Michigan
Big Ten Team and All-Around Finals
Michigan Takes Fourth Place at Big Ten Championships
3/24/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics
IOWA CITY, Iowa -- The University of Michigan men's gymnastics team scored a 210.775 to take fourth place at Friday's (March 24) Big Ten Championships held at Iowa's Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Ohio State won the team title with a 215.625, followed by Illinois (214.800), Iowa (213.750), Michigan, Penn State (210.250) and Minnesota (205.400).
Michigan senior Gerry Signorelli (Colorado Springs, Colo./Mitchell HS) grabbed All-Big Ten honors with his sixth-place finish in the all-around with a 52.40. Illinois senior Justin Spring won the all-around with a 54.15.
Michigan began the evening on still rings, and juniors Aaron Rakes (Lexington, Ky./Dunbar HS) and Andrew Elkind (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill East) got the team off to a solid start with scores of 9.00 and 8.95, respectively. In his first Big Ten Championships, freshman strongman Phillip Goldberg (Ringgold, Ga./McCallie HS) led the Wolverines on the event with a 9.175.
Moving to the vault, one of Michigan's most consistent events all season long, the team did not disappoint. Seniors Luke Bottke (Saginaw, Mich./Heritage HS) and Signorelli began with a 9.05 and 9.15, respectively, to set up sophomore Daniel Rais (Livonia, Mich./Franklin HS), who notched a 9.25. Last up on the event was senior vault standout Andrew DiGiore (Buffalo, N.Y./City Honors School), who delivered a stellar 9.55. Michigan posted a 37.00 on the event and was in third place in the team standings after two events.
The parallel bars, the lowest scoring event of the evening for most teams, slowed but did not stop the Wolverines' momentum. Freshman standout Joe Catrambone (Deptford, N.J./Gloucester Catholic HS) and Elkind turned in a pair of admirable 8.10s. Next up was Rakes, who notched the team's highest mark on the event with an 8.50.
Highlights on the high bar came in the form of two superb routines from Catrambone and Signorelli. Both scored 9.25 and earned berths into Saturday's event finals. Elkind added an 8.80 of his own to put Michigan in third place after four rotations with a 141.175.
With two events to go Michigan was on its best event, the floor exercise. Recognizing they were in the hunt for the team title, the team used inspired performances to pull within striking distance of the leaders. Freshman Scott Bregman (Lawrence, Kan./Lawrence Free State HS) began with a 9.00 to lead off the team, followed by a 9.10 from Rais. Next up, Signorelli and Bottke turned up the heat with a pair of 9.25s. With one event to go Michigan was in second place with a 177.975, behind only Ohio State.
Finishing on the pommel horse, a difficult task for any team, proved too much for Michigan to maintain its second-place position. Although Signorelli and Goldberg turned in an 8.30 and an 8.20, respectively, the Wolverines fell to fourth in the final standings.
Michigan continues competition at the Big Ten Championships with the individual event finals on Saturday (March 25) at 7 p.m. CST. Event titles on each of the six events are up for grabs with the top eight athletes on each event from Friday's competition qualifying to tomorrow's finals. Michigan qualified seven routines into the event finals: Bottke (floor), Catrambone (high bar), Signorelli (floor and high bar), DiGiore (vault), Rakes (rings) and Goldberg (rings).
Final Team Standings
| Team Scores | FX | PH | SR | V | PB | HB | Total |
| 1. Ohio State | 37.15 | 33.55 | 35.975 | 36.95 | 35.55 | 36.45 | 215.625 |
| 2. Illinois | 35.20 | 33.85 | 36.30 | 37.45 | 36.05 | 35.95 | 214.800 |
| 3. Iowa | 35.90 | 34.15 | 35.45 | 37.00 | 34.30 | 36.95 | 213.750 |
| 4. MICHIGAN | 36.80 | 32.80 | 35.725 | 37.00 | 32.75 | 35.70 | 210.775 |
| 5. Penn State | 36.25 | 33.35 | 36.45 | 36.30 | 33.20 | 34.70 | 210.250 |
| 6. Minnesota | 33.95 | 31.10 | 34.65 | 36.20 | 35.05 | 34.45 | 205.400 |
Event-By-Event U-M Individual Scores
FLOOR EXERCISE Kent Caldwell 8.95 Ralph Rosso 8.65 Scott Bregman 9.00 Dan Rais 9.10 Luke Bottke 9.35 (t5) Gerry Signorelli 9.35 (t5) POMMEL HORSE Joe Catrambone 7.40 Andrew Elkind 8.15 Phil Goldberg 8.20 Ralph Rosso 8.15 Andrew DiGiore 7.10 Gerry Signorelli 8.30 STILL RINGS Andrew Elkind 8.95 Aaron Rakes 9.00 (t8) Joe Catrambone 8.05 Ralph Rosso 8.60 Gerry Signorelli 8.30 Phil Goldberg 9.175 (t5) VAULT Joe Catrambone 8.55 Luke Bottke 9.05 Gerry Signorelli 9.15 Scott Bregman 8.75 Dan Rais 9.25 Andrew DiGiore 9.55 PARALLEL BARS Aaron Rakes 8.50 Arren Yoshimura 8.00 Ralph Rosso 7.50 Andrew Elkind 8.10 Joe Catrambone 8.10 Gerry Signorelli 8.05 HORIZONTAL BAR Aaron Rakes 7.50 Dan Rais 8.40 Andrew Elkind 8.80 Joe Catrambone 9.25 (t7) Gerry Signorelli 9.25 (t7) Ralph Rosso 8.10 ALL-AROUND Gerry Signorelli 52.40 (6) ( ) denotes place in Top 8
Contact: Justin Toman (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
