No. 2 Men’s Gymnastics Team Travels to The Windy City Invitational – Ohio State Buckeyes
1/12/2000 12:00:00 AM | General, Men's Gymnastics
Jan. 12, 2000
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State men’s gymnastics team begins the regular season Saturday at the Windy City Invitational.
The Windy City Invitational
Ohio State will travel to Chicago to compete in the Windy City Invitational, an annual event hosted by the University of Illinois at Chicago. In addition to the Buckeyes and the No. 14 Flames, the other schools competing in the event are No. 1 Michigan, No. 4 (tied) Illinois, No. 7 Iowa, No. 11 Michigan State and No. 15 Minnesota.
The 1999 Windy City Invitational
Last season, Iowa claimed the title at the Windy City Invitational with a team score of 226.675. Ohio State was the runner-up, compiling a score of 225.000. Then Buckeye senior Tim Elsner claimed the floor exercise (9.850) at the event and placed third in the all-around (56.200), while classmate Doug Stibel was second on the high bar (9.825). Current Buckeye junior Jamie Natalie placed third on the floor exercise (9.650), while Jay Nardelli, also a junior this season, was third on the high bar (9.700).
The Alumni Exhibition
The 2000 edition of the OSU men’s gymnastics team had a final tune-up for the regular season when it hosted the Alumni Exhibition Jan. 8 in the Gymnastics Gym in Larkins Hall. The alumni team was comprised of former Ohio State gymnasts who were all a part of the 1996 NCAA championship squad: Mike Canales, Tim Elsner, Peter Landry, Neil Niemi, Jason Pelland and Doug Stibel. The event allowed the current Buckeyes one more chance to perform their routines and get some nervousness out in front of a crowd before the regular season.
The Rankings Are In
The Buckeyes are ranked second in the nation in a preseason poll released by the College Gymnastics Association. Michigan, last season’s national champion, was the only team rated above Ohio State. Other Big Ten schools ranked in the Top 20 include: Penn State, fourth (tied), Illinois, sixth, Iowa, seventh, Michigan State, 11th, and Minnesota, 15th. In addition to the Big Ten schools, the Buckeyes will face No. 4 Oklahoma, No. 10 Brigham Young and No. 14 Illinois-Chicago this season.
The 2000 Captains
Daren Lynch and Jay Nardelli were chosen as captains for this year’s squad in a vote by the team.
Lynch earned All-America honors last season after placing fifth on the vault at the NCAA Championships. He has been an academic All-American, an academic all-Big Ten selection and an OSU scholar-athlete honoree.
Nardelli is an OSU scholar-athlete and has been an academic all-Big Ten honoree. He set career highs on the pommel horse, still rings and all-around last season at the NCAA regional.
Tough Competition at Home
The Buckeyes next home competition will be in St. John Arena, Feb. 5 at 7 p.m. when they host nationally-ranked Big Ten opponents Michigan (No. 1) and Illinois (No. 6). The team finishes its home schedule with a quad-meet, hosting Big Ten foes Iowa (No. 7) and Minnesota (No. 15) as well as Brigham Young (No. 10) Feb. 19 at 7 p.m.
The Coach
Miles Avery is entering his third season as the head coach of the Buckeyes. In just his second season at the helm, he led OSU to a runner-up finish at the NCAA Championships. Before being named head coach, Avery had been an assistant coach at OSU for nine years. In addition to coaching at the collegiate level, Avery has also been on the coaching staff for many international competitions, including the 1998 Goodwill Games, the 1996 Olympic Games and the 1994 World Championship.
The Streak
The Buckeyes have qualified for the NCAA Championships 19 consecutive years, a streak that more than quadruples that of any other NCAA Division I university in men’s gymnastics.
Buckeye Newcomers
With three newcomers with national competition experience, head coach Miles Avery has brought the best recruiting class in the country to Columbus this season. Raj Bhavsar, from Houston, Texas, was the 1997 and ’98 Junior National champion, while Michael Evans, from Houston, Texas, and Dick Huntwork, from Pickerington, Ohio, are both 1999 U.S. Junior National Team members. Ryan Schwartzkopf, from Columbus, Ind., was a four-time Indiana state pommel horse champion and will be a specialist on that event for the Buckeyes.
Recapping the 1999 Season
After starting last season slowly because of injuries, the Buckeyes regrouped to win the NCAA Eastern Regional and reach the NCAA Championships, where the squad finished second to Michigan. Five Buckeyes earned a total of six All-American awards and the Buckeyes also garnered two Big Ten titles. Doug Stibel led the squad after placing second on the parallel bars and sixth on the floor exercise at the NCAA Championships. Tim Elsner, who won the conference title on the floor exercise, and Jamie Natalie, who was fifth in the all-around, joined Stibel, the Big Ten horizontal bar champion, on the all-Big Ten squad.
Welcome Back
After missing all of last season because of a left wrist injury, Michael Morgan will compete for the Buckeyes once again. Morgan earned All-America and all-Big Ten honors as a junior. He was 10th in the all-around at the NCAA Championships and was second on the pommel horse and third in the all-around at the conference championships.
Former Buckeye Brings Home Gold
Former Buckeye and current United States National Team member Doug Stibel, who completed his collegiate eligibility last season, turned in an outstanding performance at the Copa Internacional IMSS 1999 V in Acapulco, Mexico in November. Stibel claimed the gold medal in the horizontal bar (9.600) individual event finals and placed fifth (tied) in the all-around (53.500). In other individual event finals, he earned the bronze medal on the floor exercise (9.200) and finished fifth on the still rings (9.200).
Hosting Champions
After making historic St. John Arena its permanent home last season, the men’s gymnastics team will have the honor of hosting the 2001 NCAA Championships in the facility. The National Qualifier will be held April 5, with the National Finals April 6-7. The 13,276-seat venue will give many Columbus residents the opportunity to see top-level NCAA men’s gymnastics.
Another OSU-Olympic Connection
Former OSU head coach Peter Kormann was recently named the head coach of the U.S. men’s gymnastics team for the 2000 Olympic Games. Kormann, an Olympic bronze medalist in 1976, coached the Buckeyes from 1989-1986. He led the Buckeyes to the NCAA title in 1996.
Academic Standouts
The Buckeyes were ranked eighth by the College Gymnastics Association in its National Academic Top 20 men’s gymnastics teams for 1999. The squad had a combined team grade point average of 3.034. Leading the way for the Buckeyes academically were Mike Canales, Tim Elsner, Daren Lynch, Jay Nardelli, Jamie Natalie and Judd Shaffer, who each earned academic all-Big Ten honors. In addition to the players listed above, Adam Elliott, Ben Falkner, Earnest Nelson and Matt Smith assisted the group effort by receiving OSU scholar-athlete accolades.
A New OSU Coach
Former Ohio State All-American Peter Landry has joined the team’s staff as an assistant coach after completing his eligibility last season. Landry was a member of the team from 1996-99 and was a member of the Buckeyes’ 1996 NCAA Championship squad. As a team captain last season, he was one of eight finalists for the prestigious Nissen Award, given to the outstanding senior collegiate gymnast in the country. Landry will oversee the entire recruiting process for the Buckeyes.
More Buckeyes Coaching Buckeyes
Five current Buckeyes were coached by former OSU gymnasts prior to coming to Ohio State: Jamie Natalie was coached by Thad Abbott (1993) at Prestige Gymnastics in Delaware, Earnest Nelson by Jim Knopp (90-93) of Flippers in Texas, Matthew Smith by Jason Mazzurco (91-94) at USA Gymnastics World in Utah, Ben Falkner by Peter Bastien (91-94) at the Ellis School of Gymnastics in Massachusetts and Dick Huntwork by Mike Serra (1988) at Hocking Valley Gymnastics in Ohio.
A World Traveler
Freshman Michael Evans was one of six members of the U.S. Junior National Team chosen to represent the United States at an international competition in Kiev, Ukraine. He was selected based on his performance at a national team training camp in November. Evans will be competing in the Ukraine from Dec. 5 through Dec. 15.
“This is a great opportunity for Michael to represent both Ohio State and the U.S. in an international event,” head coach Miles Avery said.
The U.S. National Team
Ohio State has a proud tradition of not only sending representatives to the Olympic Games, but of having those athletes perform extremely well for their country. In the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta Blaine Wilson and Kip Simons were members of the U.S. squad that finished fifth. Simons was a two-time World Championships team member and was a member of the gold-medal Pan American Games team in 1995.
Wilson, the only U.S. gymnast to claim four-consecutive national titles, is one of the United States’ top medal hopefuls at the 2000 Games in Sydney.
Ohio State has been represented recently at the John Hancock U.S. Gymnastics Championships by a number of different gymnasts. Last summer current Buckeyes Natalie, Nardelli and Bhavsar all competed in the senior event, while Evans and Huntwork competed in the junior division. Former Buckeye Doug Stibel was named to the U.S. National Team after finishing in the top 14 at the championships.
College Gymnastics Association 2000 Preseason Poll 1. Michigan 2. Ohio State 3. Nebraska 4. Oklahoma Penn State 6. Illinois 7. Iowa 8. Cal-Berkeley 9. Stanford 10. Brigham Young 11. Michigan State 12. Massachusetts Temple 14. Illinois-Chicago 15. Minnesota 16. Army 17. Air Force 18. Cal-Santa Barbara 19. William & Mary 20. Navy
Ohio State by the Numbers
1: Number of times Ohio State has been the NCAA runner-up (1999)
2: Number of NCAA Championships Ohio State has won
3: Number of Buckeye Nissen-Emery Award winners (Kip Simons, Blaine Wilson, Mike Racanelli)
5: Number of Ohio State Olympians (Atlanta, 1996: Simons, Wilson, Peter Kormann, Miles Avery (U.S.A.), Seoul, 1988: Gil Pinto (Brazil)
7: Number of times Ohio State has made the national team finals since 1938, Number of times Ohio State has won the Big Ten Championship
16: Number of NCAA Championships
19: Number of consecutive years Ohio State has been to the NCAA Championship, number of Ohio State gymnasts named academic all-Big Ten
46: Number of Ohio State Big Ten champions
47: Number of Ohio State scholar-athletes
66: Number of NCAA All-Americans
