Tribe Men Bring Home Three Individual Titles from USA Gymnastics Collegiate Championships

Sophomore Andrew Hunt Claims Pair of USAG National Titles

04/16/06 12:00PM

Ithaca, NY - The College of William and Mary’s 10th-ranked men’s gymnastics squad put a fitting exclamation point on its 2006 campaign by having two individuals claim three Collegiate National Titles at Saturday’s Individual Event Finals of the USA Gymnastics Collegiate National Championships, hosted by Cornell University.

Coming into Saturday’s events, the College had already claimed the team title, awarded after Friday’s competi-tion, and senior Ramon Jackson (Orlando, FL) had taken the all-around championship, his sixth career individual USAG Collegiate National Title. Also, Jackson and W&M Head Coach Cliff Gauthier were honored before Satur-day’s competition as the USA Gymnastics Senior Gymnast and Coach of the Year, respectively. But, the team had to make room for even more hardware, as it earned half of the six individual event titles contested on Saturday.

Leading the way was sophomore Andrew Hunt (Upper Black Eddy, PA) as he won both the parallel bars (8.450) and high bar events (9.050) to claim his first USA Gymnastics Collegiate National Titles. His victory in the high bar marked the first time a Tribe student-athlete had claimed the championship at the event and was the only event Wil-liam and Mary had never won since first competing at the USAGs in 1994. But, even with that being said, his title on the parallel bars comes as an even larger upset, as he unseated fellow teammate, and three-time returning USAG event champion, Ramon Jackson, who finished fourth with a uncharacteristic mark of 8.050.

On the rings, Tribe senior Jeff Jaekle (Strartford, CT) saved his best for last, as his mark of 9.050 captured the event crown and earned him his first career USAG Collegiate All-America honor.

While Jackson claimed no titles on Saturday, he did bring home the most hardware, as he earned USA Gymnas-tics Collegiate All-America honors on five events; Floor Ex (8.7250, 2nd), vault (9.400, 2nd), High Bar (8.750, 3rd) and Parallel Bars (8.050, 4th). When adding in Friday’s honor in the all-around, it marked the second straight season Jack-son has brought home five USAG Collegiate All-America honors and he finished his career with 17 total.

Junior Gustav Lindquist (Old Greenwich, CT) rounded out the College’s honorees on the afternoon, as he finished sixth on the floor exercise (8.250) and claimed his first USAG honor.