Department of athletics, physical education and recreation
|
|
Engineers End Season with Seventh-Place Showing at ECAC Championships
April 2, 2007
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - Temple University's men's gymnastics team posted a season-high score of 208.400 and cruised to its 15th Eastern College Athletic Conference - Eastern Intercollegiate Gymnastics League Championship title on Saturday afternoon in its own McGonigle Hall. MIT amassed 178.550 points en route to placing seventh of the eight competing squads in the final competition of the season. The University of Illinois-Chicago grabbed runner-up honors with an impressive 202.700, while Army rounded out the top three with a tally of 200.300. Navy (198.750), the College of William and Mary (197.800), Springfield College (182.000), and James Madison University (161.000) completed the field of participating schools. It was Temple's first conference title since 2003. The Engineers were most impressive on the still rings, compiling an overall team score of 32.650 - a full two points better than the team did in any other event. Sophomore Boris Rasin was the top performer for the Cardinal and Gray on the rings, earning an 8.800 and qualifying for a spot in the event finals in the process. Tech also broke the 30-point barrier on the parallel bars - in which the squad scored 30.150 points - thanks in large part to senior Brad Sutton's team-best 8.400, which made him MIT's second and last individual event finals qualifier. Sutton also notched the Engineers' high score on the pommel horse (8.150), while Rasin was tops on the high bar (7.950) and junior Joshua Coblenz earned team-best tallies in the floor exercise (7.600) and vault (7.300). Rasin's 45.800 in the all-around competition was best amongst MIT gymnasts, while Coblenz (44.900), Sutton (44.800) and sophomore Tom Caldwell (40.500) completed Tech's contingent of all-around performers. Additionally, Rasin provided the Cardinal and Gray's biggest highlight of Sunday's individual event finals, placing sixth with an 8.600 on the rings. On the parallel bars, Sutton secured an eighth-place finish with a score of 7.750. The conference's yearly awards were handed out at the conclusion of the competition, with the University of Illinois-Chicago's Tim Morrison grabbing the coveted Senior Athlete of the Year award. His teammate Nikolai Korepanov was named Rookie of the Year, while Army's George Rhynedance was named Most Improved. Coach of the Year went to Roger Burke of James Madison and Assistant Coach of the Year went to Navy's Craig Holt. |
