Temple University Athletics
Owls Set for New England Swing
2.16.07 | Men's Gymnastics
Feb. 16, 2007
PHILADELPHIA -
The Temple men's gymnastics team heads to New England this coming weekend for two separate dual-meets. On Saturday February 17, the 12th-ranked Owls will square-off against #18 MIT for at 1:00 p.m. in Cambridge, MA. The following afternoon, the Owls will travel to Springfield, MA for a dual-meet with Springfield College.
After slipping to #12 in the nation, head coach Fred Turoff will look to his team to post two big team-scores this weekend. Keeping in mind that the top 12 teams advance to the NCAA Championships in April, Turoff is starting to feel the pressure. Although the Owls have a very comfortable margin between 12th and 13th place, the team must find the consistency that has eluded them this season. A strong pair of scores this weekend can very well move the Owls up in the rankings. The parity between #8 and #12 is incredible, as less than 4 points separate these teams.
Turoff will look to the talented trio of juniors Luke Vexler and Sterling Kramer and freshman John Vogtman to lead the team as they've done all season long. Junior Alex Gorski is also looking strong again after suffering a minor leg injury early in the season.
Coach Turoff will give some other guys some competitive experience as he continues to build the depth of his young team.
"We're approaching this weekend with the same mindset that we always do, and that's to post a high team-score. Even though I'm trying out some new talent, I still expect these guys to compete well. This weekend is really just a warm up for next weekend's home competition against our rivals Army and UIC," said Turoff.
Next weekend's home competition with Army and UIC will highlight an incredible weekend of gymnastics at McGonigle Hall. The meet will headline the fourth annual Temple Boys Invitational, which also includes levels 4-10 under the framework of USA Gymnastics Junior Olympic program. A record 41 gyms and an incredible 472 gymnasts will be participating in this year's competition. A complete schedule for the weekend of February 23-25 can be found at the Temple Boys' Gymnastics site.
