Michigan
NCAA National Qualifier
Michigan Places Second in Qualifier to Advance to NCAA Finals
4/16/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics
Event: NCAA Championships (National Team Qualifier)
U-M Team Finish: 2nd Place of 6 Teams (358.300)
Next U-M Event: Friday, April 17 -- at NCAA Championships - Team and All-Around Finals (Sports Pavilion), 7 p.m. CDT
Notes & Quotes | Photo Gallery
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- With a season high of 358.300 points, the No. 4-ranked University of Michigan men's gymnastics earned a trip to the NCAA Championships Team Finals by placing second in its national qualifying session on Thursday (April 16) at the University of Minnesota's Sports Pavilion. Big Ten Gymnast of the Year, sophomore Thomas Kelley(Libertyville, Ill./Libertyville), posted two season-high scores and a career best during the competition. Top-ranked Stanford (361.100) and No. 5 California (357.550) also advanced.
This is Michigan's 32nd all-time NCAA appearance, as well as its 11th consecutive showing. In the past 11 years, head coach Kurt Golder has led his squad to the six-team final 10 times. The Maize and Blue currently holds three NCAA titles, with its latest coming in 1999.
The Wolverines started the competition in last place and moved back and forth in the standings from third to fourth throughout the majority of the meet. Solid routines on vault in the last rotation solidified U-M's spot in the "Super Six" with its second-place finish.
Shaky sets on parallel bars left the Wolverines in last place after the first rotation with a score of 56.650, tying their season low on the event. The top performer on the apparatus was rookie Syque Caesar(Port Saint Lucie, Fla./Lincoln Park Academy), who tied his career-best 14.600, while Kelley chipped in a respectable 14.250.
Michigan picked it up on high bar in the second rotation, recording a 58.850 for a total of 115.500 points to move ahead to fourth place. Kelley led the team with a 15.450 -- the highest mark of any competitor in the session -- while senior Joe Catrambone(Deptford, N.J./Gloucester), the Big Ten high bar champion, registered a 14.700 for the team's second-highest score.
In the third rotation, U-M tabbed a season-high 60.400 on floor exercise to push into third place in the standings (175.900). Kelley posted a season-best 15.300 on the event, while fellow sophomore Chris Cameron(Winter Haven, Fla./Lake Region) earned a 15.250. Following floor, the Maize and Blue had a bye round before moving to pommel horse for its fifth rotation.
Four Wolverines set or tied career highs on pommel horse to give the squad a 59.800 on the apparatus. The highest mark came from Cameron and junior co-captain David Chan(Singapore/New Hale School, Perth, Western Australia), who both amassed a 15.150 -- a personal best for Chan. After four completed events, Michigan stood at fourth place in the standings with 235.700 points.
U-M collected a season-high 60.250 on still rings in the sixth rotation, thanks to a 15.300 from Cameron and a 15.150 from senior co-captain Phil Goldberg(Dalton, Ga./McCallie), the Big Ten still rings champion. Kelley tabbed a career high on the event with a 15.050, helping Michigan move into third place with a score of 295.950.
In the seventh and final rotation of the competition, Michigan earned a 62.350 on vault to move into second place in the standings (358.300) and capture its spot in the NCAA Finals. On the apparatus, sophomore Ben Baldus-Strauss(Wheaton, Ill./Warrenville South) tied his season best of 15.600, and Chan also tied his season best with a 15.750.
Tomorrow night (Friday, April 17), the Wolverines will compete as one of six teams in the NCAA Championships Team Finals at 7 p.m. CDT at the Sports Pavilion in Minneapolis, Minn.
| Team Standings | FX | PH | SR | VT | PB | HB | Total |
| 1. Stanford | 61.000 | 58.150 | 60.450 | 63.950 | 58.650 | 58.900 | 361.100 |
| 2. MICHIGAN | 60.400 | 59.800 | 60.250 | 62.350 | 56.650 | 58.850 | 358.300 |
| 3. California | 58.700 | 58.500 | 60.200 | 62.650 | 58.900 | 58.600 | 357.550 |
| 4. Penn State | 60.200 | 55.550 | 59.350 | 62.750 | 56.850 | 57.450 | 352.150 |
| 5. Nebraska | 58.350 | 56.250 | 59.200 | 61.300 | 55.850 | 55.850 | 346.800 |
| 6. Navy | 55.750 | 51.600 | 55.500 | 58.100 | 52.800 | 53.250 | 327.000 |
Event-by-Event Individual Scores
FLOOR EXERCISE Mel Anton Santander 14.050 Ben Baldus-Strauss 14.900 Scott Bregman 14.850 Ralph Rosso 14.950 Chris Cameron 15.250 Thomas Kelley 15.300 POMMEL HORSE Phillip Goldberg 14.600 Adam Hamers 14.900 Mel Anton Santander 11.950 Ben Baldus-Strauss 14.600 David Chan 15.150 Chris Cameron 15.150 STILL RINGS Mel Anton Santander 14.050 Joe Catrambone 13.950 Ralph Rosso 14.750 Thomas Kelley 15.050 Phillip Goldberg 15.150 Chris Cameron 15.300 VAULT Thomas Kelley 15.500 Syque Caesar 14.900 Mel Anton Santander 15.500 Ralph Rosso 15.250 Ben Baldus-Strauss 15.600 David Chan 15.750 PARALLEL BARS Syque Caesar 14.600 Mel Anton Santander 13.750 David Chan 13.700 Ryan McCarthy 14.050 Thomas Kelley 14.250 Chris Cameron 13.200 HIGH BAR Ben Baldus-Strauss 14.300 Mel Anton Santander 13.350 Ryan McCarthy 14.400 Chris Cameron 14.100 Joe Catrambone 14.700 Thomas Kelley 15.450 ALL-AROUND Mel Anton Santander 82.650
N O T E S
The Wolverines are making their 32nd all-time NCAA appearance, as well as their 11th consecutive showing.
In the past 11 years, head coach Kurt Golder has led his team to 10 Super Six finishes at the NCAA Championships.
The Maize and Blue currently holds three NCAA titles, placing U-M in a three-way tie with Penn State and Ohio State for second-most national crows within the Big Ten Conference. Illinois holds the most NCAA titles with nine.
Michigan tabbed a season-best 60.400 on floor exercise. It also earned a season-high 60.250 on still rings.
U-M's mark of 358.300 is also a season best.
Rookie Syque Caesar tied his career best on parallel bars with a 14.600 in the first Michigan routine of the competition.
Sophomore Thomas Kelley tabbed a 15.300 on floor exercise to set a new season high.
Junior co-captain David Chan set a new career best on pommel horse with a 15.150.
With a 14.900, freshman Adam Hamers registered a career high on pommel horse.
Senior co-captain Phil Goldberg registered a 14.600 on pommel horse to tie his career high.
Sophomore Ben Baldus-Strauss garnered a career-high 14.600 on pommel horse.
Kelley tabbed a career high on still rings with a 15.050.
Kelley set a season best and tied his career-best 15.500 on vault.
On vault, sophomore Ben Baldus-Strauss tied his season best of 15.600.
Chan tied his season best on vault with a 15.750.
Q U O T E S
Head Coach Kurt Golder
On the team's performance... "I thought our performance was really good. We had a little bit of a slow start on the parallel bars, but I thought the pommel horse was a turning point for us. We were real steady from there."
On a particular individual performance... "I was really pleased with Thomas Kelley on high bar. At the end of the event, he was in first place and it stayed that way. It's hard to get a lead on the first or second event and maintain it throughout the whole championship, but he did that."
U-M Sophomore Thomas Kelley
On the team's feeling... "We're pretty excited. We learned a lot from today. We know what our strengths are, what our weaknesses are, what we need to repeat for tomorrow, and what we need to improve for tomorrow. We're happy with our season high, and we feel strong going into tomorrow."
On his recent success in competition... "It's championship time, and ever since I've been a little kid, I've been able to turn it on once the end of the season comes. I just feel good with my routines right now, and I feel the energy from my team."
U-M Junior co-captain David Chan
On his high-scoring vault... "The whole season I haven't been performing the vault that I can do, and I felt better mid-season about it, but the landings still weren't quite there. After Big Tens, I told myself, 'I have to find my landing.' It was good today to get it when it counted."
Contact: Hannah Maier, Rob McBurnett (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
