After retaining its Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference title for the second time in consecutive years, the No.12 men’s gymnastics (17-6) will head to Penn State University tomorrow for the NCAA national championships. Competition is scheduled to start at 1 p.m.

This season has seen the Owls win a long list of accolades, including coach Fred Turoff winning ECAC Coach of the Year, assistant coach Patrick McLaughlin winning ECAC Assistant Coach of the Year, senior Alex Tighe winning the Senior Athlete of the Year Award, and ultimately ended with the ECAC title once again in the hands of Temple men’s gymnastics. It marked the 18th time in Turoff’s 37 years at the helm of the team that the Owls captured the ECAC title.

The gymnast to watch will continue to be Alex Tighe. Tighe has performed well all season and has arguably been Temple’s most consistent gymnast. After winning Senior Athlete of the Year, Tighe was honored with another accolade. The Philadelphia Inquirer named Tighe to their Men’s At-Large Academic All-Area Team, which recognizes the athlete’s performance not just in sport, but in the classroom as well. Tighe will look to keep his momentum going forward into the NCAA’s tomorrow.

On preparing for the national championships, Turoff said, “We look to having a clean meet with fewer errors than the past several meets. Since we’re going in as No.12, with the closest team having a score average over 5 points higher, climbing up will be a task, but it has happened before.”