Gymnasts Compete in All-Around Finals at 2000 Winter Cup Challenge – Ohio State Buckeyes
2/13/2000 12:00:00 AM | General, Men's Gymnastics
Feb. 13, 2000
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State men’s gymnasts Jamie Natalie (Jr., Hockessin, Del.) and Raj Bhavsar (Fr., Houston, Texas) competed in the all-around finals at the 2000 Winter Cup Challenge held at the Pepsi All-Sport Arena in Las Vegas, Nev. on Saturday. The pair had advanced to the finals after placing among the top 36 out of 76 gymnasts in two qualifying rounds held Friday night. The purpose of the event was to identify top male U.S. Olympic hopefuls.
Natalie finished the meet in eighth place (53.650) and for the second year in a row was the highest-placing NCAA gymnast in the event. His score of 9.650 on the floor exercise was the top score on that event in the finals. Natalie had ended the preliminary rounds in 20th place. He narrowly missed earning a spot on the U.S. Senior National Team, as the top three gymnasts placing in the top 10 that are not current members of the team were added to that squad’s roster. Natalie was the fourth gymnast in the top 10 not already on the national team’s roster.
“In the most prestigious event of the year so far, Jamie beat the best collegiate all-arounders in the country,” OSU head coach Miles Avery said. “He represented the NCAA, the Big Ten and Ohio State well.”
Bhavsar placed 28th in the finals after coming out of the preliminaries in 15th place. Former Buckeye and current U.S. National Team member Doug Stibel was 33rd. Stibel tied for third place on the high bar in the individual event finals on Friday night.
Current Buckeyes Michael Evans (Fr., Houston, Texas) and Dick Huntwork (Fr., Pickerington, Ohio) also competed in the Winter Cup Challenge but did not advance to the final round.
The No. 2 Buckeyes will host their last home meet of the season when they host No. 6 Iowa, No. 7 Brigham Young and No. 12 Minnesota Saturday, Feb. 19 at 7 p.m. in St. John Arena.
–GO BUCKS!–
