Temple University Athletics
Owls Seek First ECAC Crown Since 2003
3.28.07 | Men's Gymnastics
March 28, 2007
Team and All-Around Competition Live Video - Saturday
Individual Competition Live Video - Sunday
PHILADELPHIA - The Temple men's gymnastics team (15-3) is looking to extend its stellar year with a first place finish as they host the 2007 ECAC - EIGL Championships this coming weekend, March 31 - April 1. The team and all-around competitions will be contested on Saturday at 3:00 p.m., with the top eight individual performers on each event competing for conference best bragging rights on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. Both competitions will take place at McGonigle Hall with an admission price of $5.00 for spectators.
The team held a mock competition on Tuesday, March 27, and left 31st-year head coach Fred Turoff smiling after the performance.
"Overall, I think we're in good shape for this weekend. We've had a lot of good practice lately, and today saw several hit routines. We haven't hosted this event since 2002, and this team is ready to win the ECAC conference title on their home turf," said Turoff.
Temple, who's been ranked first in the conference for the last two weeks, feels its biggest competition will come from second-ranked Army and third-ranked Illinois-Chicago. However, the three teams can't count out others like Navy and William & Mary, who are very capable of posting some big numbers if they hit. Junior Luke Vexler, who's currently ranked third in the all-around, is very excited about this weekend's competition.
"The entire team has a lot of confidence brewing at the moment. We're pumped to be hosting these championships, and both Army and UIC should know that they are entering a somewhat hostile environment. We are not about to let any one of those teams walk away with this year's ECAC title," said an exuberant Vexler.
Vexler's teammate, junior Sterling Kramer, is set to defend his all-around title from 2006. Currently ranked first in the conference, Kramer has beefed up his level of difficulty in the past few weeks, and is set to compete a new double pike dismount off parallel bars, a Kasamatsu 1/1 on vault, and will add a Kovacs release to his already difficulty high bar set for event finals.
When asked how he felt about defending his ECAC all-around title, Kramer added, "I'd of course love to win two in a row, but this weekend is all about the team. The way I see it, if I do my job in the all-around, I will have done my job for the team. I just need to take it one event at a time."
Joining Vexler and Kramer in this weekend's battle will be last year's ECAC co-Rookie of the Year John Vogtman. Currently ranked second in the all-around, Vogtman brings a first class style of execution to this experienced Owl team. Along with his impressive all-around ranking, Vogtman leads the conference on pommel horse and vaulting.
For the Owl's to be victorious this weekend, they'll rely on a talented mix of specialist including Nick Iles, Clay Stewart, Alex Gorski, Dan Berlin, Patrick McLaughlin, Nadov Simenauer, Andy Corp, Derek Shepard and Nate Naisby. Several of these student-athletes turned in some fine routines during Tuesday's mock competition and are extremely focused and ready to do their job of bringing the ECAC Championship title back home to Temple.
This weekend's competition marks the beginning of the championship season, and the way it looks right now, Temple is a virtual lock for the 2007 NCAA Championship Qualifier at Penn State. The NCAA Championships are scheduled for April 12 -14 at Penn State's Rec Hall.
For access to owlsports.com's live video feed of the ECAC Championships, please see the links above.
