Chasing A Field of Dreams – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/23/1999 12:00:00 AM | General, Men's Gymnastics
March 23, 1999
After handily defeating the Temple University Owls over the weekend, the Buckeyes head to Iowa City, Iowa for the Big Ten Championship on March 26-27. The University of Iowa is hosting this year’s Championship and is also the defending champion. Last year Ohio State finished third. The Buckeyes return defending national champion on parallel bars Peter Landry.
LANDRY NISSEN AWARD FINALIST
Peter Landry is one of the eight finalists for the prestigious Nissen Award, given to the top senior gymnast in the nation. Landry joins nominees Todd Bishop (Oklhoma), Adrian Johnston (Iowa), Jim Koziol (Nebraska), Josh Nelson (California-Santa Barbara), Stephen Pryor (Massachusetts), Ron Roeder (Penn State) and Kyle Zak (Illinois). Among Landrys accomplishments include being a member of the 1996 National and Big Ten Championship teams, integral member of the 1997 Big Ten Championship team, Big Ten Parallel Bar Champion in 1998, NCAA All-American on still rings and team captain of this years squad. The winner of the Nissen will be announced in several weeks. The Buckeyes have had three gymnasts in the past receive the honor: Mike Racanelli (1990), Kip Simons (1994) and Blaine Wilson (1997).
BUCKEYES IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
Tim Elsner continues to lead the nation on the floor exercise. He is joined by Jamie Natalie in several key top spots. Natalie checks in at number eight on floor. He is also eighth on the pommel horse. Daren Lynch is tied for eighth on the rings and Tim Elsner is tied for 20th. Dout Stibel holds his second place ranking on the vault, while Lynch and Natalie are tied for sixth and Elsner is tied for 20th. Natalie is tied for first nationally on the parallel bars, Peter Landry is ninth and Elsner is 15th. On high bar, Stibel holds third, with Natalie right behind in fourth and Jay Nardelli is tied for eighth. Also, after the past weekend ofcompetition, Natalie leads all in the all-around, with Stibel in the 14 spot, Elsner 15th and jay Nardelli 20th.
LATEST NATIONAL TEAM RANKINGS
The Buckeyes fell a spot in the latest poll by GymInfo. Michigan has taken over the top spot, with Penn State dropping one notch and Ohio State is third.
1. Michigan 2. Penn State 3. Ohio State 4. Iowa 5. Illinois 6. Nebraska 7. Michigan State 8. Oklahoma 9. Illinois-Chicago 10. Brigham Young 16. Minnesota
