U-M Sets Sights on Fourth Straight Big Ten Championship

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 4-ranked University of Michigan men's gymnastics team will look to capture its fourth straight Big Ten championship, traveling to Champaign, Ill., for the 2024 Big Ten Championships Friday-Saturday, April 5-6. Each day of competition will be broadcast on Big Ten Network and will begin at 7 p.m. CT each night.

Notes

• Michigan is ranked No. 4 in the latest Road to Nationals rankings (411.350) -- and is the No. 2 team entering the championships in average score and own the highest team score in the NCAA with a 425.50. U-M leads the conference on still rings (68.933) and parallel bars (68.850), and is second in the league on floor exercise (68.767).

• Sophomore Fred Richard was named Big Ten Gymnast of the Year, while junior Lais Najjar was honored with the team's Big Ten Sportsmanship award, the conference announced Tuesday (April 2). Richard's honor is the 10th in program history, as teammate Paul Juda also won the honor in 2021 and 2022.

• Senior Javier Alfonso leads the NCAA on still rings (14.767) and Richard leads the country on high bar (14.517). Richard is also second on pommel horse (14.267), as is senior Crew Bold on parallel bars (14.317) and high bar (14.050). Michigan also boasts the two favorites to win the all-around in Richard, who owns a season-high score of 86.950 and Juda (86.200).

• Richard's 15.00 on pommel horse, Alfonso's 15.10 on still rings and Richard's 86.950 in the all-around are all the top scores in the Big Ten on the respective events.

• U-M is seeking its fourth straight Big Ten title. Michigan has captured three straight Big Ten championships three times in program history, with the most recent occurrence coming from 1969-71. The last team to win three straight Big Ten championships outside of U-M's current streak was Illinois, who captured four from 2009-12.

• Michigan will begin the championship on floor exercise and rotate through Olympic order in the five-team meet. Floor exercise will be followed by pommel horse, still rings, vault, parallel bars and high bar.

Championship History
• The Wolverines have won six of the last 12 Big Ten Championships dating back to the co-championship in 2009 -- bringing the total up to 20 titles in program history.

• At the 2023 Championships, the Wolverines claimed two individual titles from Richard in the all-around and on high bar. Head coach Yuan Xiao was named the Big Ten Conference Coach of the Year for the second time, while Richard was named Big Ten Gymnast of the Championships. Blixt (vault) and Siminiuc (parallel bars) also earned runner-up finishes in their respective events.

Last Wolverine Big Ten Event Title:
All-Around, High Bar: Fred Richard (2023)
Floor Exercise: Jacob Moore (2022)
Pommel Horse: Cameron Bock (2021)
Still Rings: Cameron Bock (2021)
Vault: Anthony McCallum (2016)
Parallel Bars: Evgeny Siminiuc (2022)

Michigan Big Ten Titles by Event:
All-Around: 18
Floor Exercise: 14
Pommel Horse: 5
Still Rings: 10
Vault: 14
Parallel Bars: 24
High Bar: 16