Temple Claims 2008 EIGL Title for Second Straight Year
WEST POINT, N.Y. - Temple University finished with a total score of 341.450 behind solid team performances in the floor exercise, vault, and horizontal bar to win the 2008 Eastern Intercollegiate Gymnastics League (EIGL) Championship, held on the campus of the U.S. Military Academy.
The College of William & Mary came in second by the
sliimmest of margins, scoring a 341.350. The University of
Illinois at Chicago was strong as a team on the pommel horse and
the still rings to take thrid place with a final total of
340.900. The rest of the field consisted of U.S Naval Academy
in fourth, Springfield College in fifth, and MIT in sixth. Team-by-team
breakdown
Luke Vexler of Temple was the top all-around performer with a score of 86.550. His mark 15.200 in the floor exercise earned his only event win durign the team portion of the championship. He also finished second in both the pommel horse (13.950) and horizontal bar (14.450). Illinois Chicago's Anthony May was second in the all-around standings, with a tie for first on the still rings (15.250) and an overall total of 85.350. Temple's Pat McLaughlin took third in the all-around at 84.250.
In other events during day one, Dylan Perrot of Navy earned highest marks in the parallel bars (14.600) while Andrew Hunt of William & Mary was tops in the horizontal bar (14.500). Navy's Adam Stanton scored a 14.100 on the pommel horse, and the vault event was led by Scott Bloomfield of Temple with a score of 15.750.
Temple's Fred Turoff was named 'Coach of the Year', and Peter Walker of William & Mary earned the distinction of 'Assistant Coach of the Year'.
On day two during the individual competition, Vexler and McLaughlin shared first place with scores of 15.000 on the floor exercise. Hunt claimed the top honor on the horizontal bar with a 14.550. Bloomfield recorded a score of 16.150 to win the vault event. James Prim of William & Mary earned a 15.100 on the still rings to take first place. Stanton upped his score on the pommel horse to 14.750 to capture the gold medal. In the parallel bars, UIC's Neal Thompson posted a total of 14.850 for the event victory.
