University of Massachusets Athletics
University of Massachusetts
Penn St
No. 5 Men's Gymnastics Stumbles At Penn State
January 20, 2002 | Men's Gymnastics
Jan. 20, 2002
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - The fifth-ranked University of Massachusetts men's gymnastics team dropped a 212.900-208.200 decision to top-ranked Penn State here on Saturday evening. The dual meet was the first of the season for both teams.
The Minutemen were led once again by junior Darren Morace (Westfield, Mass.). Morace, who set a career high with a 51.200 in the all-around at last week's West Point Open, eclipsed that mark with a new career best 52.150. He also set new personal highs on pommel horse (8.900), parallel bars (8.450) and horizontal bar (8.850).
Sophomore Patrick McFarlin (Longmeadow, Mass.) was the only UMass gymnast to win an event, claiming the pommel horse title with a career-best 9.550. The next best score on the evening was Matt Abbound's 9.000.
UMass took a brief lead in the competition after McFarlin's performance on pommel horse, but the Nittany Lions took the control of the match after still rings, where the outscored the Minutemen by nearly two points.
Both the Minutemen and the Nittany Lions showed improvement from their previous meet, last weekend's West Point Open. Penn State won its fifth-straight Open team title with a score of 209.500, while the Minutemen placed second at the meet, recording a 204.000.
The Minutemen will return to action next Saturday, as they begin the home portion of their schedule by hosting Navy and Vermont in a tri-meet. The meet is scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m. in Boyden Gymnasium.
