John also has a son, Johnny (21). When he is not working with Mizzou Gymnastics or as a member of the USA Gymnastics National Developmental Team staff, John enjoys traveling the country and the world with his family and spends his free time on the links.
