No. 2 gymmen remain undefeated with wins

By DARREN STEELE
Collegian Staff Writer

The Penn State men's gymnastics team has continued to improve upon last year's woes.

Saturday, the No. 2 Nittany Lions maintained their perfect road record by topping host Temple and dual-meet opponent William & Mary. The Lions (3-0) won all six events en route to an impressive win.

The Lions posted a score of 228.750 compared to Temple's 212.000 and William & Mary's 213.850. They had a successful day, scoring a 94-percent hit ratio, the team's highest output of the season.

"We were really happy we hit so well," said senior All-American Ron Roeder.

Roeder had another banner day. He came out on top in both the rings competition and the parallel bars, and his scores of 9.9 and 9.8 tied him for second best in school history.

Once again, the youth of the team had a hefty hand in the win. Freshman Jose Palacios won the vault event, posting a score of 9.7. Adam Benas carried on the youth movement with a win in the high bar competition.

Penn State, however, continued to have problems with its floor exercise. Temple was awarded top honors in that event as Joe Martelli and Michael Moran tied for first.

The Lions now will have two weeks to improve on their floor exercise woes. They will host Big Ten powerhouse Michigan Feb. 6 at Rec Hall.

"The two weeks we will have between now and then will be great," said sophomore Dominick Brindle. "We will need that time to rest and work on a few things before we face Michigan. We will need our strength against them."