Dec. 7, 2006
PHILADELPHIA -
The Temple men's gymnastics team hosted their annual intrasquad this past Sunday before a packed gym in Pearson Hall. Family, friends, and alumni were on hand to catch a glimpse of some new routines and a strong freshman class. To make the day feel more like an actual competition, the Temple sponsored boy's gymnastics team also exhibited their new routines. Needless to say, it was an exciting afternoon with a packed slate of high level gymnastics.
The Owl's got things started on floor exercise, where senior Alex Gorski mounted with a clean back 3/2-front 1/1-front 1 ¾. Junior John Jeffries stuck a back 5/2 immediate punch front 1/1, and senior Nate Naisby mounted with a clean tucked full-in. Junior Luke Vexler, who hadn't attempted a full floor routine in several weeks, successfully made it through a marathon routine highlighted by a laid out Arabian 1 ¾ and tucked Thomas salto.
Pommel horse proved to be the afternoon's achilles heel as senior Dan Berlin, Vexler and senior co-captain Greg Monaco each failed to finish their routines. Sophomore John Vogtman, last season's ECAC Co-Rookie of the Year, was the lone Owl to make it through his routine without a major break.
Still rings were next with the guys showing a few Yamawaki-whippet combinations, and plenty of stuck dismounts. Senior co-captain Nadov Simenauer, recovering from a torn-ACL injury, showed strong strength elements similar to Naisby. The highlight from this rings session came from Temple alumni Nyika White. White, who is the nation's 3rd ranked rings worker, showed incredible strength combinations capped off with a stuck double layout dismount. White will be competing internationally in Plano, Texas next week for the WOGA Invite.
The vaulting session proved to be a strong point as head coach
Fred Turoff couldn't say enough about his vaulting lineup, "Vault is our best event at this time, with numerous high-level vaults being done this year." High-level is right, with a handful of guys throwing Kas 1/1's (freshman Pat McLaughlin, Jeffries, senior
Derek Shepard, Vogtman and sophomore
Jason Russo). Freshman
Tyler Croteau sailed an amazing Yurchenko 1/1, and Vexler answered with his own Yurchenko 3/2. Gorski landed a huge layout Rudi, before unveiling a brand new handspring layout front with 2/1 twists (to resi).
Parallel Bars and high bar were last, and the Owl's drew tons of applause for their high flying routines. Over at parallel bars, Turoff was enthused as Russo's Morisue and Vexler's Belle were tops, while Naisby swung through a complex Diamadov ½ before crashing on a Dimitrenko. On high bar, Russo crashed a Kovacs but caught a huge Def release. Vexler found the bar after his Kovacs, and Gorski caught an extremely hard G2 release move. Junior Andy Corp capped off his successful day with a huge triple back dismount. Most notably absent from this intra-squad were junior Sterling Kramer, last season's ECAC All-Around Champion, and senior floor specialist Clay Stewart. Both are healthy, but had prior commitments. The two returned to practice on Monday, and showed that they'll be key contributors to the lineup throughout the season.
The Temple Owls kick off their 2007 season with a home meet against James Madison University, William & Mary, and Penn State. The competition is slated for a 2:00 pm start on Sunday, January 21st in McGonigle Hall.
