Temple University Athletics
Temple Finishes Second at West Point Open Team Competition
1.27.07 | Men's Gymnastics
Jan. 27, 2007
WEST POINT, NY - The Temple men's gymnastics team (7-3) faced some tough competition Friday night at the 16th annual West Point Open Invitational, as they faced second-ranked Penn State and host 10th-ranked Army. The Owls managed a third (199.500) place showing behind winner Penn State (10th consecutive title) and Team Gattaca, which consists of former NCAA athletes and club age gymnasts. Host team Army finished fourth.
The Owls opened the competition on the precarious pommel horse, with sophomore John Vogtman leading the way with an 8.550. Junior Sterling Kramer wasn't far behind with an 8.500 (Magyar-Savado-Wu). Although pommel horse is the toughest event to start on, the team rallied with scores of 8.100, 8.150 and 8.200 from Andy Corp, Dan Berlin and Luke Vexler.
The Owls moved to the still rings, where Vogtman was once again tops with an 8.750 (kip to maltese; Yamawaki-uprise-straddle planche; full-twisting double tuck). Freshman standout Patrick McLaughlin added an 8.400 to the Owls 33.550 ring total, with a clean set highlighted by a stuck full-twisting double as well.
It seemed as the wheels were coming off as sophomore Jason Russo crashed his Kasamatsu-full straight into the mat for a lead-off 7.450. Senior Derek Shepard balked in the middle of his planned Kasamatsu-full, and opted for a simpler vault with a lower start value. However, Vexler and Kramer brought the team back up with scores of 8.35 and 8.700, respectively. Additionally, McLaughlin tossed in a solid 8.600 for his Kas-full as well.
Temple had a comfortable lead over Army (2.600), but it would be the largest lead they had for the rest of the night. From there, the evening seemed to go astray.
The Owls moved to the parallel bars and were lead off by junior Nate Naisby's 7.200 (fell twice on a difficult Diamodov). Corp picked the squad up with an 8.100 (nice Healy combo), and Vexler answered with a team-high 8.600 (peach-Belle; double tuck), Vogtman, Russo and Kramer each had breaks for scores of 7.350, 7.400 and 7.500, respectively. Meanwhile, Army was cruising to a 33.600 vault total. Suddenly, their comfortable lead was trimmed to a mere .600.
The last event you want to be headed too after a shaky previous event is high bar, and the Owls went 0-6, with Vexler's 8.300 leading the way (missed re-grasp on his Tkatchev). Over at parallel bars, Army crumbled as well, extending Temple's lead to .700. Penn State had already sealed the title with a final total of 214.700.
The Owls sat out on a bye and watched Army finish with a respectable 197.750. In order to win third place, the Owls needed to average over 8.512 to secure the final spot on the awards podium. Team Gattaca seemed to be a lock for second at this point.
The Owls attacked the floor with several aggressive sets, with Vogtman and Vexler leading the way with scores of 9.100. McLaughlin (whip-2.5 twist) and Stewart (an incredible 6 passes!) both lent scores of 8.800 to bump Army for 3rd. The Owls finished with a final score of 199.500, a season high thus far.
Although the team improved upon their season opening score of 198.600, they were a little shaken up about how they almost handed the meet over to Army. Vexler and Vogtman were quick to acknowledge that high bar was a disaster, but Vexler was pleased with how the team came back on floor exercise.
"We know that floor is one of our best events, and I'm proud of how we came together at the end. I think the way we attacked the floor shows just how strong this team can be," said Vexler.
Friday night's team competition was a pre-cursor to Saturday's individual event finals. Vogtman, Vexler, Kramer and McLaughlin will be competing for individual honors on floor exercise, pommel horse, still rings and vault. Team Gattaca member and former Temple Owl, Nyika White, will look to capture the still rings title. White had the highest preliminary score this evening with a 9.750.
