Gymnasts From Oklahoma, California, And Illinois Capture Individual Event Finals
In addition to earning last night's team crown, The Oklahoma Sooners captured three NCAA Individual Titles in the final session of the 2008 National Collegiate Men's Gymnastics Championships this evening at Maples Pavilion on the campus of Stanford University. California captured two titles, and Illinois picked up one.
Oklahoma's Steven Legendre was the only gymnast to break 16 on the floor, posting a 16.1 to take first place. Ohio State's Jimmy Wickham and Penn State's Casey Sandy tied for second place with 15.6.
On pommel horse, Cal's Tim McNeill took top honors with a 15.625, .65 points higher than second place finisher Sandy, who notched a 14.875. Stanford's Sho Nakamori placed third with 14.7.
Oklahoma's Jonathan Horton took the still rings title with 16.125. Stanford's David Sender followed close behind in second with a 15.775. Penn State's Tommy Ramos took third with a 15.725.
On vault, Legendre earned his second title of the night with a 16.4, edging out two-time defending champion Sender by .05 points. Wickham took third for Ohio State, scoring a 16.325.
On p-bars, McNeill took his second title of the night, with a stellar routine of 15.65. Sandy came in second with 14.95 and Illinois' Wes Haagensen took third with 14.875.
In the final event, high bar, Paul Ruggeri earned the Illini's only title with an even 15.0. Cole Storer earned second for Minnesota with 14.925 and Stanford's Josh Dixon took third with 14.8.
Post Session Quotes
California Quotes:
Coach Barry Weiner:
On Tim's performance:
"I'm really happy for Tim. He injured his back about three weeks ago, and has really had a tough time training with that. The team was a little bit disappointed, but Tim now has five NCAA Championships. He's the most decorated gymnast in our program, which has been around for over 100 years, had four team championships, numerous Olympians, and national champions. I would say tonight, on his events, he was dominant."
"Tim's routine is called the full Kier and it's the highest difficulty. In fact, Tim's pommel horse routine has one of the highest difficulty values in the world. Tonight's was the best one I think I've ever seen him do."
California's Tim McNeill:
On winning the national title:
"It feels pretty good. I was actually more nervous this year than the previous two eyars. I was doing a harder routine, and it wasn't quite as easy as the last two years. But I prepared really well on pommel horse in practice, and put myself in a lot of meet situations in the gym, and it paid off. I'm just really happy right now."
"I was just really happy with how I did, because I don't think I could've done it much better. I know I had great competitors coming after me, but at that point, I was kind of too excited and happy with my performance, so it was hard to worry about the other competitors."
How he feels about the end of his collegiate career:
"There were a lot of emotions. It was really sad to finish my NCAA career, but it had me really, really excited to finish it on such a good note. So I was ecstatic that I'd done so well, and sad that its done, but I'm happy with how my NCAA career has progressed and with how I did tonight."
On his comfort level on the parallel bars:
"I'm really comfortable on parallel bars, it's a really easy event to compete in, whereas in pommel horse, if your arms get shaky, it can throw your whole routine off. But I'm really comfortable on parallel bars, and really comfortable with the routine, so I was just trying to use the excitement from my pommel horse routine to help me on the parallel bars."
Oklahoma Coach Mark Williams:
On the performance of his gymnasts:
"Its pretty impressive having three event champions from tonight's competition. Jon's a repeat champion on rings, and I think it brings his national championship total to six event titles, and 18 All-Americans, which is the record for any OU gymnast in history."
"Steve starting off his NCAA career with championships on vault and floor is pretty impressive. He's got some pretty big shoes to fill, but he's possibly our next Jonathan Horton."
Steven Legendre:
On winning a national title as a freshman:
"It's a little different, you're competing more for your team than for yourself, which I like better. There's a lot more energy, and you just want to do better, and do it for your teammates."
"There's definitely nothing sweeter than the team title, that was probably one of the most exciting moments in my life. The individual stuff, for me, just kind of puts the icing on the cake, I guess. It's a lot of fun to go out there and do your best routines, have a lot of fun, and do what you do."
On what goes through his mind before an event:
"There's a lot going through your head but there's only so much you can think about. Its really just, you gotta go out there and do it. The adrenaline definitely helps you do that, its like a night and day difference between warm-ups and a meet. What it came down to tonight was clean landings. I wouldn't say it was luck, but when its on your side its definitely a nice benefit."
Jonathan Horton:
On Steve Legendre's performance:
"Steve's a rock.I couldn't have asked for a better freshman, I was joking around with him earlier. I told him he reminds me of myself, and to make me proud. He's on his way, and if he keeps doing what he's doing, he's going to break all of my records, I won't hold onto them too long. But I'm definitely excited for his future, and its a heck of a way to start a collegiate career."
On his own performance on the rings:
"Last night I got up [on the rings] and was thinking about nothing but the team. I was just trying to go out there and compete with my heart out on the floor and do everything possible to win. Tonight, honestly, I didn't think I was going to be as strong as I was. I was exhausted starting today, its definitely tough to compete for three days in a row and my legs felt like jell-o out on the floor. But I jumped up on rings and hit my first strength part, and I was like wow, I'm a lot stronger than I thought I was going to be.
"The training has paid off, the 6:30 a.m. practices and conditioning and stuff, but I just pushed through the routine. It felt way more difficult today than it did yesterday, but apparently it looked better. It was exciting to get through the routine and stick another dismount."
Illinois Head Coach Yoshi Hayasaki:
On Paul Ruggeri's performance:
"Paul has been working really hard this year, and as you know, he's a freshman. To have him go out there and win a national championship on the high bar is a really, really outstanding job for him to have done this season. I think this is icing on the cake."
"He's been ranked No. 1 throughout the year, so you know how it goes in the national championship, anything can happen, there's a lot of pressure. But I think he came through with one of the best performances of the year. That's how he won today and I was very proud of that performance."
Illinois Gymnast Paul Ruggeri:
On his first year of collegiate gymnastics:
"In high school, I switched gyms a few times, and I was pretty much the only guy in the gym that was training at my level. So I was pretty much training on my own, so it was really hard to get better and motivate myself. But in college gymnastics its completely different, you have a whole team of guys who are just as good or better than you, and you're always trying to prove yourself with them, so its an extremely competitive atmosphere in college. You improve really fast, which is much more satisfying."