SUMMIT TWP — And then there was one.

But that one — Butler junior Sean Murphy — made his presence count during the recent USA Gymnastics Pennsylvania State Championships at Penn State University.

Murphy had been one of four members of the Butler Independent gymnastics team, coached by former Butler High coach Dave McKinnis. Their practice facility was in McKinnis' garage.

At the end of last summer, Corey Barnes, a state champion in 2008, moved with his family to Columbus, Ohio. Levi Cetti switched to wrestling and Jesse McKinnis, the coach's son, opted to try other things.

"(Jesse's) body grew and his interests grew, too," Coach McKinnis said. "We lost all of those kids suddenly, right around when school started."

That left Murphy, who decided to stick around. So McKinnis stuck around to work with him.

"I like it here," Murphy said. "I feel comfortable here."

Murphy transferred that comfort zone to State College, where he won gold medals in Level 9 floor exercise with a 13.1, parallel bars with a 12.7 and horizontal bar with an 11.1.

He finished fourth on the pommel horse and claimed the bronze medal in all-around with a 69.5.

"He slipped off the (pommel) horse or he probably would have won there, too," McKinnis said.

Murphy succeeded in floor exercise despite never having the opportunity to practice his full routine until the actual state competition.

The training area on the mat in the garage measures 34 feet. A Junior Olympic floor exercise mat is 40 meters by 40 meters, with a diameter of 60 meters.

"There were advantages and disadvantages to that," Murphy said of working on floor exercise in a smaller area. "I couldn't do the whole routine, but I knew all the components of it because we'd work on pieces of it at a time. All I had to do at states was put it all together.

"Our mat here is much harder than what we competed on, too. It made their mat feel like a trampoline."

McKinnis is in his 43rd year of coaching gymnastics. Jesse competed in one meet early in the season and won it. He still works out in the garage with Murphy.

"The personal instruction is good, but you'd like to have more gymnasts to work out with," Murphy admitted.

McKinnis said son Jesse and Murphy "will probably be my last group. When they're done, I'm done."

Murphy plans to return to the McKinnis garage next year. He probably won't leave before that.

During the school year, Murphy trains with McKinnis from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. six days a week. During the summer, they train in the garage for six hours per day, six days a week.

"Sean works as hard at his sport as any athlete in Butler," McKinnis said.

Murphy has been a competitive gymnast for five years and has been training in the McKinnis garage for three. He is also a diver on the Butler High team.

"It was hard getting used to landing on my head in the pool," Murphy said, laughing. "That's not recommended in this sport."

Murphy hopes to get into the Air Force Academy upon graduation and to compete in gymnastics there. Aaron Zaiser, another former Butler gymnast, is in that program.