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| The men's gymnastics team was named 2007 Academic Team National Champions by the College Gymnastics Association. |
The team was named the 2007 Academic Team National Champions by the College Gymnastics Association for their success in the classroom.
"It's been a mission since I came in as a freshman through now my senior year to make sure that's our priority," said Jimmy Wickham, a senior in exercise science who competes in all events and finished with a 3.795 grade-point average. "We are student-athletes. The student title comes first."
An event was held at the South Campus Gateway Friday to honor the team for their achievements. The celebration included guest speakers Martha Garland, dean of undergraduate athletics, athletics director Gene Smith, former gymnasts Jamie Natalie and Kristopher Kline, as well as performances by the Ohio State Marching Band, cheerleaders and Brutus.
At the conclusion of the presentation, coach Miles Avery and the team was awarded with a check for $3,400 by Smith for their 3.4 cumulative GPA.
"Absolutely. Sometimes even more so," Avery said when asked if the academic accomplishment was equal to what the team could achieve athletically. "A National Championship just for gymnastics is obviously going to be tremendous. But this National Championship is going to set you up for the rest of your life."
The team has no idea of their academic ranking, so when it heard the news it came as a complete surprise.
"We don't know where we are in the standings usually," said David Ortiz, a senior who competes in all events. "Then we found out, wow, we're number one."
Maybe even more of a surprise to the Buckeyes than their 3.4 GPA was the fact that they finished ahead of defending champions Stanford.
"We were just happy to be ranked," Wickham said of the team's 10th-place finish in the 2006 academic standings. "When we heard we beat out schools such as Stanford (this season) we were just in awe."
Before OSU's first-place academic finish this season, Stanford, MIT and William & Mary were the only schools to take home the award.
Last season the team also won its third consecutive Big Ten Championship.
Wickham said he is confident the team will be able to repeat this success athletically, as well as academically, again in 2008.
A typical day is very strenuous for a men's gymnast, but Ortiz credits the coaching staff for staying on top of their studies and allowing them to leave practice early if they have an exam the next day.
A typical day involves "classes in the morning until two, practice until five, homework at night usually and sometimes all-nighters," Ortiz said.
The team might have fallen short of an athletic national title, but it was not apparent by the atmosphere during the celebration.
"Yeah. This is pretty crazy," Ortiz said above the roar of the Best Damn Band in the Land.
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