University of Massachusets Athletics
Men's Gymnastics Set For NCAA Championships
April 03, 2002 | Men's Gymnastics
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April 3, 2002
THE MEET: National Collegiate Men's Gymnastics Championships
Lloyd Noble Center, Norman, Okla.
Thursday, April 4- Saturday, April 6, 2002
THE TEAMS: Session II - Thursday, 7:00 p.m.
Oklahoma (216.067)
Penn State (215.383)
California (213.725)
Iowa (213.008)
Massachusetts (209.650)
William and Mary (207.083)
A Look Back at the 2001 NCAA Championships: UMass recorded their third-highest score of the 2001 season in the first session of the NCAA Championships at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, but finished in fifth place at that session. Despite placing 11 gymnasts in event preliminaries, only senior Bryan McNulty advanced to the last day, placing 11th on floor exercise.
UMass Familiar with Championship Opponents: The Minutemen have faced three teams that have been invited to the 2002 National Collegiate Men's Gymnastics Championships, and have posted victories over two of the three teams. The Minutemen began the 2001-02 season by hosing the UMass Open, a seven-team competition that included Temple. The Owls won the meet, besting the Minutemen by one-tenth of a point. In early January, UMass placed second at the West Point Open, finishing behind Penn State, but bettering Temple by five points.
The next week, UMass dropped a four-point decision in a dual-meet at Penn State. The Minutemen had defeated the Nitany Lions, then defending national champions, in a dual meet the year before.
In early February, UMass again welcomed Temple to the Amherst area, as the Minutemen defeated the Owls by just over one point. The two teams would meet again in the end of the month, as UMass bested the Owls in another close decision.
At the ECAC Championships two weeks ago, the Minutemen faced a pair of teams invited to the NCAA Championships. UMass fell to Temple at the meet, but defeated William and Mary, a team that is scheduled to compete in the same session as UMass this week.
Minutemen Led by Morace, McFarlin: The 2002 edition of the University of Massachusetts men's gymnastics team has been helped in a large part by a pair of underclassmen. All-arounders Darren Morace and Patrick McFarlin have been major contributors to this year's team. Morace is currently ranked sixth nationally with a 52.750 average, while McFarlin stands 11th with a 51.733 average. The two have combined to win 10 of 12 all-around titles this season.
Minutemen Rattled Off 11 Straight: After UMass began the season with a trio of dissapointing second-place finishes, the Minutemen put together an 11-match winning streak. Head coach Roy Johnson and his squad captured the team title in eight consecutive meets, including a pair of victories over NCAA Championship participant Temple.
Kent Named Finalist for Nissen-Emery Award: Senior Clayton Kent has been named a finalist for the 2002 Nissen-Emery Award. The honor is given to the nation's top senior gymnast, and was awarded to UMass assistant coach Jeff LaVallee in 2000.
Award Has History of Importance: Since 1966, college gymnastics' highest honor, the Nissen Award, has been presented annually to that year's outstanding senior collegiate gymnast. From 1966 through 1989 the award nomination, selection and presentation process was managed by the Nissen Company. IBM sponsored the award in 1990. USA Gymnastics sponsored the award from 1991-97. In 1998, Dr. Robert W. Emery, the 1969 winner, agreed to help the C.G.A. finance the redesigning of the Award and establish an endowment that would indefinitely cover the annual expenses associated with it.
College gymnastics coaches, student athletes and accredited college gymnastics judges all across the nation are requested each year to submit nominations for the award. Gymnasts receiving the highest number of nominations are then placed on a final ballot and voted upon by those same coaches, athletes and judges.
The award presentation is held annually at the NCAA Gymnastics Championships.
The "Heisman Trophy" of gymnastics, the Nissen-Emery Award is inscribed with the following motto: "The true champion seeks excellence physically, mentally, socially, and morally."
Juniors Providing Spark: Juniors Justin Hammar, Ben Jacobs, Darren Morace, Brett Nelligan and Brian Peterson have provided a much-needed spark for the 2002 Minutemen. The junior class has contributed on every apparatus, and was responsible for 12 counting scores, exactly half of UMass' total, at the ECAC Championships just two weeks ago. Morace placed second in the all-around, while Hammar and Jacobs each won event titles.
Freshmen Contributing as Well: Freshmen Srikanth Aravapalli and Aaron Arsenault have both done their share of work this season to help the Minutemen reach the NCAA Championships. Aravapalli has been a regular starter on pommel horse and horizontal bar, solidifying the Minuteman lineup. Arsenault has seen action on floor, pommel horse, vault and parallel bars, starting regularly on parallel bars down the stretch.
Head Coach Roy Johnson: Now in his 24th season as the head coach at UMass, Roy Johnson has posted nearly 200 wins. His career record of 193-96 (.668) is one of the best in the nation, and three times he has been honored as the NCAA East Region Coach of the Year.
Last year, Johnson led UMass to its third-straight ECAC team title and a dual-meet record of 8-3. In the last three seasons, Johnson's squads have posted a 28-7 dual-meet record.
Jacobs Peaking at End of Year: Junior Ben Jacobs has been coming into his own lately, at the most important part of the season. The Milwaukee, Wis., native has posted scores of 9.000 or better on the horizontal bar four times this season with three of those coming in the last four meets. Two weeks ago at the ECAC Championships, Jacobs posted a 9.100 and a 9.000 to claim the event title. Jacobs has now won six horizontal bar titles this season, and he is ranked seventh nationally on the apparatus with an average of 9.167.
Hammar Huge on Horse: Junior Justin Hammar has been simply remarkable on the pommel horse this season. The Woodbury, Minn., native currently stands fourth nationally with a 9.417 average, just behind teammate Patrick McFarlin.
Hammar has been steady of late, posting a 9.300 or better in five of his last six attempts. The 2000 ECAC pommel horse champion and 2001 runner-up (to McFarlin), Hammar again claimed the title in 2002, putting together back-to-back 9.400, 9.300 scores to take the crown.
