Luis Vargas captures all-around title, Kevin Tan is rings champion in individual event finals, Randy Jepson earns national coach of the year honor
Champaign, Ill. -- Season-high team scores on four of six events propelled the Penn State men's gymnastics team to the 2004 NCAA championship Saturday night (April 3) in Champaign, Ill. With a season-high score of 223.35, the Nittany Lions captured their first title since 2000.
Sophomore Luis Vargas (Rio Pedros, P.R.) won the all-around title with a career-high 56.475, becoming the first Lion to win the overall since Marshall Avener won the title in 1973.
Several Lions advanced to Sunday's (April 4) individual event finals, including 2003 rings champion senior Kevin Tan (Fremont, Calif.), who became Penn State's first back-to-back national champion on the rings with a win at the event.
The honors continued to roll in for the newly-crowned national champion Lions, with Penn State's head coach Randy Jepson earning his second national coach of the year title.
Penn State started Saturday evening by posting two season-high team scores on the parallel bars (36.85) and on the high bar (37.275). Vargas' career-high of 9.775 on the parallel bars highlighted the opening rotation for the Lions, with Tan posting a 9.2.
On the high bar, the Lions posted four scores of 9.0 or better, led by a 9.575 from Vargas and a 9.225 from Tan. Senior captain Duke Van Vleet (Safety Harbor, Fla.) also notched a season-high on the apparatus for Penn State, earning a 9.225. A season-high team score of 37.725 gave the Lions a 74.125 through two rotations.
Penn State continued to roll, posting four career-high scores on the floor totaling a season-high 37.0 in the event. Sophomore Chad Buczek (Bridgewater, Mass.) paced the floor team with a career-high 9.4. Senior Zach Roeder (Montrose, Pa.) came in with a 9.375, with Vargas pitching in a career-high 9.125 and Ludwig Kern (Annapolis, Md.) posting a career-high 9.1 to give the Lion's a total team score of 111.125 through three rotations.
A career-high 9.57 from Vargas on the pommel horse and another 9.7 from Roeder boosted the Lions' to a season-high 38.225 in the event, giving Penn State a 149.35 heading into the fifth rotation. Penn State's other two scores on the event both were above a 9.375, with Nat Eng (Cohoes, N.Y.) tying his career high with a 9.4 and Tan tying his season-high of 9.375.
The Lions headed into the fifth rotation with their strongest two events as a team remaining. On the rings, Tan led the Lions with a 9.65. Buczek posted a 9.35, with scores from junior Steve Tobin (Cherry Hill, N.J.) and Matt Cohen (Angoura Hills, Calif.) of 8.925 and 8.875, respectively, also counting for the Lions. Heading into the sixth and final rotation, Penn State trailed Oklahoma by only 0.175, 186.325-186.15.
Penn State would need a strong performance on the vault to bring the national title back to Happy Valley for the first time since 2000, and they got what they needed, scoring a 37.2 and beating second-place and two-time defending champion Oklahoma by 1.05 points. Vargas led on the vault with a 9.4, with Buczek and Tobin adding 9.3 to seal the deal.
Five Lions made it to the individual event finals Sunday, including three on the pommel horse and three on the parallel bars. Vargas, Roeder and Eng competed for the national title on the pommel horse. Vargas also competed on the high bar and the parallel bars. Joining the sophomore all-around champion on the parallel bars was Big Ten champion on the apparatus Tan and Tobin. The defending 2003 NCAA champion and 2004 Big Ten champion, Tan was also hunting for back-to-back titles on the rings after qualifying with a 9.65.
Vargas had an outstanding day, earning All-American honors four times over. He started with a solid routine on pommel horse, earning the fourth All-American honor of his young career with a 9.687 runner-up performance. Eng, who will graduate this spring after just three years with the University, placed eighth on the pommel horse with an 8.775. Roeder came in 10th with a 9.3.
On the parallel bars, Vargas just missed out on another top three finish, placing fourth with a 9.025 and earning All-American honors for the second time during the individual event finals. Tan finished ninth on the apparatus with an 8.45.
Vargas finished his outstanding championship performance with a tie for sixth place on the high bar, earning his fourth All-American honor of the weekend with a 9.475. Vargas was one of only three competitors to earn four or more All-American honors after capturing the all-around yesterday.
Tan's title on rings and Vargas' titles in the all-around builds on Penn State's NCAA-record total, giving the Lions 48 individual titles in program history. Penn State also holds the record for team titles with 11, including the 2004 title the Lions captured Saturday.
2004 NCAA men's gymnastics team finals
1. PENN STATE (223.35)
2. Oklahoma (222.3)
3. Illinois (222.225)
4. Ohio State (221.35)
5. Michigan (220.525)
6. California (220.325)
All-around competition
1. LUIS VARGAS, PENN STATE (56.475)
2. Dan Gill, Stanford (56.125)
3. Randy Monahan, Ohio State (55.725)
Still rings
1. KEVIN TAN, PENN STATE (9.812)
2. Nyika White, Temple (9.787)
3. David Henderson, Oklahoma (9.6)
Pommel horse
1. Robert Rogers, Illinois (9.775)
2T. LUIS VARGAS, PENN STATE and Dan Gill, Stanford (9.687)
Parallel bars
1. Ramon Jackson, William & Mary (9.2)
2. Linas Gaveika, Iowa (9.187)
3. Joshua Gore, Oklahoma (9.1)
4. LUIS VARGAS, PENN STATE (9.025)
High bar
1. Justin Spring, Illinois (9.775)
2T. Dan Gill, Stanford and Graham Ackerman, California (9.737)
4. Linas Gaveika, Iowa (9.687)
5. Ronald Ferris, Ohio State (9.537)
6T. LUIS VARGAS, PENN STATE and Quinn Rowell, Oklahoma (9.475)