U-M Claims Second at Windy City Invitational

Saturday, January 16

Chicago, Ill.

7:00 PM CT

Michigan

Windy City Invitational

1/17/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics

Jan. 16, 2010

Site: Chicago, Ill. (UIC Physical Education Building)
Event: Windy City Invitational
U-M Result: #4 Michigan 351.350 (2nd of 6 teams)
Record: U-M (4-1, 3-1 Big Ten)
Next U-M Event: Sunday, Jan. 24 -- vs. Penn State (Cliff Keen Arena), 1 p.m.

CHICAGO, Ill. -- The No. 4-ranked University of Michigan men's gymnastics team fell to Illinois in its attempt to win back-to-back Windy City Invitational titles on Saturday (Jan. 16) at the UIC Physical Educational Building. The Illini racked up 353.750 points to U-M's 351.350. The Ohio State Buckeyes finished third with a 347.150.

Junior Chris Cameron (Winter Haven, Fla./Lake Region) led the Wolverines with four top-five finishes, including fifth in the all-around with score of 85.100.

The Wolverines began the competition on the vault, led by senior co-captain David Chan (Singapore, Singapore/Hale School), a 2007 All-America honoree in the event, who recorded a 15.35 with his trademark double front vault. Freshman Rohan Sebastian (Oklahoma City, Okla./Bishop McGuinness Catholic), in his first routine at Michigan, used a double twisting vault for a 15.3.

The second rotation moved Michigan to the parallel bars, where the Wolverines struggled, recording only a 56.85. Fifth-year senior Ryan McCarthy (Zionsville, Ind./Zionsville) earned a career high 14.60 with his high-flying catch-and-release elements, earning second-place honors on the event.

In the third rotation, U-M showed the form that made it the best team on high bar at the NCAA Championships last season with a score of 59.000. Junior Thomas Kelley (Libertyville, Ill./Libertyville), a two-time All-American on the event, received a 15.200. McCarthy made it two-for-two in career highs for the night, receiving a 14.95 for his effort, punctuated by a stuck full twisting double layout dismount. Kelley and McCarthy finished second and third, respectively, just ahead of junior/sophomore Devan Cote (Hollis, N.H./Hollis-Brookline), who also set a career best (14.65) to tie for fourth place on the event.

The fourth rotation saw the return of fifth-year senior Kent Caldwell (Charlotte, N.C./Charlotte Latin), formerly ranked No. 1 in the Big Ten and NCAA on floor. He earned a 14.850 in his first performance since the 2008 NCAA Championships, while Kelley and Cameron added 14.900 and 15.000, respectively.

The Wolverines started slowly on the pommel horse in the fifth rotation, but senior Mel Anton Santander (Southborough, Mass./Algonquin Regional) and Cameron shined to close the rotation with their trademark smooth swing, adding a 14.550 and 14.600.

Leading by a little more than a point and a half going into the last event, the still rings, the Wolverines recorded two falls on dismounts in the middle of the rotation before fifth-year senior Phillip Goldberg (Dalton, Ga./McCallie), the 2009 Big Ten still rings champion, and Cameron took to the event. The duo's 15.300 and 15.150, good enough for second and third place, boosted U-M to a 58.800, but it was not enough to hold off the Illini.

The Wolverines are in action again next Sunday (Jan. 24) in Cliff Keen Arena at 1 p.m. against the Penn State Nittany Lions.

Team Standings

1. Illinois            353.7502. MICHIGAN            351.3503. Ohio State          347.1504. Iowa                339.6005. Minnesota           337.6506. Illinois-Chicago    328.750

Event-By-Event U-M Individual Scores

FLOORRohan Sebastian       12.900Mel Anton Santander   12.450
Ian Makowske          14.400Kent Caldwell         14.850Thomas Kelley         14.900 (3)Chris Cameron         15.000 (4)
POMMEL HORSEPhillip Goldberg      13.400Devan Cote            13.650Ben Baldus-Strauss    13.950Mel Anton Santander   14.550 (4)David Chan            13.950Chris Cameron         14.600 (3)
STILL RINGSRohan Sebastian       13.950Mel Anton Santander   14.150Thomas Kelley         14.200Andrew Vance          14.050Phillip Goldberg      15.300 (2)Chris Cameron         15.150 (3)
VAULTAndrew Vance          14.600Thomas Kelley         15.250Rohan Sebastian       15.300Kent Caldwell         14.200Ben Baldus-Strauss    14.350David Chan            15.350Chris Cameron         14.75*
PARALLEL BARSDevan Cote            12.200Mel Anton Santander   14.100Thomas Kelley         13.900Ryan McCarthy         14.600 (2)David Chan            14.250Chris Cameron         11.900
HIGH BARBen Baldus-Strauss    13.500Devan Cote            14.650 (4T)Mel Anton Santander   13.650Ian Makowske          14.200Ryan McCarthy         14.950 (3)Thomas Kelley         15.200 (2)Chris Cameron         13.700*
ALL-AROUNDChris Cameron         85.100
* Exhibition performance for all-around competition

N O T E S

• The Wolverines high bar total (59.000) would have been their second-highest total last season.

• Fifth-year senior Ryan McCarthy set career highs in both of his performances with a 14.600 on the parallel bars and a 14.950 on the high bar.

• Junior/sophomore Devan Cote set a career high on the high bar with a 14.650.

• Junior Ian Makowske set a career high on the high bar with a 14.200.

Q U O T E S

Head Coach Kurt Golder
On the team's overall performance ... We certainly didn't deserve to win. We missed a lot of routines, and there were a lot of areas where we were very sloppy. We can be a very good team, but we have long way to go and we've got to work a little bit harder than we've done.

On upcoming training ... Just working harder and focusing more effort on perfection. We looked sloppy out there a lot of times tonight and that definitely has to be fixed, and it's got to be fixed soon.

On Chris Cameron's parallel bars routine ... He made a lot of mistakes. He certainly didn't deserve a high score for that performance; he's a great parallel bar worker, but just not tonight.

On Ryan McCarthy's career performances on high bar and parallel bars ... Ryan did a great job tonight. Newt Loken is the long time head coach here at Michigan and every competition, I name someone the Newt Loken outstanding performer and that'd be for Ryan for both those events. He just did a great job. If everyone did what Ryan did tonight, we would have won by a huge margin.

Junior Chris Cameron
On the team's performance ... Overall, not great. We came out, and we did sets that were just a bit shaky. Nobody was as confident as they were last year at the end of the year. We're just going to get in the gym and work on that so it can be 6-for-6, 36 routines, all of them hits. That's the goal. Other teams beating us, we hate it, but we know we can control it just by hitting our sets so that's what we're going to do.

On the difference between last year's Windy City win ... We had a higher hit percentage last year at the season opener. So, I think it's just a little bit of us overcompensating in the gym. We have kind of gotten a little soft, so we're going to regain that hunger that we had and really attack it in the gym. I'd say the only reason for us missing more sets than at the NCAA Championships was just because we weren't as hungry.

On his own performance ... Personally, I felt like I was just a little lethargic coming out of the gate, especially on parallel bars. I never got to a point in my routine where I had a flow and on high bar too. I just never really got into doing my gymnastics. So personally, I've got just some more numbers to put in so it will feel native while I'm out here competing.

Fifth-year senior Ryan McCarthy
On breaking two career bests ... I was pretty happy with how I did. I've been training all summer to increase my difficulty. I've kept my endurance up from last season, so I didn't have too much endurance building to do at the beginning of the year. So, I was pretty happy with how I did.

On his goals for the competition ... Usually at the beginning of the year, the goal is to hit your set. So, that's what I was going for. First, you hit. Then, you work on perfecting your routine. I've got a little more difficulty to add to both my high bar and parallel bars set. My goal was pretty much to hit tonight.

Contact: Scott Bregman (734) 763-4423