Weekly #9: Wolverines Host Big Ten Championships at Crisler
3/31/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics
Fri-Sat., April 3-4 -- host Big Ten Championship (Crisler Arena), 7 p.m.
This week the No. 5-ranked University of Michigan men's gymnastics team (11-4, 8-2) hosts the Big Ten Championship on April 3-4 at 7 p.m. at Crisler Arena. The meet will be broadcast live each night on the Big Ten Network.
The Big Ten field is tough this season, with each conference school holding a national ranking in the top 10, including No. 4 Illinois, No. 6 Penn State, No. 7 Ohio State, No. 8 Minnesota and No. 10 Iowa. Michigan has defeated every school in the Big Ten at least once this season, with the exception of Penn State.
U-M looks to use its home advantage to earn its first Big Ten title since 2000. In addition to 2000, U-M also garnered a Big Ten title under head coach Kurt Golder in 1999. In the history of the program, Michigan has earned 14 Big Ten championships, with the other 12 coming in 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968 (co), 1969, 1970, 1971, 1973, and 1975.
Last season, the Maize and Blue finished fourth (353.000) at the Big Ten Championships in State College, Pa. Then rookie Thomas Kelley(Libertyville, Ill./Libertyville) earned individual-event honors on the floor while also collecting the Big Ten Freshman of the Year award.
Big Ten Championship Tickets Now Available Online!
Tickets for the two-day Big Ten Championships at Crisler Arena -- taking place Friday and Saturday, April 3-4 -- are now available online at MGoBlue.com/tickets, with team and all-around finals taking place Friday and individual-event finals taking place Saturday. Adult tickets are $7, while senior and student tickets are $4. Tickets can also be purchased at the Michigan Ticket Office, located on 1000 South State Street in Ann Arbor, or by phone (734) 764-0247 or toll free at (866) 296-MTIX (6849).
Scouting the Competition
No. 4 Illinois is coming off a 353.600-347.700 win over Minnesota at the Sports Pavilion in Minneapolis, Minn. The Orange and Blue has just two losses in Big Ten competition -- both coming from Michigan. Illinois has defeated each of the other four Big Ten squads, including Ohio State and Iowa twice and Minnesota three times.
Despite a season-best score of 356.300, No. 6 Penn State was defeated by No. 1-ranked Oklahoma in Norman, Okla., in its final dual meet of the season. The Nittany Lions are the 2008 Big Ten champions, and with the nation's top-ranked all-arounder Casey Sandy, PSU will have a strong chance to defend its title.
No. 7 Ohio State dropped its regular-season finale to Michigan by a substantial 357.600-349.700 margin. The Buckeyes have just one win in Big Ten competition with its defeat of Iowa in the Windy City Invitational, but their team average of 349.850 keeps them towards the top of the national rankings.
No. 8 Minnesota lost at home to Illinois in its final regular-season meet. Prior to that, it defeated both No. 9 Nebraska and No.17 Arizona State in Lincoln, Neb. Nationally, Minnesota ranks third in vault (62.783) and fourth on pommel horse (57.317).
Wrapping up the slate is No. 10 Iowa, which recently finished first in a quadrangle meet, defeating Springfield (328.650), William & Mary (328.250) and the U.S. Military Academy (317.500). Nationally, the team ranks in the top 10 in both floor exercise and vault.
2009 Regular Season in Review
U-M kicked off the season strong, obtaining its second Windy City Invitational on Jan.17 title in three seasons (2007, 2009) at the UIC Physical Education Building in Chicago, Ill. The Wolverines defeated a powerful slate that included No. 3 Ohio State, No. 4 Illinois, No. 8 Minnesota, No. 9 Iowa and No. 12 UIC.
The Wolverines suffered their initial loss of the season the following weekend, falling at Penn State on Jan. 24 in the first dual meet of the 2009 campaign. The squad bounced back though, defeating both Iowa on Jan. 30 and UIC on Feb.7 in consecutive home meets.
Michigan finished fourth out of seven teams at the Pacific Coast Classic on Feb. 21, placing ahead of No. 6 Illinois, No. 14 Air Force and No. 5 Minnesota and behind event champion Japan University All-Stars, No. 3 Stanford and No. 2 California at the Oakland Convention Center.
In its last home meet of the season on March 14, Michigan fell to Illinois -- a team it had previously defeated on two occasions -- by a mere point (353.900-354.900). The team rallied to defeat Ohio State on March 21 in Columbus, Ohio, in the season's final regular-season contest, collecting its highest team point total of the season (357.600).
Ohio State Recap
Michigan claimed a 357.600-349.700 victory over rival Ohio State on March 21 at St. John Arena in U-M's final dual meet of the 2009 season. As a squad, the Wolverines earned season bests on four of six events -- floor exercise (60.000), pommel horse (59.300), vault (62.600) and parallel bars (57.250) -- en route to their highest overall team score of the season.
Eight gymnasts either tied or increased 13 personal season or career highs, including senior Ralph Rosso's (Morganville, N.J./South Vianney HS) 15.750 on vault to tie a personal career best and a U-M team season best.
Cameron Coasts to Success
For the fourth time this season, sophomore Chris Cameron(Winter Haven, Fla./Lake Region HS) received Big Ten Gymnast of the Week honors, the conference office announced on Monday, March 23. Cameron is tied with Penn State senior Casey Sandy for the most weekly awards garnered in the Big Ten this season.
A Preseason All-Big Ten selection, Cameron grabbed his fourth all-around title of the season with an 89.250, helping the Maize and Blue cruise past foe Ohio State. The Florida native also claimed multiple event crows for the second time this season, earning top marks on pommel horse (15.000) and parallel bars (14.750).
Cameron previously earned conference laurels during the week of Jan. 19 when he won his first career all-around crown (88.100) at the Windy City Invitational. He earned the honor the week of Feb. 9 after earning a spot on the U.S. Senior National Team after his performance at the Winter Cup Challenge, and he garnered the accolade once more on Feb. 23 after winning the all-around with a career-high 89.750 at the Pacific Coast Classic on Feb. 21.
U-M Fifth in NCAA Rankings
The Wolverines remained in the No. 5 spot in the most-recent GymInfo national rankings, released Monday (March 30).
GymInfo National Rankings
Event-by-Event
As a team, Michigan currently ranks among the top 10 in the nation in every event. It is No. 5 on floor exercise (59.500), No. 2 on pommel horse (57.550), No. 5 on still rings (59.200), No. 10 on vault (61.483), No. 5 on parallel bars (57.717) and No. 5 on high bar (57.700).
GymInfo Event Rankings
Individual Success
With the regular season wrapped up, the Wolverines concluded with 20 individual-event titles.
With two titles against Ohio State, Cameron has claimed seven event crowns in all, winning the pommel horse (15.100) and still rings (14.800) at the Windy City Invitational, the floor exercise (15.100) at Penn State and the pommel horse (15.000) and parallel bars (14.700) against Iowa.
Also against the Buckeyes, Kelley received his third event title of the season on floor exercise with a season-best 15.200. Kelley also took home top honors on still rings (14.650) and high bar (15.000) against Iowa. Against Illinois, sophomore Ben Baldus-Strauss(Wheaton, Ill./Warrenville South) and junior Mel Anton Santander(Southborough, Mass./Algonquian Regional) earned individual-event titles on floor exercise (15.250) and high bar (14.900), respectively.
Michigan earned all six event titles in its dual meet against UIC, with wins came from senior Joe Catrambone(Deptford, N.J./Gloucester Catholic), junior co-captain David Chan(Singapore/Hale School, Perth, Western Australia), Baldus-Strauss, and freshmen Syque Caesar(Port Saint Lucie, Fla./Lincoln Park Academy), Devan Cote(Hollis, N.H./Hollis-Brookline) and Andrew Vance(Plymouth, Mich./Catholic Central).
Other individual-event titles have come from freshman Adam Hamers(Salem, Ore./South Salem) on pommel horse (14.600) at Penn State and Scott Bregman (Lawrence, Kan./Lawrence Free State) on the floor exercise (14.850) against Iowa.
Michigan Steals Second
The Big Ten coaches selected Michigan as the second-strongest in the conference entering the season, as announced by conference officials. It marks the second straight season that the Wolverines have opened the season ranked second in the conference and sixth nationally.
In addition, the coaches named the 2009 Preseason All-Big Ten Conference team, which features Wolverines Cameron and Kelley. An All-American last season, Kelley finished 2008 as the Big Ten Freshman of the Year and conference floor champion, while Cameron claimed the Big Ten Sportsmanship award and qualified as an individual-event finalist on pommel horse at the conference championships.
Captains' Corner
The 2008-09 squad will be captained by juniors David Chan and Phillip Goldberg. Both team members earned All-America honors last season -- Chan on pommel horse and Goldberg on rings.
In 2008, Chan tied for third on vault at the Big Ten team finals with a season-high 16.200 -- an event he also garnered All-America honors on in 2007. He is the first U-M gymnast to win an All-America award in two different events in back-to-back years since Daniel Diaz-Luong accomplished the feat in 2001-02. Chan is a two-time College Gymnastics Association Academic All-American and has twice earned U-M and All-Big Ten academic accolades as well.
Goldberg tied for second on rings with a 15.600 at the 2008 Big Ten team finals and placed ninth with 14.300 on rings at the Big Ten individual event finals. Goldberg is also a consistent competitor on the pommel horse, earning a 13.650 on the apparatus at last season's NCAA team championship. Goldberg earned a 2008 College Gymnastics Association All-America first team honor and was a 2008 Academic All-Big Ten recipient as well. He has also twice received the U-M Athletic Academic Achievement award.
Coming Up
Thu-Sat., April 16-18 -- at NCAA Championships (Minneapolis, Minn.), 7 p.m. CDT
Contact: Hannah Maier, Robby McBurnett (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
