Michigan
Maize and Blue Intrasquad (ex)
Maize Edges Blue in Men's Gymnastics Intrasquad Meet
12/16/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Cliff Keen Arena)
Event: Maize and Blue Intrasquad
Result: Maize 155.800, Blue 155.500
Next U-M Event: Saturday, Jan. 13 -- at Windy City Invitational (Chicago, Ill.), 7 p.m. CST
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- In the annual Maize and Blue mens gymnastics intrasquad meet, the Maize team edged out the Blue team in the final rotation, 155.800-155.500, Saturday (Dec. 16) in Cliff Keen Arena. The Maize team was led by freshman Mel Anton Santander (Southborough, Mass./Algonquin Regional HS), who claimed the all-around title with a 51.600.
Heading into the final three performances in the last rotation, the Maize team had a 0.300 lead. Senior/junior Andrew Elkind (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill East HS) was the final performer for the Maize squad and scored a 7.000 on the high bar after two falls, leaving two Blue competitors left in the meet. Sophomore Joe Catrambone (Deptford, N.J./Gloucester Catholic HS) of the Blue team was unable to give his squad a boost with an 8.600 on the parallel bars, leaving fifth-year senior Justin Laury (Marietta, Ga./McEachern HS) as the final performer left on the parallel bars for the evening with the opportunity to earn a tie. Laury needed a 9.100 to give the Blue squad the tie, but came up shy with a score of 8.000.
For the Maize and Blue Intrasquad, the teams counted their top three scores rather than their top four scores.
The Blue team opened the evening with a 0.300 lead after the first rotation, posting 26.300 on the floor exercise, while the Maize team had 26.000 on the pommel horse. Sophomore Scott Bregman (Lawrence, Kan./Lawrence Free State HS) claimed the floor title for the Blue team with a score of 9.500, while sophomore Kent Caldwell (Charlotte, N.C./Charlotte Latin HS) took second for the Maize team with a score of 9.100.
On the pommel horse, Santander finished first with a score of 9.200, while Justin Laury of the Blue team came in second with 8.700.
On the still rings, freshman Torrance Laury (Marietta, Ga./McEachern HS) gave the Blue team the event title with a 9.400. Sophomore Ralph Rosso (Morganville, N.J./St. John Vianny HS) finished in a close second with a 9.200.
On the vault, sophomore Jamie Thompson (Lakemont, Ga./Oconee County HS) gave the Maize the event title with a score of 8.800, while Blue teams junior Daniel Rais (Livonia, Mich./Franklin HS) came up short by 0.100, taking second with 8.700.
Elkind of the Maize team took second in the parallel bars behind Torrance Laury with a score of 9.100, falling short of the event title by 0.200. Laury claimed the parallel bars title with a 9.300, and finished second in the all-around (49.800). Sophomore Ryan McCarthy (Zionsville, Ind./Zionsville Community HS) was close behind for third on the p-bars with a 9.000.
Catrambone took first place in the high bar with a score of 8.600, while teammate Laury finished third (8.300). The Maize team came in second place with Santanders score of 8.400.
In the all-around, Santander finished first with a total of 51.600, while Torrance Laury claimed second with 49.800.
The Wolverines begin the regular season Saturday, Jan. 13, when they travel to Chicago, Ill., for the Windy City Invitational at 7 p.m. CST.
Final Team Standings
| Team Scores | FX | PH | SR | V | PB | HB | Total |
| 1. Maize | 26.700 | 26.000 | 27.300 | 24.700 | 26.300 | 24.800 | 155.800 |
| 2. Blue | 26.300 | 25.400 | 27.600 | 24.700 | 27.100 | 24.400 | 155.500 |
Event-By-Event Individual Leaders
FLOOR EXERCISE 1. Scott Bregman, Blue 9.500 2. Kent Caldwell, Maize 9.100 3. Daniel Rais, Blue 8.900 Jamie Thompson, Maize 8.900 POMMEL HORSE 1. Mel Santander, Maize 9.200 2. DJ Chan, Blue 8.700 Justin Laury, Blue 8.700 STILL RINGS 1. Torrance Laury, Blue 9.400 2. Ralph Rosso, Maize 9.200 3. Joe Catrambone, Blue 9.100 Andrew Elkind, Maize 9.100 Phillip Goldberg, Blue 9.100 VAULT 1. Jamie Thompson, Maize 8.800 2. Daniel Rais, Blue 8.700 3. Joe Catrambone, Blue 8.100 Mel Santander, Maize 8.100 PARALLEL BARS 1. Torrance Laury, Blue 9.300 2. Andrew Elkind, Maize 9.100 3. Ryan McCarthy, Blue 9.000 HIGH BAR 1. Ryan Catrambone, Blue 8.600 2. Mel Santander, Maize 8.400 3. Torrance Laury, Blue 8.300 ALL-AROUND 1. Mel Santander, Maize 51.600 2. Torrance Laury, Blue 49.800
Q U O T E S
Michigan Head Coach Kurt Golder
On the meet ... "I'm proud of a lot of things. Several guys haven't competed for several years -- David Chan was in the military and didn't compete for over two years. We had five guys who redshirted and haven't competed in over a year and a half. They looked like they didn't miss a beat. I am very pleased with that. Our ratio of hit routines was very high for this point in the season. I think we need to work on perfection and during the last two events it looked like we were a little bit tired because our hit percentage went down, especially on high bar. I didn't expect that. A meet brings out things you don't always see in practice. I am extremely pleased with pommel horse where we hit nine or 10 out of 12. Six out of six events were won by a freshman or sophomore and the top two finishers in the all-around were underclassmen. They proved to us and proved to me that we have the potential to be a really good team this year."
On Michigan's underclassmen ... "They are very important for longevity and future of our team. If they are winning events and looking good it means we'll look good for many years to come. A freshman goes from one level to another and it can be unpredictable. I was really pleased with the whole group. Between the freshmen and our redshirts that was the question mark and they answered it like I wanted it answered -- not to take anything away from the other guys. We saw a lot of hard work in the summer and fall paying off. Like I told them, we have very high start values and we're very clean for the most part and if we limit our mistakes we can be up there."
Players Mentioned
