Michigan
Maize and Blue Intrasquad (ex)
Corrigan, Parzuchowski Lead Blue to Intrasquad Victory
12/15/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Cliff Keen Arena)
Event: Maize and Blue Intrasquad
Score: Blue 204.400, Maize 202.300
Next U-M Event: Saturday, Jan. 11 -- at Windy City Invitational (Chicago, Ill.), 7 p.m. CST
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan men's gymnastics team started its 2002-03 season on Sunday (Dec. 15) with the annual Maize and Blue Intrasquad at Cliff Keen Arena. The Blue team defeated the Maize team 204.400-202.300 with sophomore Geoff Corrigan (Colorado Springs, Colo./Palmer HS) of the Blue team leading the way by winning the all-around title with his score of 51.400.
Corrigan's all-around title included a tie for first on floor and second place on rings.
The floor exercise had three gymnasts tie for the top spot with scores of 8.800, as Corrigan got off to a fast start by being one of them. The other two, Andre Hernandez (Austin, Texas/Round Rock HS) and Jamie Hertza (West Bloomfield, Mich./West Bloomfield HS), both represented the Maize team.
The Maize team took the lead after two events after Brian Peterson (Albuquerque, N.M./Eldorado HS) took home top honors on the pommel horse with his score of 9.000. Hertza and Justin Laury (Marietta, Ga./McEachern HS) tied for a close second with their scores of 8.900 to keep the Blue team within striking distance.
The Blue team swept the top three spots on still rings with all three scores being 9.000 or better. Conan Parzuchowski (Northville, Mich./University of Detroit Jesuit HS) scored a 9.600, which was the highest score given out any event for the entire meet, Corrigan took second (9.100) and Laury earned third (9.000), giving the Blue team its first overall lead of the day.
The Maize team responded on vault, taking the top two spots and four of the first five places to jump back on top of the team standings. Gerry Signorelli (Colorado Springs, Colo./Mitchell HS) and Edward Umphrey (Albuquerque, N.M./La Cueva HS) led the charge by tying for first place with scores of 9.200. Corrigan was the lone Blue team member in the top five, earning third place with his 9.000 score.
The momentum shifted back in the Blue team's favor on parallel bars, however, when it again took the top three spots just like it had done on still rings two events earlier. It was the same three gymnasts for the Blue team that once again provided the fireworks to put their team back on top in the overall standings. Parzuchowski (8.800) took first, Laury (8.400) second and Corrigan (8.300) third.
The Blue team increased its lead on the final event of the afternoon, horizontal bar, to earn the intrasquad victory. Brian Berends (Hudsonville, Mich./Hudsonville HS) saved his best performance for last, taking the top spot with his score of 8.800, and fellow Blue team member Laury finished second with his score of 8.700. Hernandez (8.600) and Signorelli (8.500) kept the overall score close by taking third and fourth, but it was not enough as the Blue team prevailed, 204.400-202.300.
The Wolverines will open the regular season on Saturday (Jan. 11) when they will participate in the Windy City Invitational at 7 p.m. CST in Chicago, Ill.
Q U O T E S
U-M Head Coach Kurt Golder
On his team's performance today ... "I am real pleased. I thought that we established a real good base today. We had some problems on certain parts, but between those parts I thought that we looked really good. I feel like we are a lot further along than we were a year ago. I am also pleased that we will be able to add Scott Vetere, Kris Zimmerman and Chris Gatti into more events. Those are some guys with both Big Ten and NCAA honors, so we can put a much stronger team out there. But I was very pleased with what I saw out there today."
On the freshmen and their performances today ... "I was really pleased to see that they are good competitors. When you are competing against other juniors, you may be the oldest guy in the group and it may be easy to be king of the hill. But to come in as a freshman and do a good job, it says a lot for their ability to compete. I was real pleased with that. Unfortunately, Gerry Signorelli has been sick and missed a couple of days of practice this week, but otherwise he was really looking steady prior to this week. He was kind of zapped a little bit."
On the health of the team entering the season, especially Vetere and Zimmerman ... "We probably won't be at full strength and I won't push to be at full strength. The process will be to bring them along slowly to try and preserve them so they have their best at the end of the season. It may cost us a few dual meets here and there. That may happen, but in the long run that is the way to play it."
Players Mentioned
