Coaches and Staff
Linda Mulvihill
Co-Founder/Director
Linda is a 3 time Olympic All Around Competitor (1964 Tokyo, 1968 Mexico, 1972 Munich) and was the first American woman gymnast to make the Olympic Event Finals. She is a 5 time National Elite All Around Champion (AAU and USGF) and spent 9 years on the National Team (2 World Championship Teams). She earned 7 Gold Medals at the Pan American Games and was a Collegiate All Around Champion, as well as USGF Gymnast of the Year.
Her first National title was on the uneven bar, but she was generally known for her balance beam and floor exercise routines. She began coaching in 1973 with the opening of the National Academy of Artistic Gymnastics. Linda and Richard (now deceased) have three children, Doni-Jo (Jojo), David, and Matthew. All three did gymnastics when they were younger and then went into diving, baseball, and soccer, respectively. All three now help with coaching and running NAAG.
Dick Mulvihill
Co-Founder (In Memoriam)
Dick co-founded the National Academy with Linda in 1973. Mulvihill was an assistant coach for the U.S. Gymnastics teams that competed at the 1966 World Championships, 1967 and 1971 Pan American Games, the 1967 World University Games, and the 1968 and 1972 Olympic Games. Athletes he coached competed in the 1964, 1968, 1972, 1976, 1980 and 1984 Olympic Games.
In 1973 Richard moved to Eugene Oregon and opened the National Academy of Artistic Gymnastics with his wife Linda Metheny Mulvihill. Together they have coached and encouraged thousands of young athletes. Richard showed the same enthusiasm and passion whether coaching young beginners or advanced Olympians. He was the driving force and inspiration for 17 Olympians who represented the USA and several other countries and over 50 National Champions. With education of the highest priority for his athletes he’s helped hundreds of gymnast gain college scholarships.
Dick was inducted into the USAIG Hall of Fame in 1982, USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 1984, USA Gymnastics Region 2 Lifetime Achievement award which is now known as the Dick Mulvihill Award in 2002 and and the Region 5 Hall of Fame in 2012.
Jojo Mulvihill
Program Director
Donijo (Jojo) Mulvihill, as the eldest child of Academy founders Dick and Linda Mulvihill, literally grew up spending much of her time at the gym! As a youngster she participated in gymnastics training and competed on the Academy’s girls teams up to level 8. During teenage years, she chose to put her gymnastics training to good use in the sport of diving. She participated at the club level, and she also competed for South Eugene High School, winning many awards and still holding many of their school records. She was also selected by Cirque du Soleil (1 of 5 out of 250 athletes auditioning) to join them at their Montreal training center to train for the female diving and a dance position within their LasVegas ‘O’ show.
Jojo has vast experience with children having run several after school programs for both elementary and kindergartners and teaching in a Montessori School. She also has many years of teaching experience in different sports including swimming, diving, children’s movement and snow boarding. Jojo studied Business Administration/Marketing and Creative Writing at The University of Massachusetts/Amherst whereby she finished her Business studies with a Bachelor’s Degree in 2002. After graduation she spent a couple years working professionally in a local marketing firm before deciding to travel the world for a few years and the re-entered into the world of gymnastics with us in 2004.
Kira Oldham-Curtis
Programs Director
Kira Oldham-Curtis began her gymnastics career at The National Academy at age 4. While at NAAG, Oldham-Curtis and her Level 10 team won three Level 10 State titles consecutively. She was a Junior Olympic National qualifier for two of those years. As a collegiate gymnast she was a thirteen time All-American, D3 National Beam, Floor, and All Around Champion, and was awarded the 2010 D3 East Gymnast of the Year. She was a captain of the team for two years and received 3 awards from the Ursinus College Athletic Department, including Senior Female Athlete of the Year. Oldham-Curtis was inducted into the Ursinus College Hall of Fame in 2022. She graduated with a Bachelors in Exercise and Sport Science with a minor in French.
Kira and Lee have two young children; Orion and Raya.
Bryan Raschilla
Optional Girls Head Coach and Girls Team Program Director
Lee Blachly
Boys Head Coach and Boys Team Program Director
Lee Blachly began recreational gymnastics at The Gym-nest in Hillsboro, Ore., at the age of 4 and was quickly ushered onto the boy’s team at age 5. During the 13 years that Blachly competed, he made it to Junior Olympic Nationals four times, twice on the Region 2 team, competed across the US and once in Japan, and was Captain of Portland’s Metro Gymnastics Center team for 3 years.
While in college Blachly started coaching his first recreational boy’s class at FlightSchool Gymnastics Center in Hillsboro, Ore. He then transferred to University of Oregon and started coaching boys’ team gymnastics in Eugene, Ore., ultimately landing at the National Academy of Artistic Gymnastics. Blachly felt the coaching style cultivated at NAAG and their method of working with the gymnasts embodied his personal philosophies and approach.
Blachly has a Bachelors degree in Economics from the University of Oregon and is a professional bodybuilder.
Shireen Khamedoost
Op.tional Girls
David Mulvihill
Level 5 Girls
David Mulvihill is the Level 5 Girls Head Coach and the boy’s recreational coach. He is an accomplished gymnast, winning State titles on Floor Exercise, Rings, Parallel Bars, and High Bar. Mulvihill thrives in multiple competitive athletic fields. He held the state high school District Wrestling Champion for 2 years and served as starting catcher for the State Champions North Eugene Highlanders, where he was named the “Most Inspirational Player.”
After attending Modesto College on a baseball scholarship, Mulvihill returned to Eugene where his gymnastics family roots run deep. His experience as a physical education teacher for Eugene Montessori School (since 2003) perfectly dovetails with his coaching career at NAAG. He now enjoys working in his natural habitat at NAAG.
Ellie Pascoe-Long
Level 4/5 Girls
Hannah Truitt
Level 4/5 Girls
Khum Moyo
Boys Team, Girls Level 3
Kiarha Scott Gallo: Girls Level 3
Ashley Daul: Girls Level 3 and Pre-Team
Katie Abbott: Xcel Team
Tashell: Xcel Team
Alia G: Xcel Team
Recreational Coaches:
Lilllith Chiddix
Amelia Glass
Breana Harless
Savanna Johnson
Yulia Kolechkina
Stephanie Loop
Edgar Lopez
KJ (Katlyn) Lopez
Chayse McCann
Ellie Mitchell
Alia Muller
Akina Ohama
Brianna Owens
Calyssa Southern