Ohio State Gymnastics Competes in Mixed Pairs Championship – Ohio State Buckeyes
11/30/2005 12:00:00 AM | General, Men's Gymnastics
Nov. 30, 2005
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State’s men’s and women’s gymnastics teams will preview their 2006 season at 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 4 in the 2005 co-ed mixed pairs championship at 2 p.m. in St. John Arena. Eight teams of one women’s and one men’s gymnast were randomly selected to compete in the event. The pairs will compete in three rotations, using the combined total score to determine the winner.
PARTNER PAIR-UPS
Eight gymnasts from both the men’s and women’s squad will participate in the meet Sunday. Pairs include, Emily Sineway and DJ Bucher, Kaylin Schlect and Ron Ferris, Brittany Brown and Willie Ito, Helina Manesis and Grant Osborne, Maalika Moore and Kris Kline, Kaylan Clevinger and Nic Searcy, Alyssa Meyer and Mike Marino, and Amanda Surine and Jake Bateman.
QUEST FOR THE TITLE
Maalika Moore, the 2004 mixed pair’s runner-up will look to improve her combined score of 55.560 to be crowned the 2005 champion. Karley Walek, who combined with former Buckeye Kerry Adderly to win the 2004 mixed pairs championship, will not be competing Sunday. Juniors Willie Ito and Grant Osborne look to improve their standings this year from the 2004 respective second and third place finishes.
FAGAN ON THE WEEKEND
“We are really excited to see the team in action on Sunday in a competitive situation at St. John Arena,” Carey Fagan, Ohio State Women’s head coach, said. “This meet is a really fun event for the men’s and women’s team. The pairs are always very competitive in the gym the week before the meet and it is fun to see the men and women collaborate for this event. In the past, we have done eliminations after each round of competitions, but this year, we decided to have each pair progress through all the rounds, and the winner will be determined by highest pair total. This way, we will get to see a lot more gymnastics from each gymnast.”
OSU MEN’S IN THE RANKINGS
The Ohio State men’s gymnastics team tied Illinois for the No. 2 spot in the 2005-06 preseason coaches’ poll released by GymInfo. Oklahoma, defending national champion, earned the No. 1 spot, followed by Ohio State and Illinois.
Head coach Miles Avery is confident in the returning and fresh talent of the men’s squad.
“We are going to be better than last year,” Avery said. “We are strong and have more depth on this squad.”
MEN’S OUTLOOK
Ohio State looks to make a strong challenge for the top spot in the Big Ten this season with 12 returning lettermen, including four seniors. Three new freshmen will also be looked upon to bring in top scores for the Buckeyes.
With 11 of the 18 Buckeyes being freshmen or sophomores, veteran success and leadership will be vital. Captain Emily Sineway, a senior from Norcross, Ga., plans to lead by example for Ohio State and is considered one of Ohio State’s most consistent performers on balance beam.
Being one of the two returning members with postseason competition experience in the NCAA Central Region Championships and missing the NCAA National Championships by .25 of a point, senior Kaylin Schlecht hopes to finish her final year as a Buckeye strong. Last year Schlecht scored a 9.900 on the uneven bars, which was OSU’s best performance of the 2004-05 season.
Senior Brittany Brown, along with Schlecht, will be a factor in the all-around. Leah Boccaccio, from Enfield, Conn., will look to return to the bar rotation for her senior year.
Juniors Elizabeth Ahlberg, a vault and floor specialist, and Brittany Livingston, an uneven bars specialist, will also be back in action for the Buckeyes.
Sophomore Karley Walek, who also saw postseason competition during the 2004-05 season, should return to the lineup by mid season. Walek led the team last year on the vault with a 9.900, tied on the floor exercise with a 9.850 and led the all-around with a score of 39.100.
Clevinger will add depth in the vault and on the floor exercise, also competing for a spot in the balance beam line-up. Helina Manesis and Maalika Moore-Thomas showed a strong start during their freshman campaign. Megan Flood will be a factor on the uneven bars and vault.
RETURNING MEN’S GYMNASTS
Ohio State returns 11 letterwinners from the team that earned second place at the NCAA men’s gymnastics championships last year, including senior three-time All-American and 2005 NCAA high bar champion, Ronald Ferris. In addition, three-time All-American sophomore DJ Bucher returns in 2005 after earning a spot on the U.S. Men’s Gymnastics Senior National Team in August and competing at the World Championship Team trials in October.
Other key Buckeye returnees include juniors Willie Ito and Grant Osborne. Ito supported the team’s second place NCAA championships efforts tying former Buckeye Randy Monahan on high bar with a score of 9.9 and Osborne tied for 14th on floor and pommel horse. For Ohio State, juniors Kris Kline and Nic Searcy are expected to again lead the squad in the floor exercise during to 2005-06 season.
The sophomore class creates the bulk of the Buckeye line-up. Returning to the squad include Pejman Ebrahimi, Mike Marino, David Ortiz, Pedro Pineda and Jimmy Wickham. Tony Duong joins the team this year to increase Ohio State’s depth on the pommel horse, vault and parallel bars.
WOMEN GYMNASTS MAKING THEIR DEBUT
Freshmen Alyssa Meyer, Amanda Surine and Julie Ahlberg will make their debut Sunday for the Buckeyes. Meyer and Surine are in a pair, while Ahlberg will compete on the balance beam during the first intermission round.
MEN’S 2006 FRESHMAN CLASS
Ohio State adds six new faces to its squad including two Junior Olympic event finalists in Jake Bateman and Eddie Hay. The remaining four compromising the freshman class are Kevin Brown, Marcelino Guerra, Mike Jenkins and Andrew Saurber.Kevin Brown from Pepper Pike, Ohio, earned Academic All-American and second-team all-conference honors with West Side Gymnastics. Marcelino Guerra, a native from Saginaw, Mich., is a three-time Junior Olympic National qualifier.Hailing from Lafayette, Colo., Mike Jenkins placed fourth on parallel bars at the Junior Olympics in 2003 and has been a member on the regional team from 1999-2005. Hamilton, Ohio, native, Andy Saurber, was a two-time regional team member and all-around finalist at the Junior Olympic Championships.
WOMEN’S COACHING STAFF
Head coach Carey Fagen will start her second year at Ohio State. She will again be assisted by Bill Lorenz and Jay Santos, both in their second season as a Buckeye coach.
AVERY RETURNS FOR NINTH YEAR
Entering their ninth year under the direction of head coach Miles Avery, the Buckeyes have consistently been among the nation’s elite. Under Avery’s guidance, Ohio State has produced one NCAA title, three Big Ten titles, three NCAA all-around championship titles, seven NCAA individual event champions and 14 All-Americans. Additionally, Avery has helped OSU extend its record streak of NCAA appearances to 25.
Joining Avery on the coaching staff for the 2005-06 season is former Buckeye Doug Stibel in his fifth year as an assistant coach and former Buckeye Raj Bhavsar begins his second year as volunteer assistant coach. Two-time world champion (1983 and ’87) Dmitri Bilozertchev enters into his first year as assistant coach at Ohio State.
