Conqu'ring Heroes: Xiao Looks to Defend B1G Title, Maintain High Academic Standard
12/15/2022 10:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics, Features
By Mishal Charania
University of Michigan men's gymnastics head coach Yuan Xiao has his eyes on one prize: the Big Ten Championship. The team is right there with him. Xiao joined this week's episode of the Conqu'ring Heroes podcast to discuss the Wolverines' goals both in the gym and in the classroom as it gets ready for its 2023 campaign.
"I know that winning the championship is what we are trying to do and I know this team is capable," Xiao said.
This year, the men's gymnastics team has named four team captains -- seniors Adam Wooten, David Willett and Paul Juda and junior Steven Lukasik -- rather than its traditional two. Lukasik being named a captain as a junior is another team first.
"We know the seniors are going to be graduating, we want to have a leadership team from our younger class to carry that to their senior years," said Xiao. "That is the way to try to change and make that transition between the leadership go smoothly."
The Wolverines have a roster of nine underclassmen and seven seniors, with both groups needing to be taken into great consideration in when filling out the lineup for the upcoming season.
"From the beginning of summer, the team captains have done a phenomenal job to maintain the team, keep team bonding and support each other. You never see a team like this," said Xiao.
As the semester comes to a close, a major focus for Michigan is its academic standing. Sixteen Michigan men's gymnasts were named 2022 CGA All-America Scholar Athletes, and Xiao wants to set a high standard for his team, academically and athletically.
"We are just telling the guys, 'We are student-athletes,'" he said. "Another challenge is that we are going to wish as a team in GPA, too."
The coaches are always focused on pushing their athletes while also recognizing the team's limits and strengths. Xiao is no exception.
"We notice the challenge and we have to do something beyond that, do something we have never seen," said Xiao. "We treat the difficulty and the execution as 50-50, and we are both a more difficult routine and also we want an execution team, too."
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