March 28, 2002

Colorado Springs, Colo. - The UC Santa Barbara men's gymnastics team placed sixth at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships on March 23 with a team score of 202.500, while eight Gaucho gymnasts qualified for the upcoming NCAA Championships during the league meet in Colorado Springs Colo.

Oklahoma won the conference title with a cumulative score of 219.225, followed by California (217.200), Stanford (207.650), Nebraska (205.825) and host school Air Force (202.850).

Senior Michael Kelley-Sang Ho was the Gauchos' top all-arounder, finishing in 11th place with a cumulative score of 50.200. His top individual event mark was 9.100 on the vault, good enough for 11th place.

Meanwhile UCSB gymnasts Donald Mahr (49.950), Geoffrey Howell (49.800), Stehen Smith (49.250) and Daniel Levine (48.650) held down the 13th-16th spots in the all-around competition, respectively. Howell, who finished eighth in the vault at 9.200, will compete as an all-arounder along with Kelley-Sang Ho and Smith at the NCAA Championships, April 5-7 in Norman, Okla. Mahr qualified for Nationals in three events, while Levine will participate in two disciplines.

Sophomore Andre Badilla was Santa Barbara's top individual finisher at the MPSF meet, punching his ticket to the NCAA's with a seventh-place 8.750 performance on the pommel horse. In addition to all of the aforementioned gymnasts, senior Dushan Mikichi and freshman Jay Yee will also represent UCSB at Nationals in the pommel horse and high bar, respectively.

After competing as individuals at the NCAA meet, the Gauchos will have one final team competition, the USA Gymnastics Collegiate Championships. That event is scheduled for April 12-13 in Springfield, Mass.