2016 Season Previews -- Michigan Gymnastics
12/16/2015 12:00:00 AM | General
Dec. 16, 2015
MEN'S GYMNASTICS
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2016 OUTLOOK
Head coach Kurt Golder will have the youngest team in his 20-year coaching career, as Michigan enters the 2016 season needing to replace 18 routines from the 2015 NCAA Team Finals lineup. U-M brings back a pair of NCAA All-Americans from last season in Dmitri Belanovski (high bar) and Nolan Novak (pommel horse). Tristian Perez-Rivera (vault, 2014) will miss the 2016 season due to a knee injury. Additionally, 2015 All-Big Ten second team member and junior Anthony Stefanelli returns for added punch on floor and vault, while fifth-year seniors Colin Mahar (still rings specialist) and team co-captain Michael Strathern provide leadership. The 15-member freshman class will be led by both Anthony McCallum and Emyre Cole, both of whom possess All-America capabilities on multiples events, and will be leaned on as all-around performers from the get-go. Each excel on vault and floor and are well-balanced on the other four events.
From left: Dmitri Belanovski, Marty Strech, Nolan Novak
KEY COMPETITION
Jan. 30 -- Ohio State
Michigan will host a tough stretch in the early part of the season, hosting preseason No. 1 Oklahoma and No. 2 Ohio State in back-to-back weeks. The meet with the Buckeyes on Jan. 30 will be televised on the Big Ten Network. Both Oklahoma and Ohio State are looked upon as the frontrunners for the 2016 NCAA title.
• Full Preview (detailed season preview, quotes, student-athletes to watch and more)
WOMEN'S GYMNASTICS
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2016 OUTLOOK
The Michigan women's gymnastics team is coming off three straight seasons when it has won the Big Ten Championships or the Big Ten regular season. The Wolverines have held a conference title in eight of the last nine years and 21 of the past 24 seasons. In 2016, the coaches in the Big Ten picked Michigan No. 1 again. Three NCAA All-Americans return, including juniors Nicole Artz and Talia Chiarelli and sophomore Brianna Brown. Artz was a first team All-American in the all-around and balance beam last year, while Chiarelli also made the first team on beam as well as the floor exercise. Brown was a second team All-American in the all-around. Add in the return of sophomores India McPeak and Lauren Marinez, who missed last season due to injury, and two talented freshmen, Olivia Karas and Emma McLean, and Michigan has the pieces to make another run in the postseason.
Left: Nicole Artz // Right: Talia Chiarelli
KEY COMPETITION
March 4 -- Utah
The final regular-season home meet against Utah on Friday, March 4, should be a high-level gymnastics meet. Michigan will honor its three seniors, Briley Casanova, Austin Sheppard and Lindsay Williams, who will try to lead the Wolverines against a talented Utah team that made the NCAA Super Six last year and returns five All-Americans. The meet will also be televised tape delay on BTN.
• Full Preview (detailed season preview, quotes, student-athletes to watch and more)
