U-M Defeats Hawkeyes in Road Opener

Saturday, January 30

Iowa City, Iowa

7:00 PM CT

Michigan

352.450

340.000

Iowa

1/30/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics

Jan. 30, 2010

• Notes | Complete Results

Site: Iowa City, Iowa (Carver Hawkeye Arena)
Score: #2 Michigan 352.450, #9 Iowa 340.000
Records: U-M (6-1, 5-1 Big Ten), Iowa (2-4, 3-2 Big Ten)
Next U-M Event: Thursday, Feb. 4 -- at Winter Cup Invitational (Las Vegas, Nev.), 1 p.m. PST

IOWA CITY, Iowa - The No. 2-ranked University of Michigan men's gymnastics team crushed the ninth-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes, 352.450 to 340.000, on Saturday (Jan. 30) in Iowa City, Iowa, at Carver Hawkeye Arena. The Wolverines were led by event wins from senior Kent Caldwell (Charlotte, N.C./Charlotte Latin), juniors Chris Cameron (Winter Haven, Fla./Lake Region) and Thomas Kelley (Libertyville, Ill./Libertyville), and sophomore/junior Devan Cote (Hollis, N.H./Hollis-Brookline). Kelley also claimed the all-around crown in his first appearance on all six events this season with a score of 85.900.

The Wolverines began the competition on the pommel horse, posting a 57.550 behind a sweep of the top three spots led by Cameron's winning total 14.95. Seniors co-captain David Chan (Singapore, Singapore/Hale School) and Mel Anton Santander (Southborough, Mass./Algonquin Regional) finished second and third, respectively.

On the floor exercise, the Wolverines suffered early mistakes but rebounded with season-high scores from junior Ian Makowske (Redding, Conn/Joel Barlow) and Cameron, who recorded 15.100 and 15.550 marks, respectively. Cameron's trademark flair sequence lifted him to his second floor title in as many weeks. Despite errors in three Michigan floor routines, the Wolverines moved ahead of the Hawkeyes, who had struggles of their own on the pommel horse.

U-M rebounded on the vault, recording three season-high scores from Caldwell, junior Ben Baldus-Strauss (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton Warrenville South), and Kelley. Caldwell won his first vault title of the season (15.800) with a near stick of the only Yurchenko half on, rudi off currently being performed in the Big Ten.

Cameron used his second season high on the evening (15.15) to take the still rings crown and lead another Michigan 1-2-3 sweep with Kelley close behind in second with a 15.000 and senior co-captain Phillip Goldberg (Dalton, Ga./ McCallie) rounding out the top three with a 14.650.

The Wolverines finally settled down in the fifth rotation, sticking five of six high bar dismounts and again taking all three of the top spots. Kelley soared through the air in three different release moves to take the high bar crown for the second consecutive week, while senior Ryan McCarthy (Zionsville, Ind./Zionsville) shook off a fall in last week's dual against Penn State to record a 14.750 to open up a nearly 10-point lead.

In the final rotation, Cote started Michigan off with a career best (14.750) to win the event. Kelley and Cameron both added season highs to complete the fourth event sweep for the Wolverines and give Michigan a season-best total on the parallel bars (58.450).

The Wolverines will be back in action on Thursday (Feb. 4) at the Winter Cup Challenge in Las Vegas, Nev., at 1 p.m. PST.

Team Standings

Team	FX	PH	SR	VT	PB	HB	Total
MICHIGAN	57.050	57.750	58.950	61.900	58.450	58.350	352.450
Iowa	58.250	53.050	57.600	60.950	55.050	55.000	340.000

Event-By-Event U-M Individual Scores

Floor
Rohan Sebastian       12.700
Ian Makowske          15.100 (2T)
Kent Caldwell         12.650
Thomas Kelley         13.700
Chris Cameron         15.550 (1)


Pommel Horse
Phillip Goldberg      13.750
Devan Cote            11.150
Ben Baldus-Strauss    13.800 (5)
Mel Anton Santander   14.450 (3)
David Chan            14.550 (2)
Chris Cameron         14.950 (1)
Thomas Kelley *       12.000

Still Rings
Rohan Sebastian       13.700
Ben Baldus-Strauss    13.550
Thomas Kelley         15.000 (2)
Mel Anton Santander   14.150
Phillip Goldberg      14.650 (3)
Chris Cameron         15.150 (1)

Vault
Ben Baldus-Strauss    15.350 (5T)
Rohan Sebastian       15.400 (4)
Thomas Kelley         15.250 (5T)
Kent Caldwell         15.800 (1)
Chris Cameron         14.550
David Chan             0.000

Parallel Bars
Devan Cote            14.750 (1)
Syque Caesar          12.050
Mel Anton Santander   13.550
Ryan McCarthy         14.400 (4)
Chris Cameron         14.600 (3)
Thomas Kelley         14.700 (2)

High Bar
Devan Cote            14.100 (4)
Ben Baldus-Strauss    14.350 (3)
Ian Makowske          13.700
Mel Anton Santander   14.050 (5)
Ryan McCarthy         14.750 (2)
Thomas Kelley         15.100 (1)

All Around
Thomas Kelley         85.900 (1)

* Exhibition performance for all-around competition

N O T E S

• The Wolverines set a season best on the parallel bars, recording a 58.45, which would have been Michigan's second best total in the 2008-09 campaign.

• Junior Ian Makowske set a season best on the floor exercise (15.15).

• Junior/sophomore Devan Cote set a career best on the parallel bars, scoring a 14.75 to earn his first event title of the season.

• Junior Chris Cameron set season highs on three events: floor (15.55), rings (15.15) and the parallel bars (14.60).

• Junior Ben Baldus-Strauss made his season debut on the still rings, recording a 13.55, and setting a season high on vault (15.35).

• Junior Thomas Kelley set a season high on vault (15.35) and on the parallel bars (14.70) and made his first appearance in the all-around competition (85.90) to win the title.

• Senior Kent Caldwell set a season high on vault with a 15.80, just .1 away from his career best.