WEST POINT, NY -- No.11-ranked Temple (6-5) finished fifth with a 205.825 score Friday evening during the team competition at the 14th annual West Point Open at Christl Arena. The Owls placed behind No. 5 Penn State (217.750), No. 6 Iowa (216.375), No. 12 Nebraska (210.800) and the No. 10 Black Knights (209.450). The event, which features 10 collegiate teams and over 75 club squads, concludes tonight with individual event finals beginning at 7:00 p.m.
The Owls best event finish came on rings, where the Cherry & White earned fourth with a 35.375 score, as two time All-American Nyika White turned-in an evening-high 9.675. It bested the second best score (9.500) on the apparatus by a considerable margin as the senior advanced to event finals in convincing style.
Fellow upperclassman David Ramos also excelled, finishing second on floor with a 9.500 score behind Iowa's Michael Reavis (9.675).
Ramos and freshman Luke Vexler each competed in four events for the Cherry & White, as the squad placed fifth on floor (34.950), fifth on pommel (33.400), sixth on vault (36.050) and seventh on both parallel bars (32.500) and high bar (33.550).
Penn State's Luis Vargas was a triple winner and captured the all-around title for the second time in three years. Vargas defended his title on the high bar with a 9.700 and won pommel horse (9.750) and parallel bars (9.500).
The top eight performers in each of the six individual events advance to tonight's competition.
