U-M at NCAA Championships: Day 1 Notes & Quotes
4/17/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics
N O T E S
Michigan finished third in its national qualifying session for the second year in a row, and the Wolverines advanced to the Team Finals for the second consecutive season and the ninth time in the last 10 years.
Phillip Goldberg's 15.750 on rings is U-M's highest score in the event this year.
In Mel Santander's first vault outing this year, he scored the team's highest mark with a 15.700.
Thomas Kelley's high bar score (14.850) was the best in the meet.
David Chan's pommel horse score (14.450) was the second best in the meet.
Joe Catrambone earned the second-best high bar score during the competition with a 14.650.
Chris Cameron scored two top-10 finishes -- fourth on p-bars (14.900) and third on pommel horse (14.400).
Q U O T E S
Michigan Head Coach Kurt Golder
On the meet... "We had a fair amount of adversity. I was really proud of how the guys didn't let it bother them. The adversity ranged from a couple of missed routines all the way to a meet-ending injury for Ben Baldus-Strauss on vault. We had to change our lineup, and some guys had to compete that hadn't even warmed up because we had to stay with 12 guys. The guys kept it together and qualified."
On Mel Santander's vault performance... "It's the first time he has competed in vault this year. He did a great job. That's part of the adversity I am talking about it. He really had to step up. It was a complicated vault. That's the performance of the day for us."
On tomorrow's competition... "We're looking to do a little bit better than we did today and a lot better on vault. Vault is an area where everyone can get a big team score and we were probably the only team that didn't. With Ben's injury and some other problems, our vault scored like all our other events, and it should be a couple points higher. If we get resolved, maybe we can compete with the big boys."
U-M Freshman Ben Baldus-Strauss
On his injury... "I just popped out my ankle when I landed on vault. I landed on my toes."
On how he feels... "I'm pretty good. I'm really happy to see the team advance. I really wanted to help out my team tomorrow but I'm happy we were able to pull it together. We handled the adversity well. It was the most fun meet of the season prior to my injury."
U-M Sophomore David Chan
On his pommel horse performance... "It was okay. It was a bit sloppy at the end so there is room for improvement. There are a lot of good horse people absent so it'll do for now, but tomorrow is when it matters."
U-M Freshman Thomas Kelley
On his high bar performance... "I'm excited because it was a bad routine for me, and if I do better tomorrow that would be great. I know I can do better and help my team more."
On how the team felt when Ben went down... "We realized we were going to have to handle it. We've been dealing with adversity all year. After we put vault behind us and moved on, going into floor we knew if we could stay on our feet we'd be in the finals. It was our floor against Ohio State's high bar. High bar is scoring lower than floor so we felt good."
On tomorrow's competition... "We just have to relax. We have nothing to lose. We're an underdog going in. If we hit our routines like we can and get on the awards stand, it would be great. We were a little tentative tonight to make sure we stayed on the events, but tomorrow we have nothing to lose."
U-M Sophomore Mel Santander
On his first vault performance of the year... "We've been struggling on vault the entire season and I felt like I needed to step up, which I think I did. It felt good. I was nervous but I just knew I had to do it. I couldn't hold back anything. I've been hitting my routines really well in practice so they put me in. I'm really happy we made the finals. I'm ready to come back tomorrow and do even better."
U-M Junior Joe Catrambone
On his high bar performance... "I didn't really watch everyone's performance. I tried to focus on myself this time. I guess we did really well on high bar. I was disappointed on my dismount but I was getting out all the nerves today."
On improving since Big Tens... "At Big Tens I put a lot of pressure on myself, telling myself I had to get a big number. Today, I just went out and told myself I could do it. It turned out to be alright."
On his floor routine... "I didn't warm up because I didn't think I would be competing. They told me after high bar I would be sixth up. I was definitely nervous. I didn't know what the floor was like. I just knew I could do the routine and I focused on the important stuff within it. It went well for me."
Players Mentioned
