Temple University Athletics
Owls Prep For NCAA Championships
4.10.07 | Men's Gymnastics
April 10, 2007
PHILADELPHIA - The Temple men's gymnastics team will travel to State College, PA to compete at the 2007 NCAA Men's Gymnastics Championship. The competition, which includes the nation's top 12 ranked teams will compete in two preliminary sessions, each with six teams and a selected field of individual performers. The top three teams from each of the two sessions will advance to Friday evening's championship round. The championships will take place in Rec Hall on the campus of Penn State University, April 12-14.
In his 31st-year as head coach, Fred Turoff is excited for the upcoming championships.
"I'm quite pleased that my guys performed well overall as the regular season concluded. We will look to further increase our performance level during the qualifying round of competition. We know it's a tough climb to get into the finals, as we know there are a number of teams that can outscore us. However, I am certain that we can qualify several individuals into the championship round, and we'd like to at least hold onto our #10 national ranking," said Turoff.
The Owls will be competing in the evening session of the NCAA Qualifier, along with Minnesota, Nebraska, Penn State, California, and defending champions Oklahoma. Competing in the afternoon session will be Iowa, Stanford, Army, Illinois, Michigan, and Ohio State.
In order to qualify individuals out of Thursday's preliminary competition, the athlete will have had to compile a top three all-around or individual event score if he is not one of the members of any of the top three teams from the respective qualifying session.
Friday's team final will also serve as the all-around final, and to qualify to Saturday's individual event final, an athlete must have a top 10 average score from both Thursday's and Friday's competition.
Sterling Kramer, Luke Vexler, and John Vogtman are currently ranked sixth, seventh, and ninth in the national all-around standings. All three athletes stand a very good chance at competing in Friday's all-around final.
Live stats and results from the 2007 NCAA Men's Gymnastics Championships can be found at http://www.gopsusports.com/NCAAGymnasticsM/ You may also check back to OwlSports.com for a review of the competition once it has concluded.
