NCAA Men’s Gymnastics Championships Conclude with Event Finals – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/7/2001 12:00:00 AM | General, Men's Gymnastics
April 7, 2001
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Six national champions were crowned Saturday night in the individual event finals of the 2001 NCAA Men’s Gymnastics Championships at St. John Arena in Columbus, Ohio.
Clay Strother of Minnesota was the lone competitor to take home two event titles, winning in floor with a 9.525 and pommel horse with a 9.662. California’s Michael Ashe successfully defended his 2000 high bar championship with a 9.512. Ashe was the only repeat individual event winner. Daren Lynch and Raj Bhavsar represented Ohio State (the 2001 national team champion) at the top of the award stand. Lynch captured the vault title with a 9.500 and Bhavsar’s 9.412 won parallel bars. Chris Lakeman of Penn State was the national champion on rings with a 9.550.
The Top 6 finishers in each event earned All-America honors and are listed at the bottom of this release.
2001 NCAA Men’s Gymnastics Championships Individual Event Finals April 7, 2001, 7 p.m. St. John Arena, Columbus, Ohio
Floor Exercise Individual Champions 1. Clay Stother, Minnesota (9.525) 2. Brendan O’Neil, Oklahoma (9.487) 3. Brad Golden, Michigan State (9.287) 4. Jamie Natalie, Ohio State (9.200) 5. Steve Van Etten, Oklahoma (9.137) 6. Josh Landis, Oklahoma (9.112)
Pommel Horse Individual Champions 1. Clay Stother, Minnesota (9.662) 2. Steve Van Etten, Oklahoma (9.262) 3. Antonio Cesar, Michigan (9.175) 4. Michael Ashe, California (9.100) 5. Jon Plante, Michigan State (8.825) 6. David Lloyd Eaton, California (8.500)
Rings Individual Champions 1. Chris Lakeman, Penn State (9.550) 2. Scott Vetere, Michigan (9.487) 3. Brett Covey, Oklahoma (9.450) 4. Kevin Tan, Penn State (9.400) 5T. Marshall Erwin, Stanford (9.375) 5T. Conan Parzuchowski, Michigan (9.375)
Vault Individual Champions 1. Daren Lynch, Ohio State (9.500) 2. Brad Golden, Michigan State (9.375) 3. Dominic Brindle, Penn State (9.250) 4. Raj Bhavsar, Ohio State (9.200) 5. Jay Kim, Penn State (9.125) 6. Dan Gill, Stanford (9.087)
Parallel Bars Individual Champions 1. Raj Bhavsar, Ohio State (9.412) 2. Kris Zimmerman, Michigan (9.250) 3. Jamie Natalie, Ohio State (9.137) 4. Daniel Furney, Oklahoma (9.050) 5. Scott Vetere, Michigan (9.012) 6. Daniel Diaz-Luong, Michigan (9.012)
High Bar Individual Champions 1. Michael Ashe, California (9.512) 2. Daniel Diaz-Loung, Michigan (9.362) 3. Kris Zimmerman, Michigan (9.312) 4. Steve Van Etten, Oklahoma (9.250) 5. Ryan Hillyer, Oklahoma (9.237) 6. Scott Vetere, Michigan (8.950)
2001 NCAA Men’s Gymnastics Championships
The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
Individual Event Finals quotes
April 7, 2001
Clay Strother (So., Minnesota), Floor Exercise and Pommel Horse Champion
“I really wanted to help our team make the finals. It was sad to lose it by about a tenth of a point. This is nice, but it doesn’t really make up for it. This makes me happy, but I wish my teammates were here on the floor with me.”
On his injured ankle
“The floor routine during the team finals was my first since the injury. The ankle was pretty tender. I was a little bit worried about it coming into this, but it’s held up okay.”
Chris Lakeman (Sr., Penn State), Rings Champion
“I just wanted to do well for myself. I went out and gave 110 percent, and if it wasn’t enough to win, it just wasn’t enough. But fortunately it was enough this time around.”
On Penn State’s fifth place finish in the team finals
“I don’t call it a disappointment at all. We spent the entire season ranked No. 9. We had a meet average of around 208, and we put up a 212 yesterday. We finished fifth in the nation against the strongest competition in the country, so I don’t think it’s anything to be disappointed about at all.”
Daren Lynch (Sr., Ohio State), Vault Champion
“I’m a competitor. I just go out and do the best I can. I wasn’t able to pull off the rings like I wanted to, but I got my vault title so I’m happy with that.”
“I went for the stick on the vault. This is my third vault finals, so I knew that to win this thing you have to go for the stick. I went for the stick on rings too, but sometimes when you do that you either hit or miss.”
On the atmosphere at the individual event finals
“It’s a different atmosphere from the team finals. We are a team and I think we compete better as a team. There were only four of us on the floor today, and I think that had an effect.”
Raj Bhavsar (So., Ohio State), Parallel Bars Champion
“This is nowhere near the team title. Today is just for individual happiness. The team title is an unexplainable sense of glory. This feels good, but it is nothing close to the feeling of winning the team title.”
“The team title drains an unbelievable amount of energy. It’s hard to come back for the individual events the next day.”
Michael Ashe (So., California), High Bar Champion
“It’s great I can repeat because it is a hard thing to do. There’s so much added pressure to repeat, so I’m just happy to be able to deal with that pressure.”
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