PAGE SIX
Finns Defeat State Gymnasts
Vega's Brilliant Comeback
Wins All-Around Honors
By MATT MATHEWS battle for individual all-around
Associated Sports Editor jhonors.
The gymnastics spectacular The main performer* were
, „ .. n iii Finland's Sakari Olkkenon and
last night m Recreation Build-1 Penn Slate Olympian Armando
ing was just that—Spectacu- 1 Ve Sa
, i From the start it was evident
Jal - ;that the two were going to be
Fiom the graceful and rhythmic. the main contestants. In the first
dance-hke performances of ther cvcnt ’ parallel loars, OUekonen
„ , , ..won with a 9.5. Vega was second
Finnish women to the music and| a t 9 45.
ceremony it was another success-! After the side horse event,
ful Wettstone production before! wll ieh is Vega’s toughest, Olk
a capacity crowd kenon stepped out to a 187-180.5
. .lead. After that, it was all .Vega,
But of course the center ring as h e came home with firsts in
was filled with the next three events to tie the
between the Finnish Olympic scoie at 46.65.
gymnasts and the Penn State col- Vega received the strategic
lemans and in particular with the advantage going info Ihe last
* * * * ★ rt
—Collefian Photo by George Layman
FINNISH AND PENN STATE GYMNASTS stand at attention for the national anthems of both Fin
land and the United States before a capacity crowd in Recreation Building last night at the be
ginning of the international gymnastic competition.
THE DAILY COLLEGIAN STATE COLLEGE. PENNSYLVANIA
| event as he followed his foe on
! the horizontal bar. Olkkonen
| hit on a solid 9.2 routine and
Vega knew he had only to bet-
S ter that to win. He didn't have
| to go all out.
| “I threw my ‘safe’ routine,”
!Vega explained after the meet.
|"I didn’t want to take the slight
est chance of losing and left out
i a lot of difficult moves. I was
in the position to play it safe and
I did.”
After the Penn State team cap
tain completed his routine judge
Carl Patterson’s score was flashed
[first— a 9.0. But the other three
[judges scored his performance at
1 9.3 (Vincent ITAutorio), 9.4
! (Continued on page seven)
★ ★ *
Gymnastic Feats Seconder
Finnish. Gym Show
Promotes Friendship
It would take at least half the adjectives and superlatives
in the dictionary to fully describe last night’s Finnish Gym
meet at Recreation Building.
The final team score didn’t really matter. And even Penn
State’s own Armando Vega’s great All-Around victory would
have to take a back, seat to the
good will and international under
standing and friendship that emi
nated fiom the extravaganza.
Perhaps All-University presi
dent Jay Feldstein best described
[the auspicious occasion when he
[told 6100 spectators in a closing
remark: “You have just wit
nessed a very memorable eve
ning ”
Dr. Kent Foxsier, professor of i
European history and master of
ceremonies for the event, had
an equally significant comment:
"This has been more than a
sporting event," he said. "The
friendship and understanding
resulting from tonight will not
be forgotten."
One of the judges, Frank Wells,
of Scotch Plains, N.Y., went even
further. “I thought it was great.
It was one of the most outstand
ing meets I have ever seen.
“Nowhere will you see such an
excellently produced gym show,”
Wells said. “Wettstone tops them
all, and that includes anything
they can put on in Madison
Square Garden.”
Another Judge, Frank Commin
sky of Westwood, N.J., called the
affair “excellent.” “This is defi
nitely the top show of the tour,”
Comminsky said. “They’ll never
get a bigger or more receptive
audience than they did tonight.”
And what did the Finns them
selves thing of the meet?
“We have met only smiling
people in the U.5.A.,” Finn Coach
Eas Seeste said in his broken
English. “It has been just won
derful.”
"We enjoyed it very much,"
the Finn Captain Oiavi Lemiu
virla said in the locker room.
"Our hosts have been very
kind—especially this place.
“I’m • thinking of trying to get
a scholarship to an American
SATURDAY. JANUARY 10. 1959
By LOU PRATO
Sports Editor
University in the future,” Lemiu
virta added in his very fluent
English syle, “and I would very
much like to study at Penn State.
The people are just wonderful.
“Wettstone is a wonderful
coach, too. Everything on the
tour has been arranged by him.
We have no worries at all—we
just go from place to place.
Everything has been taken care
of by him.”
Asked about the performance of
Vega, Lemiuvirta said: “He’s a
very nice gymnast. He has all
those qualities for a gymnast
strength, muscles and rhythm.
He’s one of the best.
Wetlsfone had highly comp
limentary words for his protege.
"That was the best I’ve ever
seen him," Wettstone said. "He
was excellent."
Comminsky almost echoed
Wettstone's words. “He was ex
cellent,” Comminsky said, “ex
cept for his side horse routine.
He has to improve on that.”
“If Vega keeps on working,"
Judge Wells said, “I’m sure he'll
win a gold medal in the Olympics.
That boy has really improved
over the last three years. And I
think the main reason has been
the effort that Wettstone put in
to coaching him.”
Yes, they’ll be talking about
the Finnish Gym Meet for some
time to come . . .
SPORTS CARD
SATURDAY
GYMNASTICS—-Tempi* vs Penn State,
2:00 p.m.. Re* Hill.
WRESTLING—Lehigh t* Penn State. 1:00
p.in., Rec Hall; Preliminary: Lehigh
Frosh vs Penn State Froah, 0:00
BASKETBALL—Pena State at Rutger*