Michigan
Maize and Blue Intrasquad (ex)
Blue Edges Out Maize in Yearly Intrasquad
12/13/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics
» The Blue team has now won six of the last nine Maize & Blue Intrasquads.
» Dmitri Belanovski won three events: all-around, pommel horse and rings.
» 11 true freshmen made their U-M debuts, with eight of them competing for the Maize squad
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Cliff Keen Arena)
Event: Maize and Blue Intrasquad
Score: Blue 250.45, Maize 247.90
Next U-M Meet: Sunday, Jan. 17 -- at Windy City Invitational (Chicago, Ill.), 3 p.m. CST
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan men's gymnastics team debuted 11 true freshmen, while sophomore Dmitri Belanovski of the White team claimed victories in the all-around, as well as on pommel horse and still rings, but the Blue squad -- paced by event wins on floor exercise, vault and high bar -- reigned victorious, 250.45-247.90, on Sunday (Dec. 13) at inside Cliff Keen Arena.
On floor, sophomore/freshman Alec Krystek scored a 14.850 for the event title on his first floor routine for the blue squad. Belanovksi, the 2015 All-American, started his sophomore season with a 14.40 on pommels. After one rotation, Blue led Maize, 43.40-40.65.
Maize closed the gap in the second rotation with a 14.50 on floor exercise by freshman Emyre Cole, taking the lead 81.60-81.25.
After the third rotation, Maize retained the lead with a score of 124.50-123.50. Freshman Anthony McCallum led the Maize team with a first-place finish on vault (15.30).
With a score of 168.15-167.35, Blue regained the lead after the fourth rotation, assisted by senior Colin Mahar's first-place performance on still rings (14.90).
During the fifth rotation, Belanovski scored 14.650 on the parallel bars to steal back the Maize squad's lead. Blue swept the top three high bar spots as senior Adam Dean scored a 14.800, redshirt senior Michael Strathern earned a 14.300, and McCallum registered a 13.900.
In the final rotation, McCallum secured the Blue team's victory with a 13.950 on parallel bars, earning second place.
With the win, the Blue team has now won six of the last nine intrasquad events. The event used a five-up to seven-up three-count scoring system and saw 11 of the 13 true freshmen on the 2016 version of the Wolverines make their NCAA debuts.
Strathern (high bar) and McCallum (vault) shared the Newt Loken Award, given to the most outstanding individual event performance of the night.
Michigan returns to action as the regular season begins at the Windy City Invitational on Sunday, Jan. 17, at 3 p.m. CST from UIC Pavilion in Chicago.
Players Mentioned
