Ohio State Wins 2001 NCAA Men’s Gymnastics National Championship – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/6/2001 12:00:00 AM | General, Men's Gymnastics
April 6, 2001
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State won its third NCAA National Championship title, the first since 1996, Friday night at St. John Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The Buckeyes captured first with a team score of 218.125. Oklahoma took second with 217.775 and California finished a point behind (216.775) to take third. Michigan rounded out the Top 4 with a final team score of 216.175.
For the second-consecutive year, Ohio State’s Jamie Natalie, the 2001 Nissen-Emery Award recipient, was the all-around champion with a final score of 55.700. Natalie’s score was a personal-season and NCAA season-best. Ohio State’s Raj Bhavsar took second with 55.150 and Cody Moore of California finished in third place at 54.775. The Top 6 finishers in the all-around final earn All-America honors. Natalie is the first two-time NCAA all-around champion since Ohio State’s Blaine Wilson won in 1996 and ’97.
The top eight finishers in each event (including ties) qualified for the individual event finals at 7 p.m. Saturday at St. John Arena. Individual qualifiers in each event are listed at the bottom of this release.
2001 NCAA Men’s Gymnastics Championships Team Championship, All-Around Finals, Individual Preliminaries April 6, 2001, 7 p.m. St. John Arena, Columbus, Ohio Attendance: 1,691
Final Team Results 1. Ohio State, 218.125 2. Oklahoma, 217.775 3. California, 216.775 4. Michigan, 216.175 5. Penn State, 212.125 6. Michigan State, 211.875
Top Finishers, All-Around Finals 1. Jamie Natalie, Ohio State (55.700) 2. Raj Bhavsar, Ohio State (55.150) 3. Cody Moore, Cal (54.775) 4. Scott Vetere, Michigan (54.500) 5. Clay Strother, Minnesota (54.150) 6. Leo Oka, Illinois (54.075)
Floor Individual Qualifiers 1. Cody Moore, Cal (9.600) 2. Clay Strother, Minnesota (9.350) 3T. Brad Golden, MSU (9.300) 3T. Josh Landis, Oklahoma (9.300) 5. Steve Van Etten, Oklahoma (9.275) 6. Brendan O’Neil, Oklahoma (9.250) 7. Andrew Thornton, Iowa (9.225) 8T. Jamie Natalie, Ohio State (9.200) 8T. Kris Zimmerman, Michigan (9.200) 8T. Tal Moscovitz, Cal (9.200) 8T. Bryan McNulty, UMass (9.200)
Pommel Horse Individual Qualifiers 1T.Clay Strother, Minnesota (9.600) 1T.Jon Plante, MSU (9.600) 3. Josh Landis, Oklahoma (9.400) 4. David Lloyd Eaton, Cal (9.350) 5T. Jamie Natalie, Ohio State (9.300) 5T. Michael Ashe, Cal (9.300) 5T. Steve Van Etten, Oklahoma (9.300) 8T.Daniel Furney, Oklahoma (9.250) 8T.Antonio Cesar, Iowa (9.250)
Rings Individual Qualifiers 1T.Daren Lynch, Ohio State (9.500) 1T.Chris Lakeman, Penn State (9.500) 3. Brett Covey, Oklahoma (9.450) 4. Linh Hoang, Illinois (9.400) 5T.Scott Vetere, Michigan (9.300) 5T.Kevin Tan, Penn State (9.300) 7T.Leo Oka, Illinois (9.250) 7T.Conan Parzuchowski, Michigan (9.250) 7T.Marshall Erwin, Stanford (9.250)
Vault Individual Qualifiers 1. Jamie Natalie, Ohio State (9.375) 2. Raj Bhavsar, Ohio State (9.350) 3T.Brad Golden, MSU (9.325) 3T.Dan Gill, Stanford (9.325) 3T.Jay Kim, Penn State (9.325) 6. Brad Kenna, Michigan (9.275) 7T.Dominic Brindle, Penn State (9.250) 7T.Daren Lynch, Ohio State (9.250)
Parallel Bars Individual Qualifiers 1. Raj Bhavsar, Ohio State (9.650) 2. Jamie Natalie, Ohio State (9.225) 3. Cody Moore, Cal (9.125) 4. Daniel Furney, Oklahoma (9.025) 5T.Scott Vetere, Michigan (9.000) 5T.Kris Zimmerman, Michigan (9.000) 7. Daniel Diaz-Loung, Michigan (8.975) 8. Dick Huntwork, Ohio State (8.925)
High Bar Individual Qualifiers 1. Cody Moore, Cal (9.500) 2. Michael Ashe, Cal (9.450) 3. Jamie Natalie, Ohio State (9.400) 4. Kris Zimmerman, Michigan (9.300) 5. Ryan Hillyer, Oklahoma (9.250) 6T.Scott Vetere, Michigan (9.200) 6T.Daniel Diaz-Loung, Michigan (9.200) 8T.David Lloyd Eaton, Cal (9.100) 8T.Steve Van Etten, Oklahoma (9.100)
2001 NCAA Men’s Gymnastics Championships
Team Championship, All-Around Finals,
Individual Preliminaries
April 6, 2001, 7 p.m.
St. John Arena, Columbus, Ohio
Post-meet quotes
Ohio State head coach Miles Avery:
“Yesterday we had only one goal, not to finish fourth. I said we would put out our best team tonight and we definitely did that. I’m so proud of these guys. We didn’t have our best meet, but fortunately that wasn’t necessary to win this title.”
(On motivating the team)
“I didn’t really have to do anything. Everyone knows what this means. Our seniors have never lost at home and they were saying they didn’t want to start tonight.”
(On Jamie Natalie and Raj Bhavsar, who were the Top 2 all-around finishers)
“Jamie and Raj carried us all night long. When someone else didn’t do that well, they stepped right up. I knew they had the talent to finish one and two in the all-around competition. They just did a great job.”
(On his first national title as head coach)
“This is special. The program is under your tutelage and you want to see it prosper. The tradition here is something else. We haven’t finished lower than third in the Big Ten in 15 years and this is the 21st-consecutive year we’ve been to the national championships. Really, this is almost a source of relief. It’s certainly humbling to know that it’s not as easy as it seems.”
(On the final rotation)
“These guys did a great job vaulting. This is our highest score of the season on vault. These guys all stepped up. I was a little bit nervous with Oklahoma on rings. I didn’t know which would come out on top, their rings or our vault.”
Daren Lynch (Sr., Ohio State):
“We were focused. We knew we had one goal and we went straight for it.”
Raj Bhavsar (So., Ohio State):
“When I started getting serious about doing gymnastics, I imagined a set of train tracks. Every step was a part of that track. I chose a college about a year and a half back and I couldn’t have made a better choice. This really boosts your confidence.”
Jamie Natalie (Sr., Ohio State):
“I couldn’t have asked for a better ending. We’re the team champs. And winning it at home is so much better. This is one heck of a week for me.”
“We knew it just came down to doing what we had to do. We struggled on high bar, but we’ve had experience several times in the season when we’d struggle on one event or another. We’ve learned how to keep going through a bad rotation and pick it up in the next rotation. The crowd definitely picked us up and helped carry us tonight. We picked it up on floor and horse, then we rocked the last two events to win it.”
California head coach Barry Weiner:
“I’m really proud of our team. We had our season best score by two points. It’s the fifth-consecutive time we’ve had our highest score of the season in our last meet.
“This is one of the greatest gymnastics competitions in terms of a team competition. I’ve been to the Olympics and national championships. This is as exciting as anything in the world.”
Oklahoma head coach Mark Williams:
“I have to congratulate Ohio State. They had the meet of their lives. We tried to put some pressure on them, but Ohio State was just better today. They really put an end to it with a great vault. I’m proud this was such an exciting championship. It came down to the very end. I’m proud of the fan participation.
(on Jamie Natalie and Raj Bhavsar)
“Jamie and Raj were one and two in the all-around competition and that was huge. We didn’t have an all-arounder that could compete with them. Also, their teammates stepped up right behind them. I thought we had enough depth, but their other players negated our depth somewhat.
(on Oklahoma’s struggles)
“We were a little rough on parallel bars. We didn’t get ourselves into too much trouble. We had a rough pommel horse. We had a couple guys who struggled, but it wasn’t devastating. Ohio State just had a fantastic day.”
“I absolutely believed we were going to win. I thought we just had a better team. I felt OSU had talent on the front end, but I felt we could put together a classic team. We had no weaknesses. I’m proud of our guys, though. We put up our second highest score of the season and made Ohio State fight for the championship.”
(on the future)
“I expect next year a 218 won’t make it. We’ll have the whole summer to work with the code. Now we know what techniques we have to work on. Next year we’ll all be a lot better. I think we’ll see a 222 winning it. Gymnastics in America is definitely getting better. Our college gymnasts are very far ahead of the rest of the world, I believe. I don’t know that China or Romania can really compete with any of the Top 4 teams that were here tonight.”
