Temple University Athletics
Owls Land Second Spot in Season-Opening Quad-Meet
1.21.07 | Men's Gymnastics
Jan. 21, 2007
PHILADELPHIA - The Temple men's gymnastics team (2-1) kicked off their 2007 campaign with a second place finish (198.600) as they hosted #5 Penn State, #13 William & Mary and James Madison in a quad-meet at McGonigle Hall. Penn State came out on top with a score of 210.205 as William & Mary (190.850) finished third, followed by James Madison (160.300).
The Owls started the afternoon on the floor exercise and were led by sophomore Jason Russo's 8.550 (layout Arabian 1, double full dismount) and junior Luke Vexler's 9.000 (whip-immediate layout Arabian 1, tucked Thomas, 2; dismount).
Pommel horse was next, as the Owls fought hard to post strong scores. Vexler was once again the top scorer with an 8.300 (nice Russian sequence to dismount). Junior Sterling Kramer and sophomore standout John Vogtman each chipped in scores of 7.750
The Owls turned in a brilliant rings performance highlighted by Vogtman's textbook maltese and stuck full-twisting double tuck dismount. Russo swung an intricate Li Ning to immediate iron cross for a strong score of 8.550
Vogtman was tops again for the Owls on the vault as he boomed a big Kasamatsu-full for an event high 8.900. Junior Alex Gorski was right behind him with an 8.850 (layout rudi). Freshman Patrick McLaughlin added an 8.700 for a Kasamatsu full of his own.
The team's energy was nearing its pinnacle as they headed into their fifth event, the parallel bars. Vogtman continued his fine outing with a team high 8.600 (peach-stutz, double pike dismount). Junior Nate Naisby fell on intricate combination of Diamadov-Diamadov, but even with the break, his level of difficulty garnered a strong score of 8.250.
The Owls finished their night on high bar, and it was obvious they were feeling some pressure. Gorski caught an incredible G2 release, but had problems elsewhere in his routine. Juniors Vexler (fall on a jam to invert) and Kramer brought the team back up with scores of 8.050 and 8.100, respectively.
Regardless of their disappointing finish on high bar, the team was all smiles at meets-end. McLaughlin, who was competing in his first NCAA competition, seemed please with his team's performance.
"This was a great experience. I'd say we did a pretty decent job for our first meet of the season," boasted the rookie.
Junior Sterling Kramer added, "We made a statement today. We have some areas to improve, but we can only go up from here."
Head coach Fred Turoff, beginning his 31st season with the Owls today, and first-year assistant Theo Maes were also very pleased with this afternoon's performance. Turoff was happy that his team improved by eight points from last year's season opener, but was quick to acknowledge that there were some "first meet jitters." Maes couldn't agree more, as he also pointed out some small mistakes that can easily be cleaned up.
The Owls head back to the gym to prepare for the West Point Open, which is scheduled for January 26th and 7:00 p.m. The two-day competition will also feature an individual event championship the following evening. Temple will battle it out once again with Penn State and will look to have a strong showing against host team and conference-rival, Army. Navy, another conference-rival, is also slated to compete. The men's gymnastics team will be back home in McGonigle Hall on Saturday, February 24th when they host Army and Illinois-Chicago for the Temple Boy's Invitational.
NOTE: Prior to the start of the meet, head coach Fred Turoff was joined by Temple Assistant Athletic Director/Development Tom Crowley and Albert Greenfield for a brief ceremony that ackonwledged McGonigle Hall's brand-new scoreboard.
