After the completion of the first day of competition at the NCAA championships, it appears as though everything is going well for the Penn State men's gymnastics team.
A team score of 218.900 at Session II of the qualifying session meant the third-seeded Nittany Lions moved on to the team finals tonight. Two-time defending national champion Oklahoma (218.600) and No. 6 Minnesota (216.900) also advanced.
The team result was a solid end to a successful past couple of days for Penn State.
Wednesday night, Matt Cohen won the Nissen-Emery Award, which is presented to the top senior gymnast in the nation. Cohen and his teammates also had the benefit to compete at the championships in front of their fans and in Rec Hall.
But the real surprise turned out to be the elimination of the No. 1 seed, Ohio State, in Session I of qualifying. That marked the second consecutive season the Buckeyes have been unable to make it out of the qualifying round.
The fall of Ohio State left one less obstacle for the national crown, but the finalists said that the upset wasn't much of a factor in their performances.
"Ohio State's demise wasn't a factor at all," Minnesota coach Mike Burns said. "That's not our job."
Not only did Penn State easily advance out of the opening round, but the Lions' score easily propelled the team to the top of the heap in its qualify
ing session. Penn State was never really in jeopardy of not finishing in the top-3, which are the teams that advance to the team finals.
Last night's performance was perhaps the team's best since the Lions defeated Illinois, a night when the team posted four season highs. But Penn State's most recent results certainly came at the most important time of the year.
The Lions were constantly threatening season highs all evening long, including setting a high on the vault with a 36.050 and tying the team's best effort on floor exercise with a 37.350. Strong showings on the parallel bars and the pommel horse also gave the team its second best showing on those events this year. In fact, the team's total score was the best of all of the 12 teams competing for the national championship yesterday.
But Penn State coach Randy Jepson said he was not too focused on his team's showing last night when there is still one more team meet to go.
"We are thrilled to be healthy," Jepson said. "We are ready to go another day. Nothing matters tonight. It will be a slugfest."
Joining Penn State, Oklahoma and Minnesota for the team finals will be Stanford, Illinois and Michigan. The Cardinal took first overall in Session I, while Illinois will be back at the team finals after a runner-up finish last season. The presence of the formerly No.1-ranked Wolverines makes the competition for the Lions as tough as they have faced this year.
Also making matters perhaps a little bit tougher for the team is the fact that Penn State will be coming off a shorter period of rest than the three teams who advanced out of Session I. That first session went underway six hours before Penn State's session, so the short rest was assumed to be a minor problem. But the Lions aren't overly concerned about the short break between meets -- the team finals get underway at 7 tonight.
"I was tired when the meet started tonight. But I will sleep much better tonight," Cohen said last night. "I'm not worried about the team. We will be ready to go."
