Department of athletics, physical education and recreation
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Men's Gymnastics Opens Season with Sixth-Place Finish
Jan. 28, 2007
WEST POINT, N.Y. - MIT's men's gymnastics team opened its season with a sixth-place finish at the 16th Annual West Point Open, hosted by Army, this past weekend at the Christl Arena. The Engineers impressed in a meet that pitted them against some of the top competition in the country, as they beat out No. 18 ranked James Madison University. Penn State University, ranked No. 2 nationally, easily defended its title for the 10th straight year with a winning score of 214.70, almost five points ahead of No. 9 Temple University, which claimed the runner-up spot with a 199.50 composite. Host Army, No. 10 in the national rankings, was next (197.75) followed by No. 14 Navy (190.25), No. 16 Springfield College (185.0), unranked MIT (174.10) and No. 18 James Madison (162.15). The Nittany Lions took the crown in style, winning five of the six team events and claiming four individual victories, including the all-around competition by Matt Cohen (51.250). Sophomore Boris Rasin was Tech's top performer, finishing 15th in the all-around with a score of 45.400. The Brookline, Mass., native's 8.300 on the floor exercise was his personal best for the competition as well as MIT's highest score in any event, while his mark of 7.800 on the parallel bars was good enough for 22nd, his highest individual finish of the evening. Junior Joshua Coblenz wasn't far behind, turning in a 43.500 all-around score, placing him 19th overall. His 8.100 on the floor exercise was his most impressive performance of the competition. Senior Brad Sutton (42.100) and sophomore Tom Caldwell (41.800) finished 25th and 26th, respectively, in a field that consisted of 99 gymnasts. The Cardinal and Gray will return to action on Saturday, Feb. 10, when it travels to the University of Illinois at Chicago. The meet is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m. |
