Temple University Athletics
Owls Knock Off Engineers, 187.750-179.600, in Dual-Meet Action
2.18.07 | Men's Gymnastics
Feb. 18, 2007
CAMBRIDGE, MA - The Temple men's gymnastics team outlasted MIT Saturday afternoon in dual-meet action, 187.750 - 179.600. The Cherry and White were led by freshman standout Patrick McLaughlin's first place floor exercise score of 9.200. With the win, the Owls improve to 8-3 overall while MIT falls 0-2.
The Owls' floor exercise team score of 35.150 was led by McLaughlin and junior Alex Gorski's 8.950. In addition to Gorski and McLaughlin, three members of the Cherry and White, sophomores Nick Iles (8.750) and Jeff Shearer (8.250) and freshman Robert Kay (7.350), made their season debuts.
The pommel horse proved to be a difficult event for both squads on Saturday afternoon as the Owls edged the Engineers 26.950 - 26.400. Temple junior Luke Vexler turned in the event's second-highest total with a 7.400. MIT's senior Brad Sutton led the pack with a 7.900.
McLaughlin's 8.500 led the Cherry and White on the rings while senior Derek Shepard contributed a. 8.050. Juniors Nate Naisby (7.600) and John Jeffries (7.450) also worked their way into head coach Fred Turoff's line-up while freshman Ryan Healy (7.500) made his Temple and collegiate debut.
Temple's 31.400 team score on the vault was led by Shepard's first place score of 8.550. Junior Alex Gorski turned in an 8.100 while junior co-captain Greg Monaco, seeing his first action this season, posted a 7.000.
The Owls were led by a pair of 7.850 scores on the parallel bars from Naisby and junior Andrew Corp. McLaughlin tallied a 7.800 while Iles, Shearer and Kay all posted scores of 7.600. MIT's junior Matt Heine placed first on the parallel bars with an 8.050.
Iles (8.350) led all competitors on the high bar while McLaughlin (8.150) and Vexler (8.050) placed second and third, respectively.
Several Temple competitors were given the opportunity to showcase their abilities in front of friends and family. Healy (Milton, MA), Iles (Hudson, MA), Monaco (Braintree, MA) and Vexler (Amherst, MA) all hail from Massachusetts.
The Owls remain on the road and in the New England region for a dual-meet with Springfield on Sunday, February 18 at 1:00 p.m.
