Gymnasts Perform Well at John Hancock U.S. Championships – Ohio State Buckeyes
7/27/2000 12:00:00 AM | General, Men's Gymnastics
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State men’s gymnasts Jamie Natalie (Sr., Hockessin, Del.) and Raj Bhavsar (So., Houston, Texas) each placed among the top 15 gymnasts in the senior men’s all-around preliminary and individual event finals at the 2000 John Hancock U.S. National Championships, yesterday in St. Louis. Former Buckeye and four-time defending national champion Blaine Wilson stands in first place going into the final session.
The preliminary all-around scores carry over into the final session, which will be held at 8 p.m. (EST) Friday in St. Louis. The top 14 gymnasts from the national championships will advance to the 2000 U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Boston, Aug. 17-20, where the Olympic Team members will be determined. Four of the six spots on the Olympic Team will be decided using 40 percent of the gymnast’s score from the national championships and 60 percent of his score from the Olympic Trials. The other two spots will be chosen by committee, but the athletes’ scores in the two competitions will be heavily considered.
Natalie is tied for seventh after scoring a 55.675 in the all-around, a career-high in an Olympic-scoring meet. He tied for the gold medal on the high bar with a 9.650, was tied for sixth on the floor exercise (9.550) and did not place lower than 13th on any event in the session.
Bhavsar finished the opening session in 11th place with a 54.400, also a personal-best in this type of meet. He tied for fourth on the parallel bars (9.500), was fifth on the pommel horse and only scored lower than a 9.100 in one event.
Wilson had a strong showing, as he scored a 58.225 in the all-around and won five event medals. He placed first in the floor exercise (9.725) and the vault (9.925), tied for first on the still rings (9.900) and was third on both the pommel horse (9.600) and the parallel bars (9.600). Sean Townsend stands in second place with a 57.025, over a full point behind Wilson. Former Buckeye Doug Stibel finished the preliminary session in 25th place (50.575). His best events of the day were the vault, where he tied for 14th (9.175), and the pommel horse, where he finished 14th (9.000).
