Michigan Coasts Past No. 6 Penn State in Home Opener

Sunday, January 24

Ann Arbor, Mich.

1:00 PM

Michigan

355.650

344.750

Penn State

1/24/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics

Jan. 24, 2010

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Cliff Keen Arena)
Score: #3 Michigan 355.650, #6 Penn State 344.750
Record: U-M (5-1, 4-1 Big Ten), Penn State (7-1, 0-1 Big Ten)
Attendance: 693
Next U-M Event: Saturday, Jan. 30 -- at Iowa (Iowa City, Iowa), 7 p.m. CST

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 3-ranked University of Michigan men's gymnastics team avenged last year's loss to Penn State with an easy win on Sunday (Jan. 24), 355.650 to 344.750, at home in Cliff Keen Arena. U-M was led by juniors Thomas Kelley (Libertyville, Ill./Libertyville) and Chris Cameron (Winter Haven, Fla./Lake Region), who combined for three individual event titles and the all-around. The Big Ten Network was on hand for the event, which is scheduled to air next Saturday (Jan 30) at noon.

The Wolverines started strongly on the floor exercise, posting a 59.300 total score. Freshman Rohan Sebastian (Oklahoma City, Okla./Bishop McGuinness Catholic), in his first competitive performance in Cliff Keen, recorded a 14.500 along with Cameron's 15.400 winning score. Cameron's trademark Thomas flair sequence amazed the audience of nearly 700 inside Cliff Keen. With its performance on the floor, Michigan jumped out to a nearly three-point lead and never looked back.

In the second rotation, U-M placed three athletes, Cameron and seniors David Chan (Singapore, Singapore/New Hale) andMel Anton Santander (Southborough, Mass./Algonquin Regional), in the top five on the pommel horse, stretching its lead to nearly five points. Michigan's 59.000 total was a nearly two-point improvement from the team's total at last week's Windy City Invitational. Santander was nearly flawless, recording a career best (14.950), and earned the year's first Newt Loken Outstanding Performance Award.

On the rings, the Wolverines put the memory of the miscues from last week aside, sticking the same dismounts that cost them a chance at the Windy City title. Kelley led the way, nailing the front double pike dismount that he missed last weekend to take first place on the rings with a career-best 15.200.

The Wolverines continued to coast on vault. Michigan again placed three athletes in the top five, posting a 62.550 total behind Chan's signature double front vault (15.800), senior Kent Caldwell (Charlotte, N.C./Charlotte Latin), who added a full twist to his effort from the team's season opener (15.750), and a nearly stuck effort from Sebastian (15.700).

In rotation five, Cameron and Santander turned in matching scores of 14.55 to lead Michigan to another season high on the parallel bars with a total of 57.300, extending U-M's lead to nearly 10 points going into the final rotation.

The final rotation moved Michigan to the high bar, the only event on which U-M did not set a season high. Kelley soared on three release moves to lead a Michigan sweep of the event, scoring a 14.700, followed closely behind the career-best effort (14.65) of junior Ben Baldus-Strauss (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton Warrenville South). Santander rounded out the top three.

The Wolverines are back in action next week in Iowa City, Iowa, against Iowa, currently ranked No. 8, on Saturday (Jan 30) at 7 p.m. CST.

Team Standings

Team	FX	PH	SR	VT	PB	HB	Total
MICHIGAN	59.300	59.000	59.400	62.550	57.300	58.100	355.650
Penn State	56.950	56.500	58.650	61.500	57.050	54.100	344.750

Event-By-Event U-M Individual Scores

Floor
Torrance Laury         13.300
Rohan Sebastian        14.500 (5)
Ian Makowske           14.450
Thomas Kelley          14.750 (3)
Chris Cameron          15.400 (1)
Kent Caldwell          14.650 (4)


Pommel Horse
Phillip Goldberg       13.800
Devan Cote             12.000
Ben Baldus-Strauss     14.050
Mel Anton Santander    14.950 (4)
David Chan             15.000 (T2)
Chris Cameron          15.000 (T2)

Still Rings
Torrance Laury         13.800
Rohan Sebastian        13.650
Thomas Kelley          15.200 (1)
Mel Anton Santander    14.250
Phillip Goldberg       15.050 (T2)
Chris Cameron          14.900 (4)

Vault
Ben Baldus-Strauss     15.300
Rohan Sebastian        15.700 (4)
Thomas Kelley          15.100
Kent Caldwell          15.750 (3)
Chris Cameron          14.700
David Chan             15.800 (T1)

Parallel Bars
Devan Cote             14.000
Torrance Laury         14.000
Mel Anton Santander    14.550 (2)
Thomas Kelley          14.200 (5)
Chris Cameron          14.550 (2)
Ryan McCarthy          12.150

High Bar
Ben Baldus-Strauss     14.650 (2)
Devan Cote             14.400 (T4)
Ian Makowske           14.400 (T4)
Mel Anton Santander    14.450 (3)
Thomas Kelley          14.700 (1)
Ryan McCarthy          13.950
Chris Cameron *        14.200

All Around
Chris Cameron          88.750 (1)

* Exhibition performance for all-around competition.

N O T E S

• The Wolverines' 59.000 on the pommel horse would have been the team's fifth-best total last season, behind only the totals from the Wolverines' last four competitions of the season.

• The Wolverines' team total (355.650) would have been the team's fifth-best score last season.

• Michigan's 62.550 on vault would have been the third-best total last season.

• Senior Mel Anton Santander set a new career best on the pommel horse (14.950).

• Junior Ben Baldus-Straus set a career high on the high bar (14.650).

• Junior Ian Makowske set a career best on the high bar for the second week in a row (14.300).

• Junior Thomas Kelley set a career high on the still rings (15.200).

• Freshman Rohan Sebastian posted season highs on two of his three events (floor and vault).

Q U O T E S

Michigan Head Coach Kurt Golder
On his team's win ... "I feel pretty good about it. We started out a little rough and I thought, 'Oh, man, here we go again, another Windy City.' But they really pulled it back together on horse, and then, we went through the meet pretty much trouble free."

On the difference between in performance from last week ... "It just one of those things that a lot of times there is a tremendous improvement between meet one and meet two. You kind of knock the rust off. You figure out some things about competing that you've learned before."

On senior Mel Anton Santander's performance tonight ... "Mel was just super. I think he'll be an All-American this year. He's been on a roll since the NCAA finals last season, and hopefully, he can just continue that through the rest of the year because we need his help."

U-M Senior Mel Anton Santander
On tonight's win ... "It was a great win for us compared to Windy City last weekend. We definitely improved tonight, but there is still a lot we can improve on."

On what he's looking to improve as the season continues ... "I want to add a couple of skills to my routines to have more difficulty and higher start values, so I'm able to help the team even more than I did today."

On breaking his career best on the pommel horse ... "It feels good to have a career record on the pommel horse today. It's my senior year and it's great to come out strong in the beginning for the first home meet."

Contact: Scott Bregman (734) 763-4423