Sept. 5, 2007
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State men's gymnastics assistant coach Kevin Tan helped Team USA secure a fourth place finish in the team qualifying portion of the 2007 World Gymnastics Championships in Stuttgart, Germany. With that performance, the U.S. men advanced to the team finals at the World Championships as well as qualified to compete in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.
"We have a strong team line-up," said Penn State head coach Randy Jepson, who is also in Germany as part of the Team USA coaching staff. "It was a huge bounce back from the team's 13th-place performance last year. We showed we are much better than that and that we are force to be reckoned with on the international stage and in the Olympics."
China placed first in the qualifying round, followed by Japan, and host Germany.
The top eight teams advance to the team finals on Thurs., Sept. 6, with the top 12 in the standings qualifying for the 2008 Olympic Games. In addition to qualifying for the team competition, the qualification round also determines who advances to the all-around and individual event finals, as well as which countries qualify for the Olympic Games. Scores from the qualification round do not carry forward
Tan, a team co-captain, tied for sixth place overall and earned Team USA's highest score on the still rings, a 16.050. With that effort, Tan advanced to the individual event finals on his signature apparatus. The former NCAA champion and six-time All-American also competed on the pommel horse (14.575), the parallel bars (15.300) and the high bar (12.825).
"Kevin did a great job, especially after missing a month of training while recovering from a concussion he suffered over the summer," said Jepson.
Casey Sandy (Brampton, Ont.), an All-America honoree on the pommel horse in 2007, competed for his native Canada, advancing to the finals in the all-around with a score of 88.725. He placed 25th overall in the all-around competition of the team qualifier, standing out in a field of over 250 world-class athletes.
Four-time All-America honoree Tommy Ramos (Guaynabo, P.R.), a member of the Puerto Rican national team, contributed solid performances on the still rings (14.900), the parallel bars (15.100), and the high bar (13.575).
"I couldn't be more proud of our Penn Staters," said Jepson.