CHICAGO, IL - The 15th-ranked Temple men's gymnastic team swept all six events to defeat No. 14 Illinois-Chicago, 203.850-198.650, in a dual meet at the UIC Physical Education Building Sunday afternoon. It marked the highest team score of the season for the Owls, bettering the 203.000 the team posted two days earlier in a tri-meet triumph Friday evening.
Temple's sophomore duo of Luke Vexler and Sterling Kramer continued their stellar 2006 campaigns. The pair shared the horizontal bar title with 8.650 scores, while Vexler won the floor exercise (9.150) and Kramer captured the parallel bars (8.550).
Senior co-captain Brian Forquer was the Owls' top competitor on still rings with an 8.600 showing to earn second place. Freshman John Vogtman paced the squad on pommel horse, capturing second with an 8.500. Temple's top score on vault came courtesy of Vexler and freshman Jason Russo, who shared third place with 9.000 efforts.
Temple's top event score was on the vault with a 35.850. The Owls earned a 34.750 on floor exercise, a 33.350 on pommel horse, a 33.700 on rings, a 32.450 on parallel bars and a 33.750 on horizontal bar.
Temple (11-6), under the direction of 30th-year head coach Fred Turoff, returns to action at the New England Invitational in Springfield, Mass., on Sunday, March 12. The Owls have not suffered a loss since placing second behind Stanford in a quad meet at McGonigle Hall on February 18.
