Penn State Takes Home 12th National Title

Program earns third straight championship

April 14, 2007

By Kate Aras

Special to CSTV.com

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - For Oklahoma junior Taqiy Abdullah-Simmons, winning the all-around title at the 2007 National Collegiate Men's Gymnastics Championships was a great achievement in his career.

As he stuck his landing on the vault in the final rotation of the night, Abdullah-Simmons knew he'd won the all-around. He raced to hug his coach, Mark Williams, and then trotted over to slap his teammates' hands for in the meet of his career, he'd beat out his fellow Sooner Jonathan Horton for the all-around title, scoring a 55.75 on the night.

His crowning achievement, however, was diminished when Penn State stole a third straight championship title from him. The Lions, backed by a passionate home crowd, beat out all the teams tonight with a score of 221.0, good enough to secure their 12th national championship.

Like the night before, senior Matt Cohen knew his team had won when he stuck the landing on his ring routine. The victory was sealed, however, when Tommy Ramos stuck his landing and the crowd rose to its feet, congratulating the Penn State squad.

"I am unbelievably happy to close out by Penn State career this way," Cohen said. "I couldn't be prouder of my team."

When the meet began, it took about one rotation for all the teams to get rid of the jitters of competing for a national championship. Illinois took the lead in the first rotation, scoring a 37.2 on rings. Junior Tyler Yamauchi took the top score for his team, posting a 9.55.

Unlike the first night, however, when Penn State began the meet with a respectable showing on vault, it had a few mishaps and slips, causing it to fall to fourth place after the first rotation.

Once the second rotation came around, however, the meet and championship was up for grabs. Michigan picked up its game on the floor exercise and moved into first.

The Sooners had just as strong a showing on the high bars and was tied with Michigan after this rotation. Sophomore Chris Brooks, Abdullah-Simmons and junior Horton all posted scores above 9.5 for Oklahoma and Abdullah-Simmons' 9.5 was good enough for his career best.

Stanford, which started slow on the pommel in the second rotation, saw its third rotation on the rings as a chance to come out of its shell. No Cardinal scored under a nine, as senior Alex Schorsch led the way with a 9.8, a score good enough for first out of all the competitors.

The Lions, who were just staying in the race through the first two rotations, began to pick up the pace on the high bar. Sophomore Casey Sandy scored a 9.2 and then junior Tommy Ramos bested him with a 9.4.

Still, none of this was good enough to combat the all around excellence of the Oklahoma lineup. On floor exercise, five of the six competitors scored above a nine. Taking the top four scores, the Sooners scored a 38.35 on this event, propelling them three points above the second place Lions.

As the night progressed, each team began to post higher and higher scores, not to be out done by the competitors. The floor and the rings seemed to be the place where every team had its best showing. During the fourth rotation, five of the six Lions had scores over nine and they were able to take over first place because of an Oklahoma bye.

Minnesota, who was slowly moving up the chart all night, also had a great showing on the floor. Freshman Adam Reichow posted a 9.7 and fellow freshman Cole Storer was right behind him with a 9.65. The floor scores did not push the Golden Gophers, however, as they capped off the night in sixth place.

Illinois gave the crowd a great show on the high bar, scoring a 36.85. On the floor during the next rotation, the Fighting Illini kept up their pace, with each team member besting the previous. It was not enough in the end and the team finished fifth.

For the Sooners, their showing on the pommel horse lost them a chance at a third national title. No player could muster a score above a nine, leaving them in fifth place at this point in the meet.

"We struggled on pommel horse but we got through with a score that kept us in it," Williams said. "In the end, they were stronger."

The Lions, who are normally a strong pommel horse team, also had a rough start in this event. They finished out the event with two strong scores from Derek Helsby and Sandy, settling them into fourth place.

Just like last night, however, all Oklahoma could do was watch as Penn State took the title away from them with six strong performances on the rings. Propelled all scores about nine and by junior Vladi Klurman's 9.7 and Ramos' 9.65, the Lions jumped from fourth to first in one event.

As Lions filed onto the floor to take their title, the fans crowned their champion with a rousing "WE ARE PENN STATE" chant.

"It's been a dream of mine to win a championship at home," Penn State head coach Randy Jepson said. "I'm so thrilled for my guys. It's something we are going to treasure."