University of Massachusets Athletics
University of Massachusetts
NCAA Championships
Men's Gymnastics Ends Season As Individuals Finish At NCAAs
April 05, 2002 | Men's Gymnastics
April 5, 2002
NORMAN, Okla. - The University of Massachusetts men's gymnastics team closed out its season as four individuals competed at the National Collegiate Men's Gymnastics Championships here at the Lloyd Noble Center on the campus of the University of Oklahoma on Saturday night. Junior Darren Morace (Westfield, Mass.), who competed in the all-around, finished ninth on vault with a score of 9.350, just .025 behind Penn State's Kevin Donohue in eight place. While none of UMass four competitors will advance to Saturday night's event finals, which will feature the top eight individuals on each apparatus, Morace will be the first alternate on vault.
Sophomore Patrick McFarlin (Longmeadow, Mass.) was the first Minuteman competitor, as the all-arounder began the day on still rings with a score of 7.850. Morace then started his competition with an 8.350 on pommel horse. McFarlin then posted an 8.900 on vault, while Morace recorded another 8.350 on still rings.
After McFarlin posted an 8.250 on parallel bars, Morace stuck his vault, recording a 9.350. With the score, Morace then stood in fourth place through three rotations. It was Morace's fourth-consecutive vault of 9.00 or better.
In the fourth rotation, Morace recorded an 8.100 on parallel bars while McFarlin recorded an 8.250 on horizontal bar. Junior Ben Jacobs (Milwaukee, Wis.) joined McFarlin on horizontal bar, and scored an 8.850, bettering his qualifying score by a tenth. McFarlin then recorded an 8.300 on floor exercise, while Morace posted a solid 8.700 on horizontal bar.
In the competition's final rotation, McFarlin recorded a 7.900 on pommel horse while Morace scored 9.050 on floor exercise. Senior Clayton Kent (Exeter, N.H.), who joined Morace, also posted a 9.050 on floor exercise.
In the team competition, Oklahoma captured the national title with a team score of 219.300, finishing ahead of Ohio State (218.650) and Cal-Berkeley (217.650).
UMASS RESULTSFloor Exercise Pommel Horse Rings 16. Clayton Kent 9.050 39. Darren Morace 8.350 40. Darren Morace 8.350 16. Darren Morace 9.050 43. Pat McFarlin 7.900 47. Pat McFarlin 7.850 34. Pat McFarlin 8.300
Vault Parallel Bars Horizontal Bar 9. Darren Morace 9.350 37. Pat McFarlin 8.250 15. Ben Jacobs 8.850 40. Pat McFarlin 8.900 43. Darren Morace 8.100 27. Darren Morace 8.700 40. Pat McFarlin 8.250
