Michigan
UIC
Wolverines' 2021 Season to Commence with Virtual Meet Against UIC
1/13/2021 5:15:00 PM | Men's Gymnastics
» U-M is ranked No. 3 in the initial College Gymnastics Association poll, the highest-rated Big Ten team.
» The Wolverines will host the UIC Flames in one of the first-ever virtual meets in NCAA history.
» Michigan will be competing inside Newt Loken Training Center. There is no public access at U-M events due to Big Ten policy currently in place.
THIS WEEK
Sunday, Jan. 17 -- vs. UIC (Ann Arbor, Mich.), 1 p.m.
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The No. 3-ranked University of Michigan men's gymnastics team hosts the University of Illinois-Chicago on Sunday (Jan. 17) in one of the first virtual meets in NCAA history Sunday (Jan. 17) at 1 p.m. inside Newt Loken Training Center. There is no public access at U-M events due to Big Ten policy currently in place.
Fans can follow the meet via the NCAA-mandated Virtius platform free of charge.
Wolverine Bites
• U-M is ranked third in the College Gymnastics Association (CGA) preseason poll, the highest-ranked Big Ten team. Nebraska, Illinois, Penn State, Ohio State and Minnesota hold the Nos. 4-8 spots, respectively, with Iowa rounding out teams on U-M's schedule, checking in at No. 10.
• U-M's captains are a pair of seniors in Cameron Bock and Jacob Moore. Bock holds the honor for the second straight season, while it is the first in Moore's career.
• Bock will once again lead the team along with sophomore Paul Juda. Bock, a regular-season CGA All-American on pommel horse, parallel bars and still rings, finished the truncated 2020 season ranked in the top three nationally on still rings (second, 14.250), and third on parallel bars (14.317). Juda, the reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Year and U.S. Senior National Team member, won a total of eight event titles in his first season in Ann Arbor.
• In addition to Bock and Juda, Nick Guy returns after earning CGA regular-season All-America honors. He finished last season ranked No. 1 in the land on vault (14.717) and eclipsed the 14.650 mark on the table in four-of-five meets.
• Jacob Moore, the 2019 Big Ten floor exercise champion, will look to return to form after being limited on the event last season. He was a part of the floor exercise versus Minnesota, scoring a 14.350, and Illinois/Penn State (14.250). He was a consistent contributor on pommel horse and still rings with season highs of 14.000 and 13.700, respectively.
• Michigan welcomes eight newcomers to the program, headlined by Evgeny Siminiuc, the No. 2 recruit in the country according to College Gym News, and is hailed as a five-star recruit. He also is listed as the top recruit on pommel horse and high bar, as well as the No. 3 recruit on parallel bars. A pair of freshmen are siblings of U-M seniors, as Evan Bock and Chris Read -- brothers of Cameron Bock and James Read, respectively -- also join the fold.
• The makeup of the squad features eight seniors, one junior, six sophomores and eight freshmen. Gymnasts hail from 11 states, led by Michigan with six. California (five); Florida, Indiana and Illinois (two); New York, North Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia are represented by one student-athlete apiece. The roster also features two gymnasts from Canada as well as one from China.
• UIC, a former NCAA member, is now a club program and is a part of GymACT, coming in at No. 4 in the organization's preseason rankings. The program is led by longtime head coach Charley Nelson. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, UIC's signature event, the Windy City Classic, will not be held this season.
• Last season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic with Michigan in the driver's seat to capture the Big Ten regular-season title and was ranked No. 3 in the country. U-M also was ranked No. 1 in the country on high bar (68.450) and was ranked in the top-six on five events. The Wolverines were No. 2 on pommel horse (67.950) and parallel bars (69.767), boasted a No. 4 ranking on still rings (68.000) and finished No. 5 on floor exercise (69.483).
2021 Schedule
• The schedule begins with a this weekend's virtual meet against UIC Flames, with Big Ten competition starting on Jan. 22 at 1 p.m. CST against Nebraska in Lincoln.
• U-M will host its first in-person home meet of the season on Jan. 31 against Ohio State at 1 p.m. at Cliff Keen. The matchup is followed by a trip to Illinois (Feb. 7)
• Following the two-day USA Gymnastics-sanctioned Winter Cup Challenge held in Indianapolis, Ind., Feb. 26-28, U-M returns to regular-season competition versus Iowa on March 7 in Ann Arbor. The home portion of the schedule closes out on March 14 at 1 p.m., when the Wolverines host Minnesota. Regular-season competition concludes on March 19 aganst Penn State in State College, Pa., on March 20.
• Postseason competition gets underway with the Big Ten Championships on April 3 in Lincoln, Neb. The 2021 NCAA Championships, hosted by Minnesota, will be held on April 16-17.
Keep Up With the Wolverines
Stay up-to-date with everything going on with the Wolverines by following Michigan men's gymnastics on Twitter (@umichgym) and "liking" the Wolverines on Facebook. Fans also can follow in-meet commentary via the Twitter channel, with live streaming available for select meets via Facebook. Additional content will be provided via Instagram (@umichgym), and Snapchat (@umichathletics).
Up Next
• Sunday, Jan. 24 -- at No. 4 Nebraska (Lincoln, Neb.), 12:30 p.m. CST
