Buckeyes to Compete in National Championships – Ohio State Buckeyes
7/20/2000 12:00:00 AM | General, Men's Gymnastics
July 20, 2000
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Four Ohio State men’s gymnasts, including two current team members, will compete in the 2000 John Hancock U.S. National Championships, July 26-28 in St. Louis. Current Buckeyes Jamie Natalie (Sr., Hockessin, Del.) and Raj Bhavsar (So., Dallas, Texas) will join former Buckeyes and current U.S. National Team members Blaine Wilson and Doug Stibel in the competition.
The senior men’s all-around preliminaries and event finals will be held at 8 p.m. (EST) July 26, with the all-around finals at 8 p.m. (EST) July 28. Of the 40 gymnasts competing in the national championships, the top 14 will advance to the 2000 U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Boston, Aug. 17-20.
At the Olympic Trials, four gymnasts will make the Olympic Team based on their cumulative scores at the U.S. Championships and Olympic Trials. The scores will be determined by using 20 percent of the gymnast’s score from the U.S. Championships all-around preliminary, 20 percent from the U.S. Championships all-around finals, 30 percent from the Olympic Trials all-around preliminary and 30 percent from the Olympic Trials all-around finals. The fifth and sixth members of the Olympic Team and the two alternates will be selected from among the competitors at the Olympic Trials by USA Gymnastics’ Men’s Program Committee in consultation with the Olympic Team coaching staff and approved by the president of USA Gymnastics.
Miles Avery, Ohio State head coach, serves as the coach for Natalie, Bhavsar and Stibel.
“The guys are doing well,” Avery said. “I’m pleased with where they are right now. They’re ready for the championships.”
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-America, won the all-around and floor exercise titles at the 2000 NCAA Championships while Bhavsar, the 2000 Big Ten Freshman of the Year, was named to the All-America team after placing third on the parallel bars.
The John Hancock U.S. Gymnastics Championships will be broadcast on NBC at 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 5.
