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NCAA News Archive - 2007
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Penn State gymnastics family adds another title
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The NCAA News
The home-gym advantage took on a whole new meaning at Penn State during the National Collegiate Men’s Gymnastics Championships April 13-14. Home crowds that included nearly 150 alumni from the Penn State men’s gymnastics program got to experience a Nittany Lions team title.
Among the alumni were several members of the 1957 championship team who got to relive their own championship as the new generation stood on the podium. Head coach Randy Jepson, who said the victory in front of “friends and family” was “huge,” was thrilled that the alumni were able to see it.
“To allow them to vicariously relive some of those moments was just a thrill for me,” he said. “But I am also thrilled for our guys. We had a goal at the beginning of the season and they came through with flying colors. They never let me down.”
The Nittany Lions had standout performances on both the rings and the pommel horse to bolster their team total to a season-high 221 points. Two-time defending champion Oklahoma finished with 220.2 points. Stanford came in third with 218.45.
The Penn State gymnasts astonished even their coach with their overwhelming performance on the rings — no one scored less than a 9.2 on the apparatus. Before the rings rotation, the Nittany Lions trailed the Sooners by 1.6 points, a difficult deficit to overcome. Penn State captain Matt Cohen said he and his teammates were comfortable finishing with one of their best events.
“We went out business as usual, and everything fell into place,” he said.
After Tommy Ramos, the final Penn State gymnast, completed his routine, Jepson remained kneeling on the floor for a moment before walking over to give Ramos a hug.
“Somebody want to prop me up?” Jepson asked later. “It’s been a dream of mine to win a national championship at home.”
Oklahoma head coach Mark Williams said that a low team score in pommel horse was difficult for his team to overcome.
“In the end, they were stronger,” head coach Mark Williams said. “We got through with a score that kept us in it, but we did not have anything like they had on that event. I was proud of the fight. We excelled and made all of our event high scores for the season except for on the horse. For all of the things my team has been through this year, we feel like this is still a great success.”
The Nittany Lions last won the title in 2004.
The Sooners did not walk away empty-handed. Oklahoma’s Taqiy Abdullah-Simmons won the all-around title. Illinois’ Wesley Haagensen finished second, and the defending champion from Oklahoma, Jonathan Horton, came in third.
Abdullah-Simmons finished with a career-high 55.75.
“It’s always a pleasure to win any competition, especially nationals,” he said. “It’s kind of hard to talk about it because the team always come first.”
Team results
1. Penn St., 221.000; 2. Oklahoma, 220.200; 3. Stanford, 218.450; 4. Michigan, 218.400; 5. Illinois, 217.300; 6. Minnesota, 217.150.
Individual results
All around: 1. Taqiy Abdullah-Simmons, Oklahoma, 55.750; 2. (tie) Jonathan Horton, Oklahoma; Wesley Haagensen, Illinois; 55.000; 4 (tie) David Sender, Stanford; Justin Laury, Michigan, 54.000; 6. Jacob Lee, Minnesota, 53.200.
Floor exercise: 1. Jonathan Horton, Oklahoma; 9.650; 2. Adam Reichow, Minnesota, 9.550; 3. (tie) Chad Wiest, Illinois; Russell Czeschin, Oklahoma, 9.525; 5. Wesley Haagensen, Illinois, 9.475; 6. Cole Storer, Minnesota, 9.450.
Pommel horse: 1. Tim McNeill, California, 9.650; 2. Casey Sandy, Penn St., 9.575; 3. (tie) Jacob Becker, Iowa; Chris Harper, Stanford; 9.200; 5. T.J. Schmidt, Nebraska, 9.075; 6. Stephen Tetrault, Nebraska, 8.975.
Rings: 1. Alex Schorsch, Stanford, 9.750; 2. Tommy Ramos, Penn St., 9.725; 3. Jonathan Horton, Oklahoma, 9.675; 4. (tie) David Sender, Stanford; DJ Bucher, Ohio St.; 9.650; 6. Peter Derman, Stanford, 9.600.
Vault: 1. (tie) David Sender, Stanford; Pejman Ebrahimi, Ohio St.; 9.300; 3. Jimmy Wickham, Ohio St., 9.275; 4. Geoff Reins, Iowa, 9.175; 5. Taqiy Abdullah-Simmons, Oklahoma; 9.025; 6. Adam Reichow, Minnesota, 8.975.
Parallel bars: 1. Tim McNeill, California, 9.725; 2. DJ Bucher, Ohio St., 9.625; 3. Colin Christ, California, 9.475; 4. (tie) Andrew Elkind, Michigan; Jacob Lee, Minnesota, 9.450; 6. Tommy Ramos, Penn St., 9.400.
Horizontal bar: 1. Jonathan Horton, Oklahoma, 9.675; 2. (tie) Tommy Ramos, Penn St.; Colin Christ, California; 9.375; 4. Cheis Brooks, Oklahoma, 9.300; 5. Chris Silcox, Illinois, 9.200; 6. Wesley Haagensen, Illinois, 9.150.
Among the alumni were several members of the 1957 championship team who got to relive their own championship as the new generation stood on the podium. Head coach Randy Jepson, who said the victory in front of “friends and family” was “huge,” was thrilled that the alumni were able to see it.
“To allow them to vicariously relive some of those moments was just a thrill for me,” he said. “But I am also thrilled for our guys. We had a goal at the beginning of the season and they came through with flying colors. They never let me down.”
The Nittany Lions had standout performances on both the rings and the pommel horse to bolster their team total to a season-high 221 points. Two-time defending champion Oklahoma finished with 220.2 points. Stanford came in third with 218.45.
The Penn State gymnasts astonished even their coach with their overwhelming performance on the rings — no one scored less than a 9.2 on the apparatus. Before the rings rotation, the Nittany Lions trailed the Sooners by 1.6 points, a difficult deficit to overcome. Penn State captain Matt Cohen said he and his teammates were comfortable finishing with one of their best events.
“We went out business as usual, and everything fell into place,” he said.
After Tommy Ramos, the final Penn State gymnast, completed his routine, Jepson remained kneeling on the floor for a moment before walking over to give Ramos a hug.
“Somebody want to prop me up?” Jepson asked later. “It’s been a dream of mine to win a national championship at home.”
Oklahoma head coach Mark Williams said that a low team score in pommel horse was difficult for his team to overcome.
“In the end, they were stronger,” head coach Mark Williams said. “We got through with a score that kept us in it, but we did not have anything like they had on that event. I was proud of the fight. We excelled and made all of our event high scores for the season except for on the horse. For all of the things my team has been through this year, we feel like this is still a great success.”
The Nittany Lions last won the title in 2004.
The Sooners did not walk away empty-handed. Oklahoma’s Taqiy Abdullah-Simmons won the all-around title. Illinois’ Wesley Haagensen finished second, and the defending champion from Oklahoma, Jonathan Horton, came in third.
Abdullah-Simmons finished with a career-high 55.75.
“It’s always a pleasure to win any competition, especially nationals,” he said. “It’s kind of hard to talk about it because the team always come first.”
Team results
1. Penn St., 221.000; 2. Oklahoma, 220.200; 3. Stanford, 218.450; 4. Michigan, 218.400; 5. Illinois, 217.300; 6. Minnesota, 217.150.
Individual results
All around: 1. Taqiy Abdullah-Simmons, Oklahoma, 55.750; 2. (tie) Jonathan Horton, Oklahoma; Wesley Haagensen, Illinois; 55.000; 4 (tie) David Sender, Stanford; Justin Laury, Michigan, 54.000; 6. Jacob Lee, Minnesota, 53.200.
Floor exercise: 1. Jonathan Horton, Oklahoma; 9.650; 2. Adam Reichow, Minnesota, 9.550; 3. (tie) Chad Wiest, Illinois; Russell Czeschin, Oklahoma, 9.525; 5. Wesley Haagensen, Illinois, 9.475; 6. Cole Storer, Minnesota, 9.450.
Pommel horse: 1. Tim McNeill, California, 9.650; 2. Casey Sandy, Penn St., 9.575; 3. (tie) Jacob Becker, Iowa; Chris Harper, Stanford; 9.200; 5. T.J. Schmidt, Nebraska, 9.075; 6. Stephen Tetrault, Nebraska, 8.975.
Rings: 1. Alex Schorsch, Stanford, 9.750; 2. Tommy Ramos, Penn St., 9.725; 3. Jonathan Horton, Oklahoma, 9.675; 4. (tie) David Sender, Stanford; DJ Bucher, Ohio St.; 9.650; 6. Peter Derman, Stanford, 9.600.
Vault: 1. (tie) David Sender, Stanford; Pejman Ebrahimi, Ohio St.; 9.300; 3. Jimmy Wickham, Ohio St., 9.275; 4. Geoff Reins, Iowa, 9.175; 5. Taqiy Abdullah-Simmons, Oklahoma; 9.025; 6. Adam Reichow, Minnesota, 8.975.
Parallel bars: 1. Tim McNeill, California, 9.725; 2. DJ Bucher, Ohio St., 9.625; 3. Colin Christ, California, 9.475; 4. (tie) Andrew Elkind, Michigan; Jacob Lee, Minnesota, 9.450; 6. Tommy Ramos, Penn St., 9.400.
Horizontal bar: 1. Jonathan Horton, Oklahoma, 9.675; 2. (tie) Tommy Ramos, Penn St.; Colin Christ, California; 9.375; 4. Cheis Brooks, Oklahoma, 9.300; 5. Chris Silcox, Illinois, 9.200; 6. Wesley Haagensen, Illinois, 9.150.
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