No. 3 Ohio State To Compete in Big Ten Championships – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/16/2004 12:00:00 AM | General, Men's Gymnastics
March 16, 2004
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – The No. 3 Ohio State men’s gymnastics team will compete in the 2004 Big Ten Championships Friday and Saturday at Huff Hall in Champaign, Ill. The University of Illinois will play host to the six Big Ten teams vying for the championship.
The Buckeyes look to capture their third conference title in four years, as they won the Big Ten title in 2001 and 2002.
Junior Randy Monahan will defend his all-around title. Should Monahan win, he would be the first Buckeye since Blaine Wilson to win two consecutive conference all-around titles. Wilson claimed the all-around in 1996 and 1997.
LIVE SCORING
Live scoring will be available at www.bigten.org. Scores will be updated at the end of each rotation.
GETTING THERE
Tickets to the 2004 Big Ten Championships may be purchased at the University of Illinois Ticket Office at 1-866-ILLINI-1 or by logging onto www.fightingillini.com.
Both Session I and II are $5 for adults and $2 for students.
RANKING SYSTEM
The ranking system in men’s gymnastics uses the three score average, which means selecting the highest four scores, counting no more than two home scores. The system then eliminates the best of the four and averages the remaining three.
BUCKEYES IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
As the No. 3 team in the nation, Ohio State has a team average of 217.317. The Buckeyes also are No. 3 on two events – parallel bars (35.808) and high bar (37.083).
Junior Randy Monahan remains the top national all-arounder with an average score of 55.275 per meet. Sophomore Ronald Ferris is the No. 3 pommel horse competitor in the nation, averaging 9.467.
BUCKEYES IN THE BIG TEN
The Buckeyes are second in the conference and remain in the Top 3 on five events. OSU is second in the Big Ten on parallel bars and high bar, averaging 35.808 and 37.083 points, respectively. Ohio State also is third in the conference on pommel horse (36.183), rings (36.4) and vault (36.967).
Identical to his national standing, Randy Monahan remains the top all-around competitor in the conference. Monahan also is first on vault (9.467), in addition to being second and third on rings (9.592) and high bar (9.6), respectively.
Ronald Ferris is No. 3 on pommel horse and junior Kerry Adderly claims the No. 3 spot for parallel bars, averaging 9.050 points per meet.
SCOUTING THE BIG TEN
Five Big Ten teams occupy Top 10 rankings according to the March 15 Gym Info. poll. The standings are led by No. 1 Illinois, followed by No. 3 Ohio State, No. 4 Penn State, No. 6 Iowa, No. 7 Michigan and No. 11 Minnesota.
ILLINOIS
Earlier in the season, Illinois (8-4; 2-2 Big Ten) took second at the Windy City, scoring a 214.425. Next, Illinois traveled to State College, Pa., where it was upset by then-No. 5 Penn State, 212.775-219.150. Illinois bounced back with a victory over then-No. 8 Minnesota. The Fighting Illini have completed the regular season winning three of their last four competitions and although they fell to No. 2 Oklahoma in their regular season finale, Illinois recorded a team season high score of 221.975.
Individually, Justin Spring is a two-time All-American and has won Big Ten Gymnast of the Week accolades five times this season, the most out of any Big Ten competitor for 2004. A participant at the Winter Cup Challenge Feb. 6-7, Spring advanced to the high bar final, where he placed fourth.
PENN STATE
Penn State (15-1; 2-1 Big Ten) began its season by dominating then-No. 13 Army and Springfield, 215.6-206.55-195.15. The Nittany Lions won all six events in the competition, scoring a 35.2 or higher.
PSU continued its early season success by upsetting then-No. 3 Illinois, 219.15-212.775. After falling to Michigan, Penn State rebounded by claiming its seventh consecutive West Point Open and then winning five consecutive meets to finish out the regular season.
Individually, the Nittany Lions are led by seniors Zach Roeder and Kevin Tan. Roeder has claimed eight first-place finishes on floor and pommel horse combined. Roeder’s most impressive mark was his 9.825 on pommel horse against Temple Feb. 14.
As the defending NCAA and Big Ten rings champion, Tan won the rings competition against Michigan and Army, scoring a 9.9. Further dominating the rings event, Tan captured the Winter Cup Challenge rings title, recording a 9.875 and remains undefeated on the apparatus this season. Because of his performance in Las Vegas at the Winter Cup, Tan was awarded Big Ten Gymnast of the Week honors Feb. 11.
As the second Nittany Lion to garner Big Ten weekly accolades, Chad Buczek was honored Feb. 25 after placing in the Top 3 in four events and helping Penn State upset then-No. 4 Ohio State. The award is Buczek’s first of his career.
IOWA
Standing at 14-6 and 2-1 in the Big Ten, Iowa has repeatedly posted school team records throughout the season on as many as four events – high bar (35.250), rings (36.775), vault (37.075) and floor exercise (37.325).
The Hawkeyes recorded a team record of 217.75 against then-No. 11 Nebraska and during that same meet junior Linas Gaveika posted a school record 9.8 on high bar. Gaveika also recorded a 53.95 in the all-around against Illinois-Chicago and Arizona State, which is a team record since the new scoring system was implemented in 2001. In addition to Gaveika’s success during the UIC and ASU meet, as a team, Iowa swept all six events.
MICHIGAN
Michigan has compiled an 8-5 record, including a 6-3 mark in the Big Ten. UM is led by a pair of sophomores in Andrew DiGiore and Justin Laury. DiGiore, the 2003 NCAA vault champion was a part of a Wolverine squad that helped Michigan upset then-No. 1 Penn State earlier this year. With UM’s victory over PSU, the Maize and Blue halted the Nittany Lions’ unbeaten streak.
Justin Laury recorded a school-record 55.150 in the all-around during the Wolverines’ competition against then-No. 3 Oklahoma, then- No. 9 Minnesota and No. 8 Nebraska. Because of Laury’s efforts in the meet, he was named the Big Ten’s Co-Gymnast of the Week for Feb. 25. Laury’s honor was the first for UM this season. Laury was UM’s lone event qualifier during the Winter Cup Challenge ( Feb. 6-7), finishing sixth on high bar (9.075).
MINNESOTA
During its 2004 campaign Minnesota (2-14; 0-4 Big Ten) upset then No. 8 Nebraska, 212.725-215.60, March 6 and posted a team season high score of 215.600 Feb. 28 against then-No. 7 Iowa.
The Golden Gophers boast junior Guillermo Alvarez, who at the Winter Cup Challenge, Feb. 6-7, finished fifth on floor in the event finals, scoring a 9.275. Alvarez has won four all-around titles during the 2004 season.
HOULE NAMED A NISSEN-EMERY AWARD FINALIST
Senior Jamey Houle is a finalist for the Nissen-Emery Award which is annually presented to the outstanding senior male collegiate gymnast in the nation.
The winner will be announced at the NCAA banquet. Ohio State is tied for first in the nation with Oklahoma with four honorees since 1990.
RECORD SETTER
Buckeye junior Randy Monahan’s all-around score of 56.50 against Minnesota was the highest in the NCAA since the new scoring rules were implemented at the beginning of the 2001 season. The previous high was 56.35, set by Daniel Furney of Oklahoma.
FIRST PLACE FINISHES
Thus far in the 2004 season, Ohio State has recorded 22 first-place finishes on the six different events, as well as six all-around victories in seven meets.
OSU has compiled three floor and pommel horse titles, five rings titles, two vault titles, four parallel bars titles and five high bar titles.
FACES IN THE CROWD
The Feb. 16, 2004 issue of Sports Illustrated featured junior Randy Monahan in its “Faces in the Crowd’ section.
Monahan was selected after he helped lead then-No. 1 Ohio State to victories over Illinois, 220.20-219.00, and Minnesota, 217.100-210.250. During the competition against the Golden Gophers, Monahan recorded a NCAA-high 56.500 in the all-around and later was named the national gymnast of the week by the publication Inside Gymnastics.
BIG TEN HONORS
Ohio State junior Randy Monahan was named the Big Ten Gymnast and Co-Gymnast of the Week three times during the 2004 season. Monahan was first awarded Jan. 14 for his performance in the Windy City Invitational Jan. 10 in Chicago, Ill. During the meet Monahan captured the rings and high bar titles, scoring a 9.50 and a 9.65, respectively. Monahan also captured the first of his six all-around titles.
Monahan’s second honor came during the week of Jan. 21 after the Minnesota meet at St. John Arena.
Claiming the all-around title with a score of 56.5, Monahan surpassed the former NCAA all-around record of 56.35.
Monahan’s last award was shared with Justin Spring of Illinois. He was awarded following his performance against Illinois Jan. 31 at St. John Arena.
Monahan placed first in the all-around with a 55.350, his second-highest tally this season behind the NCAA record of 56.50 he set earlier this year. Monahan completed the competition with a career-high 9.750 on floor to finish first. Setting another career high on rings (9.7), Monahan claimed that event as well.
MAKE IT SEVEN
Randy Monahan continues his dominance in the all-around competition, as he won his seventh all-around against Michigan March 13 at Cliff Keen Arena in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Monahan betters the five consecutive all-around victories compiled by former Buckeye Raj Bhavsar in 2002.
TOP TEAM SCORE
With its team winning score of 220.20 over Illinois Jan. 31 at St. John Arena, Ohio State obtained the highest tally in the nation for the week. The Buckeyes score also was a team season high.
During the 2003 campaign, OSU posted its then-season high team score against Illinois at Champaign, Ill., as well.
2004 TEAM CAPTAINS
Senior Jamey Houle, along with junior Randy Monahan were voted the 2004 captains by their teammates. Both student-athletes were awarded the honor at the team’s annual tribute to past Buckeye greats in the Varsity Exhibition Jan. 3 at the Steelwood Athletic Training Facility.
RETURNING ALL-AMERICANS
Ohio State returns two All-Americans who look to continue their success in 2004. Junior Kerry Adderly earned All-America honors on floor with a score of 9.312. Randy Monahan garnered the accolade when he placed fourth on the all-around, posting a career-high 54.55.
Both Adderly and Monahan have compiled a career total of two All-America honors.
FIND OUT ON THE WEB
Keep track of the latest men’s gymnastics news, scores and stats by logging on to the official Ohio State athletic website at ohiostatebuckeyes.com.
