The NCAA News - News and Features

August 18, 1997

Gymnastics association names '97 top teams, scholar-atheltes

The College Gymnastics Association has announced its national academic top 15 gymnastics teams and all-America scholar-athlete awards for 1997.

MIT claimed the team title with a cumulative grade-point average of 3.511 (4.000 scale). It is the third time in four years that MIT has won the team title.

Brigham Young finished second for the third consecutive year, while Iowa claimed third place. Nebraska and Illinois rounded out the top five.

Individually, 55 individuals were honored as all-America scholar-athletes, including Oklahoma's Jeremy Killen, 1997 floor exercise champion, and Nebraska's Marshall Nelson, who claimed the 1997 parallel bars and horizontal bar titles.

To be eligible for individual all-America honors, a student-athlete must earn a minimum GPA of 3.500 (4.000 scale) and attain a minimum NCAA gymnastics scoring average of 8.500 during the 1997 season.

Following are the team and individual honorees (with academic majors indicated for individuals).

Team

1. MIT, 3.511 grade-point average; 2. Brigham Young, 3.282; 3. Iowa, 3.265; 4. Nebraska, 3.186; 5. Illinois, 3.176; 6. William and Mary, 3.171; 7. California, 3.139; 8. Oklahoma, 3.104; 9. Michigan, 3.092; 10. Air Force, 3.056.

11. Temple, 3.039; 12. Ohio State, 3.012; 13. New Mexico, 2.936; 14. Michigan State, 2.975; 15. Minnesota, 2.882.

Individual

James Abbatiello, Vermont, environmental studies; Dave Barron, Michigan State, business administration; Casey Bryan, Oklahoma, health and sports sciences; Edward Burch, New Mexico, undeclared; Joe Buscaglia, Syracuse, health and exercise science; Michael Canales, Ohio State, engineering; Jonathan Corbitt, Illinois, Spanish; Louis Datilio, Iowa, physics; Robert Feinglass, William and Mary, mathematics; Chad Finefrock, Ohio State, business; Dan Fink, Oklahoma, marketing; Jason Foreman, Brigham Young, zoology; Tim Gergen, New Mexico, civil engineering; Darin Gerlach, Temple, mechanical engineering; Brian Hamilton, Iowa, business; Ted Harris, Nebraska, finance; Matthew M. Holecko II, William and Mary, biomechanical life science.

Carl Imhauser, Temple, electrical engineering; Geoffrey Jensen, Air Force, aeronautical engineering; Matthew Jensen, Air Force, aeronautical engineering; Ethan Johnson, Michigan, undeclared; Adrian Johnston, Iowa, art; Khayyam Jones, Brigham Young, mathematics; Sean Juguilon, Iowa, physics; Jeremy Killen, Oklahoma, health and sports sciences; Seth Klayman, Ohio State, Jewish studies; Jason Krob, Minnesota, international business/Spanish; Jeffrey LaVallee, Massachusetts, sports management; Derek Leiter, Nebraska, biological sciences; Peter Lombard, Navy, chemistry; Huy Ly, Oklahoma, undeclared.

Lorenzo Macaluso, Massachusetts, natural resources; Andrew Mason, California, mechanical engineering; Peter Masucci, Iowa, finance; Scott W. McCall, William and Mary, biology/premedicine; Greg McGlaun, Illinois, mechanical engineering; Chris McGlone, Illinois, aeronautical engineering; Jeffrey Means, Army, foreign languages; Marshall Nelson, Nebraska, premedicine; David Nemovitz, Iowa, civil engineering; Neil Niemi, Ohio State, psychology; Brad Panozzo, Illinois, cell and structural biology; Victor Prisk, Michigan State, physiology; Stephen Pryor, Massachusetts, exercise science.

Rob Rimpini, Brigham Young, undeclared; Travis Romagnoli, Illinois, kinesiology; Garon Rowland, Oklahoma, undeclared; Chad Silva, Air Force, electrical engineering; Jeffrey Stein, California, business administration; Ethan Sterk, Michigan State, physiology; Kenneth Sykes, Temple, chemistry; Troy Takagishi, Michigan State, undeclared; Chris Taylor, Syracuse, nursing; Gary Thagard, New Mexico, criminology; Brandon Tucker, Illinois, biology education; Trent Wells, California, public relations.