No. 2 Men’s Gymnastics Host Alumni in Preseason Tune-Up – Ohio State Buckeyes
1/4/2000 12:00:00 AM | General, Men's Gymnastics
Jan. 4, 2000
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State men’s gymnastics team has its final tune-up for the regular season with the Alumni Exhibition on Saturday in Larkins Hall at 2 p.m.
The Alumni Exhibition
Former Buckeye All-Americans Doug Stibel, Tim Elsner and Peter Landry, as well as other standout alumni will return to the Ohio State gym to compete in the Alumni Exhibition. The 2000 edition of the Buckeyes, including returning All-Americans Michael Morgan and Jamie Natalie, will compete against the alumni in the meet to prepare for the upcoming regular season.
Buckeyes No. 2 in the Nation
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 rated 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 and No. 10 Brigham Young this season.
Freshmen Shine in Mixed Pairs
Buckeye freshman Raj Bhavsar teamed with women’s team freshman Sarah Spring to claim the title at the seventh-annual Mixed Pairs Championship in St. John Arena December 3. Other standouts for the Buckeyes included Jay Nardelli on the high bar and Jamie Natalie on the pommel horse.
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.
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.
Record-Setters
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.
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 be competing 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 quality 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.
