Buckeyes Rank Second Nationally in CGA Academic Standings – Ohio State Buckeyes
7/23/2008 12:00:00 AM | General, Men's Gymnastics
Ten Buckeyes receive first-team CGA All-America Scholar-Athlete honors
COLUMBUS, Ohio The Ohio State men’s gymnastics team nominated the most first-team College Gymnastics Association (CGA) All-America Scholar-Athletes by any gymnastics program in the country this year but placed second in the 2008 National Academic Team standing, the CGA announced Wednesday. With a collective grade point average (GPA) of 3.415, the Buckeyes were just .006 behind 2008 CGA academic champions William & Mary (3.421). In 2007, Ohio State, led by head coach Miles Avery, won its first CGA national academic team honor, posting the highest mark of any Division I NCAA team with a 3.4 GPA.
“This team once again has given us so much to be proud of,” Avery, who enters his 11th season at the helm of the Ohio State program in the 2008-09 season, said. “It is without a doubt a tremendous accomplishment for our team and university that this gymnastics team can compete at the highest level in the gym and in the classroom year after year. Our second-place finish is still a great place to finish between strong academic universities like William & Mary and MIT.”
This past academic year resulted in the closest finish between the Top 3 gymnastics team in the academic standings since the inception of the award in 1991 with just .014 separating No. 1 from No. 3. Trailing William & Mary and Ohio State in third was MIT with a 3.407 team GPA. Big Ten rivals in the nation’s Top 10 included Michigan in fifth and Illinois in eighth.
“As a team, it is always one of our goals to be among the best academically,” Pejman Ebrahimi, a native of Encino, Calif., said. “We took great pride winning the title last year. To come in second this year and again improve our team GPA is amazing. When you enroll at Ohio State, you take on a response as a student-athlete to make sure you do what you need to do in order to represent your university in all facets.”
The Buckeyes had the most gymnasts from any program nab first-team CGA All-America Scholar-Athlete honors with 10 gymnasts securing a GPA of 3.5 or higher. Senior-to-be Jake Bateman and Ohio State graduates Tony Duong and Jimmy Wickham earned their third-consecutive first-team honors. Also named to the first team were Michael Bell, Kevin Brown, Ebrahimi, Eddie Hay, Justin Myers, Andy Saurber and Shachar Tal. Tabbed as a second-team selection was DJ Bucher who finished his notable collegiate career as a six-time All-American and 2008 Nissen-Emery Award finalist.
2008 CGA National Academic Team Rankings
1. William & Mary 3.421
2. Ohio State 3.415
3. MIT 3.407
4. Stanford 3.28
5. Michigan 3.253
6. Springfield 3.176
7. Temple 3.171
8. Illinois 3.124
9. Navy 3.107
10. Nebraska 3.021
