Gymmen fall to OSU, top No. 1 New Mexico

By PAIGE A. MUNDY
Collegian Sports Writer

Despite losing senior gymnast Mark Cooper to a season-ending knee injury last week, the men's gymnastics team was able to salvage some inspiration in Columbus, Ohio, Saturday night.

"We just got together and all said, 'Let's go out there and win this meet for him,' " captain Dave Riordan said.

And although they did not take the meet, Riordan is confident that his team gave a top performance, earning second place with a score of 229.20. No. 2 Ohio State took first with 229.85, while No. 1 New Mexico came in third with 228.35 points.

Riordan had reason to be pleased. With career-high performances of 9.8 on pommel horse and 9.75 on parallel bars, Riordan said his work had paid off, but was more interested in how the team competed against a new school.

"We actually didn't know what to expect from New Mexico since we haven't competed against them before," the senior said. "But they were beatable. And I think Ohio State was, too, for when we face them again."

Riordan's teammate Lee Ricketts agrees completely. In fact, he thought that Ohio State was beatable on Saturday night, if the location had been different.

"If we had been in Rec Hall, I believe we definitely could have beat Ohio State," Ricketts said, following his career-high 9.725 high bar performance. "There were some quite high Ohio State scores for some mediocre performances."

Lion Coach Randy Jepson said the outcome of the meet might have been different if it was played at a neutral site, but was glad that his team was able to have the experience of competing against two impressive gymnastics programs.

"These were the top three teams battling it out," Jepson said. "The competition was intense, similar to how it is going to be at NCAAs. It's one high-caliber routine right after another. They got a taste of what the competition will be like."

Notes:

-- Last season's Big Ten Gymnast of the Year, Drew Durbin, did not compete for Ohio State in the meet Saturday because he is academically ineligible.