Temple University Athletics
Men's Gymnastics Repeats as ECAC Champions
4.5.08 | Men's Gymnastics
Complete Release in PDF Format 
April 5, 2008
WEST POINT, N.Y. - Winning by the narrowest of margins, the Temple men's gymnastics team captured its second consecutive ECAC Championship, topping William and Mary 341.45 - 341.35 for the close victory on Friday night.
With the win, the Owls (16-5) earn the ECAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Championships for the second consecutive season.
The University of Illinois-Chicago finished third on the evening (340.90), while Navy, Springfield College and MIT rounding out the final three positions.
"We knew our competition was stiff, but our training leading up to this meet went well, and I felt we could pull off the upset win. Our seniors provided the necessary leadership, with two underclassmen providing key high scores." said legendary head coach Fred Turoff, who has now coached the Owls to 16 ECAC championships over his career. "Knowing we needed 15.1 to tie William & Mary, it sure was exciting for our guys and the many Owl fans in the crowd when Luke (the last performer on our last event) landed his floor exercise dismount and the 15.2 score was flashed."
Making a very strong case for the Nissen-Emery Award, senior Luke Vexler was phenomenal in the Cherry and White victory, finishing first in the all-around (86.550) and floor (15.200), second on the horizontal bars (14.450) and pommel horse (13.950) and third on the vault (14.450) to cap off the victorious day.Vexler's victory in the all-around in his second ECAC crown in as many years. Vexler also placed himself in excellent position to capture a few more individual crowns in Saturday's individual championships, as he made the finals in every event except the parallel bars.
Several other Owls played crucial roles in the victory. Sophomore Patrick McLaughlin finished second on vault (15.650) and third on the floor (15.000) and all-around (84.250). Senior Sterling Kramer finished fourth on the horizontal bars (14.250) and ninth in the all-around (82.750). Sophomore Scott Bloomfield took home first place on the vault (15.750).
In all, the Temple finalists for tomorrow are: Vexler (floor, PH, Rings, Vault, P Bars, HB), Kramer (HB, P Bars), McLaughlin (floor, vault, P Bars), Bloomfield (vault), senior Andrew Corp (pommel horse) and senior Andrew Gorski (floor). The individual championships will take place tomorrow at 7:00 from West Point.
As the team, the Owls will next compete at the NCAA Championships from the campus of Stanford University at Palo Alto, California on April 17th.
