Michigan
Santa Barbara Invitational
Weekly Release #8: at Santa Barbara Invitational
3/2/1999 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics
Upcoming Schedule
Saturday, Mar. 6 -- at Santa Barbara Invitational (Santa Barbara, Calif.), 7 p.m. PST
Sunday, Mar. 14 -- host Michigan State (Ann Arbor, Mich.), 1 p.m.
Wolverines Travel to Santa Barbara for Invitational
The second-ranked University of Michigan men's gymnastics team is on the road this week to Santa Barbara, Calif., to compete in the Gold's Invitational on Saturday (Mar. 6). Michigan will face Penn State, California, Washington and host University of California-Santa Barbara.
Michigan participated in the Gold's Invitational last season, finishing in fourth with a team score of 223.50. California (233.49), Pennsylvania (227.78) and Illinois (227.11) took first, second and third, respectively. Stanford (216.95) claimed sixth place behind Cal-Santa Barbara (221.65).
No. 2 Michigan Defeated by No. 4 Iowa
Second-ranked Michigan fell to fourth-ranked Iowa at the Hawkeyes' Field House North Gym on Saturday (Feb. 27). With a team total score of 227.950, the Wolverines were outscored by 0.5 of a point. Iowa claimed top honors on the floor exercise (38.550), pommel horse (38.725), vault (37.750) and high bar (37.800) to contribute to their winning team score of 228.450.
Sophomore co-captain Justin Toman (Wallingford, Conn./Lyman Hall HS) took charge for the Wolverines in individual events with a winning performance on the floor exercise (9.825) and on the high bar (9.700). Sophomore Kenny Keener (Maryville, Tenn./Maryville HS) contributed a first-place career-high score of 9.850 on the still rings. Freshman Brad Kenna (Barberton, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit HS) helped lead the Wolverines with a first-place finish on the vault (9.550) and tied for third on the floor exercise (9.650). Both of these scores are new career highs for Kenna.
Wolverines Fall to Fourth in the Nation
Entering the eighth week of competition, Michigan slides from second-place to the fourth-place position in the GymInfo rankings (Mar. 1). Penn State remains in the first-place slot with a 228.250, Ohio State jumps to second from third with a 227.237 and Iowa ups their ranking to third from fourth with a 227.087.
NAGC/M Top 20 Rankings (3/1/99)
(by Two-Score Average)
1. Penn State 228.250
2. Ohio State 227.237
3. Iowa 227.087
4. MICHIGAN 227.062
5. Illinois 225.712
6. Oklahoma 225.050
7. Michigan State 223.900
8. Brigham Young 222.550
9. Nebraska 221.300
10. Massachusetts 220.950
11. Stanford 220.900
Illinois-Chicago 220.900
13. California 218.025
14. Air Force 215.000
15. Temple 214.650
16. Army 214.325
17. William & Mary 214.075
18. Minnesota 213.712
19. Santa Barbara 211.675
20. New Mexico 211.310
Michigan's National Team Rankings
In all six events the Wolverines hold spots in the top ten in the most recent GymInfo national ranking (Mar. 1). The Blue tumblers are currently first in the nation on the floor exercise (38.025) and the parallel bars (38.287), third on the still rings (38.250), fifth on the pommel horse (37.950) and the high bar (37.425) and seventh on the vault (37.612). Penn State and Ohio State are the only other teams that hold first-place positions in the ranking.
Michigan's Individual National Rankings
Sophomore co-captain Justin Toman carries Michigan along with freshman Daniel Diaz-Luong in the GymInfo individual national rankings (Mar. 1). Toman is ranked second in the nation on the floor exercise (9.675), third on the parallel bars (9.712) and ninth on the high bar (9.650). Diaz-Luong positioned himself in fifth on the parallel bars (9.688) and in a tie for sixth on the pommel horse (9.700) and in the all-around (56.287). Freshman Scott Vetere (Pennsburg, Pa./Quakertown HS) follows Toman and Diaz-Luong with a tied ninth-place ranking on the parallel bars (9.600) and 15th in the all-around (55.550). Sophomore Kenny Keener claims sixth place in the rankings of the still rings with a 9.700, while junior LaLo Haro (Puebla, Pue. Mexico/Instituto Iberia) takes 13th in the all-around (55.650).
Career Highs
Sophomore co-captain Justin Toman obtained two career-high scores, one being a team season high, in Michigan's last meet, Saturday (Feb. 27) against Iowa. Toman set a new floor exercise score for the team this season with his 9.825 performance and set a new personal high on the vault with a 9.200. Daniel Diaz-Luong also recorded a new season-high for the team on the parallel bars with a 9.825 and tied his personal high on the pommel horse with a 9.750.
Senior co-captain Randy D'Amura (Austin, Texas/St. Michael's Academy) and freshmen Josh Levin (Glen Ellyn, Ill./Glenbard West) and Brad Kenna also had career highs against the Hawkeyes. D'Amura beat his career high of 9.550 on the floor exercise scoring a 9.625 at Iowa. Levin received a new career high score of 9.450 on the parallel bars and Kenna recorded new personal bests on the floor exercise (9.650) and on the vault (9.550).
Tracking Michigan in the Rankings
Preseason 9th Jan. 18 4th Jan. 25 2nd Feb. 1 2nd Feb. 8 2nd Feb. 15 2nd Feb. 22 2nd Mar. 1 4th
National Rankings (3/1/99)
Team
Overall - 4th, 227.062 avg.
Floor Exercise - 1st, 38.025
Pommel Horse - 5th, 37.950
Still Rings - 3rd, 38.250
Vault - 7th, 37.612
Parallel Bars - 1st, 38.287
High Bar - 5th, 37.425
Individual (Top 20)
Daniel Diaz-Luong
Pommel Horse - T6th, 9.700
Parallel Bars - 5th, 9.688
High Bar - 13th, 9.575
All-Around - T6th, 56.287
LaLo Haro
Parallel Bars - T17th, 9.475
All-Around - 13th, 55.650
Justin Toman
Floor Exercise - 2nd, 9.675
Parallel Bars - 3rd, 9.712
High Bar - 9th, 9.650
Kenny Keener
Still Rings - 6th, 9.700
Scott Vetere
Parallel Bars - T9th, 9.600
All-Around - 15th, 55.550
Players Mentioned
