Senior Alex Tighe was the only Temple Owl to qualify for the all-around finals at the NCAA National Championships last Saturday night at Penn State University. Tighe competed on both high and parallel bars with the best collegiate gymnast in America.
At the all-around finals, Tighe finished in 28th place on parallel bars, posting a score of 14.250, and in 36th place on high bar with a 13.650, thus concluding Temple’s 2013 season. Overall, Tighe was not disappointed with his performance, but not thrilled either.
“I did okay,” Tighe said. “But I didn’t do my absolute perfect routines. I had a really great parallel bars routine but had a very small error. And on high bar I tried to be a little too perfect, and when you try to be overly perfect you often end up having a mistake and that’s what happened on high bar.”
“[Tighe] wasn’t optimal,” coach Fred Turoff said. “But the fact that he made it to the championship round and had the chance to be event finalist on some events, I think that is a pretty significant accomplishment for him.”
With the season now officially over, Tighe was a vital part to the success of the team that won the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference championship for the second time in consecutive years.
When asked if he agreed with that statement, Turoff said, “Well certainly. He’s a steady guy, you can count on him for three events, and he’s a good example for everybody else for how you want to perform at what you want to aim for.”
Tighe’s performance concluded the Owls 2013 season. Temple finished as the No.12 ranked team in the country.
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