Jan. 26, 2007

PHILADELPHIA - The Temple men's gymnastics team (2-1) hits the road this weekend when it travels to the 16th annual West Point Open. Host-team Army (1-1), along with Penn State (2-0) and Navy (2-0) are among the top teams scheduled to compete. James Madison University, MIT and Springfield College will round out the field with additional club teams from the East scheduled to compete, as well.

The ninth-ranked Owls look to a talented group of all-around performers in Sterling Kramer, Luke Vexler, Jason Russo and John Vogtman to lead this squad. With help from contributors like Alex Gorski, Andy Corp, Derek Shepard, Nate Naisby and senior co-captain Nadov Simenauer, the Owls are on a mission to keep their top ten ranking. This will also mark their first away meet of the season, so tallying a strong road score should keep the team's confidence at a high.

Both Penn State and Army are ranked in the top ten as well, with Penn State second and Army 10th. Additionally, Navy is currently ranked 14th in the nation.

Freshman Patrick McLaughlin made his NCAA debut last week versus Penn State, William & Mary and James Madison, and head coach Fred Turoff will once again look to McLaughlin to contribute on a couple of events. Simenauer will hope to contribute to the rings lineup, and this weekend's meet just might be his comeback to the competitive stage. After tearing his ACL last year at the Pacific Coast Classic, the senior co-captain is set to embark on his final year with the Owls. Shepard will also be competing for a spot in the still rings lineup.

The West Point Open is a two-day competition featuring a team competition on Friday night at 7:00 p.m. and individual event championships the following evening, Saturday January 27. To qualify to the individual championships, you must score in the top eight in any of the six individual apparatus.

Last year at West Point, Penn State won its ninth consecutive title while Temple placed third behind Army.

Following this weekend, the Owls will head to Columbus, Ohio on Saturday, February 3 for a dual-meet against fourth-ranked Ohio State University.