Freshmen gymmen share home, vault

Freshman gymnasts Rob Saliski and Ted Johnson did not know what to expect when they learned Nittany Lion men's gymnastics coach Randy Jepson had selected them to be roommates.

"Before I got here, I didn't know Ted," Saliski said. "I'd heard of him from the Junior Olympics."

Saliski said he was apprehensive at first because he knew he'd be competing against Johnson in the vault, their strongest event.

But freshman gymnast Adam Benas, who lives on the floor above the pair, said Saliski had nothing to worry about.

"They seem to get along pretty well," Benas said. "I never saw any dispute between them."

Jepson said he places athletes together on the basis of who he thinks would work well together, but it is really just a guessing game. Saliski and Johnson were matched because they were both walk-ons, he said.

Benas has his own theory about how the two came together.

"It was pure coincidence," he said. "I chose to room with one of the other freshman I had known for a while. That left the two of them to room together."

Jepson said although athletes room together, they are not in athletic dorms. In that way, freshman athletes can establish relationships with their teammates early and experience non-athletic undergraduate life at the same time.

Saliski said he is lucky to live in this situation.

"I've heard a lot of horror stories," he said. "I don't think I'd get along as well with a roommate who wasn't an athlete.

"I think it would be a lot harder if I had a non-athlete roommate," he said, "especially on days we have morning practice. He might stay up late, because he might have nothing to do."

Saliski said he and Johnson act as each other's alarm clocks by making sure they both wake up on time for morning practices.

It is also convenient that they both have the same study hall schedule, Saliski said. That way they each can make sure the other one always shows up. Freshman gymnasts have a mandatory study hall scheduled at Rec Hall, he said, to insure they keep up with their school work. All together, freshman gymnasts are required to spend about seven and a half hours per week in study hall.

Johnson said they have not gotten into any arguments while living together.

"We cheer for each other in the gym and push each other in our gymnastics," Johnson said.

He said that in the off chance an argument should occur, it would not be hard to solve. In the worst-case scenario, their anger would have a motivational effect because each of them would want to perform better than the other. Johnson said that would actually be good for the team.

Both Saliski's and Johnson's personalities complement one another. This can be seen in the easy going banter and laughter the two exchange. Saliski said Johnson doesn't even have any annoying habits that many roommates complain about.

Saliski joked in a mock whisper he couldn't say anything bad about his roommate, anyway, since he was in the same room.

Johnson can tell you exactly where Saliski comes from. "He comes from Woodbridge, Virginia. Now that's in Northern Virginia, not West Virginia. And it's only 20 miles south of D.C.," he explained sarcastically, obviously repeating the same words he has heard come out of Saliski's mouth a million times.

"We have no problems," Saliski said. "We're both pretty open-minded. We just clicked."