Ohio State’s Lynch and Bhavsar Win Individual Event Titles – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/7/2001 12:00:00 AM | General, Men's Gymnastics
April 7, 2001
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The day after winning the team title, Buckeyes won two of six individual event championships in the final day of the 2001 NCAA Men’s Gymnastics Championships. Daren Lynch (Sr., Londonderry, N.H.) and Raj Bhavsar (So., Houston, Texas) captured titles on vault and parallel bars, respectively. Lynch recorded a 9.500 to win his event by .125 points. Bhavsar’s 9.412 on vault was .162 points above his closest competitor.
Minnesota’s Clay Strother won floor exercise (9.525) and pommel horse (9.662), while Penn State’s Chris Lakeman and California’s Michael Ashe took first on rings and high bar, respectively. The Top 6 finishers in each event receive All-America honors.
“It’s a different atmosphere from the team finals,” Lynch said. “We are a team and I think we compete better as a team. There were only four of us on the floor today and I think that had an effect. But I’m a competitor. I just go out and do the best I can. I wasn’t able to pull off the rings like I wanted to, but I got my vault title so I’m happy with that.”
Jamie Natalie (Sr., Hockessin, Del.), the NCAA all-around champion and 2001 Nissen-Emery award winner, finished third on parallel bars (9.137) and fourth on floor (9.200) to claim two All-America distinctions.
“I have no regrets,” Natalie said. “I didn’t do as well as I would have wanted, but this is my last time in St. John Arena as a Buckeye, so I wanted to have fun one way or another. Today was just for fun. Yesterday was the big goal.”
Bhavsar also took fourth on vault with a score o f 9.200, bringing Ohio State’s total All-America awards to five for the night. Ohio State also netted five All-America awards in 2000, with Natalie, Lynch and Bhavsar each winning awards that season. Dick Huntwork (So., Pickerington, Ohio) barely missed recording his first All-America award, finishing seventh on parallel bars with a score of 8.437. Lynch’s vault title was the first for a Buckeye since Blaine Wilson won the event in 1997. Bhavsar’s victory on parallel bars was the first for an Ohio State gymnast since 1996, when Wilson won the title. Natalie’s two All-America awards brings his personal total to seven, making him the third most accomplished Buckeye gymnast in school history behind Wilson and Mike Racanelli, who each won 10. Lynch has been named an All-America on vault three-consecutive years, placing fifth, sixth and first, respectively. Bhavsar has won All-America honors on parallel bars in each of his first two seasons, placing third in 2000 and first in 2001.
2001 NCAA Men’s Gymnastics Championships Individual Event Finals April 7, 2001, 7 p.m. St. John Arena, Columbus, Ohio
Top finishers and Ohio State results
Floor Exercise 1. Clay Stother, Minnesota (9.525) 4. Jamie Natalie, Ohio State (9.200)
Pommel Horse 1. Clay Stother, Minnesota (9.662) 9. Jamie Natalie, Ohio State (8.062)
Rings 1. Chris Lakeman, Penn State (9.550) 9. Daren Lynch, Ohio State (8.925)
Vault 1. Daren Lynch, Ohio State (9.500) 4. Raj Bhavsar, Ohio State (9.200) 8. Jamie Natalie, Ohio State (8.775)
Parallel Bars 1. Raj Bhavsar, Ohio State (9.412) 3. Jamie Natalie, Ohio State (9.137) 7. Dick Huntwork, Ohio State (8.437)
High Bar 1. Michael Ashe, California (9.512) 7. Jamie Natalie, Ohio State (8.825)
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