Buckeyes To Compete in National Qualifier – Ohio State Buckeyes
6/29/2000 12:00:00 AM | General, Men's Gymnastics
June 29, 2000
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Five Ohio State men’s gymnasts, including three current team members, will compete in the 2000 GymJam Men’s National Qualifying Competition, Saturday in Santa Barbara, Calif. Current Buckeyes Jamie Natalie (Sr., Hockessin, Del.), Raj Bhavsar (So., Dallas, Texas) and Daren Lynch (Sr., Londonderry, N.H.) will join former Buckeyes and current U.S. National Team members Blaine Wilson and Doug Stibel in the competition.
The GymJam competition is a qualifier to the 2000 John Hancock U.S. National Championships. Of the 96 gymnasts in the qualifying meet, 30 will advance to the national event, held July 26-29 in St. Louis, Mo. The 13 current U.S. National Team members have already qualified for the national championships, leaving 17 open spots for the remaining gymnasts. The top 14 gymnasts from the national championships will advance to the 2000 U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Boston, Aug. 17-20.
Ohio State head coach Miles Avery serves as the coach for Stibel, Natalie, Bhavsar and Lynch.
“This is the first round to making the Olympic team,” Avery said. “You have to first get out of this meet. Out of almost 100 gymnasts, only 30 advance to the national championships. It’s exciting to be a part of the Olympic Trials process.”
Wilson (1994-97), a 1996 Olympian, is looking to win a record fifth-consecutive USA Gymnastics men’s all-around title. Stibel (1996-99) was a two-time All-America honoree as well as the Big Ten horizontal bar champion in 1999. Natalie, a three-time All-American, won the all-around and floor exercise titles at the 2000 NCAA Championships while Lynch earned All-America honors on the vault for the second-consecutive season. Bhavsar, the 2000 Big Ten Freshman of the Year, was named to the All-America team after placing third on the parallel bars.
–GO BUCKS!–
