No. 6 Ohio State Opens Preseason with Varsity Intrasquad – Ohio State Buckeyes
12/4/2010 12:00:00 AM | General, Men's Gymnastics
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State men’s gymnastics team held its first of four exhibitions Saturday afternoon at Steelwood Training Facility to begin the preseason for the 2011 campaign. The preseason meet was one of five in Columbus for the Buckeyes in the 2011 season leading up the 2011 NCAA Championships held in St. John Arena April 14-16.
The Buckeyes will next see action in The Cup Invitational at 7 p.m. Dec. 12 in Cincinnati, Ohio, and will return the following week for the Scarlet & Gray Intrasquad at 2 p.m. Dec. 16 in St. John Arena before the start of winter break. Ohio State will close the preseason with its final exhibition at 2 p.m. Jan. 8 at Steelwood Training Facility.
Doug Stibel and Blaine Wilson, interim co-head coaches for the Buckeyes, were both pleased with the performance of their team today.
“I thought today was great,” Stibel said. “We got a lot of new routines, a lot of new skills and fresh faces in the gym today and just to get out there perform and feel what it’s like to compete was good for us. Some guys really impressed us and today also showed us where we need to work harder, but in general, a very good day.”
“I think it went great,” Wilson said. “When you come into any preseason event, you are going to have some mistakes, but I thought the guys bonded together today and did a very good job. I’m looking forward to the season. We have a great coaching staff and we are very optimistic for this year.”
With returning All-Americans Brandon Wynn, Philip Onorato and Steven Spencer, the team is full of experience as well as young talent this year.
Redshirt freshman Blaize Monks had a strong performance on floor exercise to begin the afternoon, while junior Ty Echard, a 2009 All-American, continued to show his impressive skills on pommel horse.
Both Stibel and Wilson said freshman Kris Done has shown improvement with working in new skills on his routines as well as senior Sean Regan, who had strong performances on floor, rings, parallel bars and high bar.
At the varsity intrasquad, the Buckeyes competed in front of two judges and a crowd of fans at the training facility to simulate the environment at regular-season competitions.
