First Qualifying Session Ends at NCAA Championships – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/5/2001 12:00:00 AM | General, Men's Gymnastics
April 5, 2001
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Oklahoma, California and Penn State placed in the Top 3 in Session I of the NCAA National Qualifers of the Men’s Gymnastics Championships to earn a spot in the team finals. Oklahoma scored 218.300, the highest score in the nation this season, to place first. The team finals, as well as the all-around finals, will be at 7 p.m. Friday in St. John Arena.
California was second with 214.550 and Penn State was third (213.625). Illinois (212.050), UMass (208.700) and Temple (203.400) did not qualify for the team championships.
In addition to the team qualifiers, a number of individuals qualified for the session Friday, which also includes individual preliminaries. In the all-around, Leo Oka of Illinois, Jason Hardabura of Nebraska, the 1999 NCAA all-around champion, and Alex Weber of Temple advanced. Individual qualifiers in each event are listed at the bottom of this release.
Session II of the NCAA National Qualifiers, including Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Iowa, Minnesota and Stanford, will be at 7 tonight in St. John Arena.
2001 NCAA Men’s Gymnastics Championship National Qualifier, Session I April 5, 2001, 1 p.m. St. John Arena, Columbus, Ohio
Team Results 1. Oklahoma, 218.300 2. California, 214.550 3. Penn State, 213.625 4. Illinois, 212.050 5. UMass, 208.700 6. Temple, 203.400
All-Around Top Finisher and Individual Qualifiers 1. Cody Moore, California (54.100) Leo Oka, Illinois (52.850) Jason Hardabura, Nebraska (52.575) Alex Weber, Temple (51.750)
Floor Top Finisher and Individual Qualifiers 1. Brendan O’Neil, Oklahoma (9.475) Bryan McNulty, UMass (9.400) Richard Maguire, Temple (9.300) Matt Eckerman, Army (9.150)
Pommel Horse Top Finisher and Individual Qualifiers 1. Josh Landis, Oklahoma (9.450) Patrick McFarlin, UMass (9.300) Brian Peterson, UMass (9.150) Justin Hammar, UMass (8.650)
Rings Top Finisher and Individual Qualifiers 1. Chris Lakeman, Penn State (9.550) 1. Brett Covey, Oklahoma (9.550) Linh Hoang, Illinois (9.300) John Ketchen, Illinois (9.050) Grant Clinton, Nebraska (9.000)
Vault Top Finisher and Individual Qualifiers 1. Andrew Hampy, California (9.400) Troy Pazcoguin, Army (9.200) Linh Hoang, Illinois (9.200) Bob Spelic, Illinois (9.150)
Parallel Bars Top Finisher and Individual Qualifiers 1. Cody Moore, California (9.300) Bob Spelic, Illinois (8.825) Linh Hoang, Illinois (8.800) Grant Clinton, Nebraska (8.800)
High Bar Top Finisher and Individual Qualifiers 1. Michael Ashe, California (9.500) Jon Ham, Illinois (8.850) Scott Wetterling, Illinois (8.850) Greg Cook, Illinois (8.750)
2001 NCAA Men’s Gymnastics National Qualifiers (Session I)
The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
Post-Meet Press Conference Quotes
April 5, 2001
Mark Williams, Oklahoma head coach
“The last two meets our scores have gone up by at least 50 points. Today was an easy day compared to the last few days of training. Tomorrow, we’ll come in and stretch and I’ll tell the team all the reasons we’re going to win.”
Gabe Hansen, Oklahoma senior
“We probably have the top guy on every event on our team, so it’s like a competition just between ourselves. The last three weeks, we’ve had the high scores in the nation, we feel like nobody can stop us.”
Randy Jepson, Penn State head coach
“We achieved our aim, we’re in it. We wanted to be in the mix today. Just like last year, anything can happen. We had great leadership from Dominic Brindle and Matt Abboud. Dom was very solid and he hit some high scores. Matt had a great meet for us. We need that kind of guy to kick start the meet, he was terrific.”
Barry Weiner, California head coach
“We had a bad meet but we didn’t fall apart. We hung together. Oklahoma can contend at their best. In order for us to contend, we will have to be at our very very best. I’m excited we advanced.”
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