March 17, 2018
By Madeleine Balestrier, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Before they donned the Blue and White as competitive gymnasts, they were young athletes discovering the incredible feeling of learning skills, sticking landings and honing a specialty in gymnastics. On Saturday, the same athletes, who once dreamt of competing amongst for the Blue and White, closed the door on their dedicated Penn State gymnastics careers in Rec Hall.
"It really hit me all at once that this was my last meet in Rec Hall and I've been competing in Rec Hall since I've been about 12-years-old," senior Colin Coates said. "It's always just been amazing here and I really just wanted to soak it all in."
Although the overall results did not favor the Penn State men's gymnastics team over the Nebraska Cornhuskers, the Nittany Lions were able to honor their hard-working and dedicated seniors who evolved from those young boys to distinguished men and athletes ending another chapter of their gymnastics journey.
"I just told them to go out and fun," head coach Randy Jepson said when asked about how he encouraged the senior's last meet in Rec Hall.
On Saturday, Penn State honored Benjamin Cooperman, Joshua Smith, Quest Hayden, Greg Tamargo and Coates with a ceremony and tribute video that recognized their development from young gymnasts into established gymnasts and role models.
"It was definitely an emotional day for me," Coates said.
The rest of the Nittany Lions worked hard to make the day special for the graduating seniors, including junior standout Chris Sands.
"He had an outstanding day a week ago in Arizona and led our team," Jepson said. "He came back into the same thing today with terrific landings. He stuck three landings on his three events."
"I felt pretty good," Sands said. "I mean at this point in the season this is our fourth meet in a row so it's pretty much like clock work now."
Sands highest score of the day was on the still rings when he landed a solid 14.150. Sands credits senior Hayden for a lot of his experiences and opportunities as a student-athlete at Penn State.
"Well I drew a lot of inspiration from Quest Hayden when I came here," Sands said. "He and I have been friends for years so I drew a lot on him when he was healthy and competing...He's done a lot for me. He helped me actually like get interested in Penn State. He's helped me all along the way so I mean I can't thank him enough."
Sophomore Sam Zakutney also showed up for the Nittany Lions and his graduating seniors when he notched the Nittany Lions highest score of the day with a 14.600 result on the parallel bars.
All five of the athletes left a legacy on their teammates and ended this season together in the gym that gave them another opportunity to continue to be those young athletes so many years ago just discovering the thrill of floor routines and the strength of conquering the pommel horse.
"Getting to see Penn State gymnastics when I was younger I always strived to be on the team," Coates said. "I think being here has really built me to be a better person whether that be in competition, be a better teammate, be better in school and I am really thankful for that."
As the Penn State Nittany Lions say goodbye to Rec Hall for the 2018 campaign, they will take their efforts to Ann Arbor, Michigan next weekend to close out the regular season against the Wolverines before Big Ten and NCAA Championships.
"We have our most important meets at the end of the year," Coates said. "We have Big Tens and NCAAs and I think the team is really gonna peak then and I think we can surprise everyone."