TEAM FINALS College Gymnastics Association Special Report 1. Michigan 360.50 UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN 2. Stanford 359.80 3. Oklahoma 357.05 WINS 2010 4. Illinois 354.90 NCAA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS 5. California 354.70 6. Ohio State 347.35 By Jerry Wright April 17, 2010 who posted all-around totals of 90.500 and 88.900 to finish first and third. The Wolverines took to their last competitive event, the vault, in third place but posted a 62.700 behind matching marks of 15.600 from lead- off freshman Rohan Sebastian and Santander. Kent Caldwell nailed down a 15.900 effort to secure the fourth NCAA team title in Michigan gymnastics history. As the top seed entering the finals competition, Michigan had first pick of event rotation. Head coach Kurt UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN—2010 NCAA MEN’S NATIONAL CHAMPIONS Golder selected to start on the parallel bars, the same rotation the Wolverines used in Thursday's qualifying competi- UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN tion. Cameron and Santander led the way, recording 15.150 and The No. 3-ranked University of Michigan upset the field at the 15.000, respectively. NCAA Championships on Friday night (April 16), taking home the In rotation two, on high bar, Ian Makowske soared through the air, first NCAA title for the program since 1999 and the fourth in its his- sticking his double twisting double back flip dismount. He received tory inside Army's Christl Arena. Michigan posted a 360.500, while Michigan's highest score, a 15.050. Santander added a 14.900. Ryan defending champion Stanford recorded a 359.800 and Oklahoma McCarthy who posted a 14.650 on the parallel bars, caught a full rounded out the top three with a 357.050. twisting double back flip release and catch move to earn a 14.750. Michigan was led by Chris Cameron and Mel Anton Santander, Cameron led the Wolverines in rotation three with a 15.600, daz- zling the crowd with his intricate Thomas flair work on Floor Exer- cise. Caldwell posted a 15.450, Thomas Kelley turned in a season- CHRIS CAMERON best performance with a 15.350, and Ben Baldus-Strauss was .050 UNIV. OF MICHIGAN: away from his career best with a 15.250, giving Michigan a 61.650 2010 NCAA ALL AROUND season-best total on the event. CHAMPION As the Wolverines moved to a bye, the competition came to a grinding halt as one of the rings broke during Tyler Williamson's (Illinois) routine. Equipment officials took nearly 40 minutes to bring in an entirely new set of rings. Michigan sat out of the competition for over an hour but came back to the competition on fire. Phillip Goldberg started the next rotation off strong on Pommel Horse, but it was the grit of Cameron and Adam Hamers who added 15.050 and 14.400, respectively, that gave the Wolverines a 58.050 total. The Wolverines moved to the rings, site of many slips and delays throughout the meet but looked unfazed, bettering their qualifying rings total by nearly eight tenths of a point with a 59.550. Cameron posted a career-best 15.450, while Goldberg added a 15.250, electri- fying the Michigan faithful. Kelley slipped off the rings in the anchor spot and elected to take part in an additional rotation following the conclusion of the competi- tion due to the equipment failure. Michigan moved to the vault trail- ing defending champ Stanford, 300.45-297.400. In an additional rota- tion following the conclusion of the meet, Kelley repeated his rou- tine, earning a 14.750. STANFORD UNIVERSITY Although coming agonizingly close, Stanford had to settle for the national runner-up position after being overtaken by Michigan in the final rotation. Stanford led for six rotations, but the Wolverines came through on its final apparatus, the vault, to defeat the Cardinal by 0.7 points. Michigan finished with 360.5 points, while Stanford had 359.8. Championship at U.S. Military Academy Stanford opened on the vault with a big the Holleder Center on the score of 64.05 to take the early lead. Eddie campus of the United States Penev came through huge with his best vault Military Academy. of the year. His score of 16.4 was the best of “I have never experienced the competition. Josh Dixon and Tim Gentry a NCAA Championship like also had big this one,” said OU head efforts scor- PENEV coach Mark Williams. ing 16.0 Defending NCAA all- apiece. Dixon around National Champion, and Gentry Steven Legendre, finished tied for sixth second in the all-around in the event with a score of 88.950 as a and qualified total of five OU gymnasts through to the qualified for the individual event finals. event finals scheduled for The Cardi- Saturday. nal th en Jacob Dalton, Corey Eng- moved on to lish, Ian Jackson, Steven Legendre and Jeremy Legendre (14.400) and Dalton (14.250). the parallel Adams will compete in the individual champi- bars, scoring onships as eight individuals in each event will UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 59.70, which be crowned All-Americans. On a night where nothing seemed to go was the best The Sooners started the night on floor with their way, the University of Illinois battled in the compe- steady performances coming from freshman through it all to take fourth place at the 2010 PENEV tition. Stan- Alex Naddour (14.950) and Jacob Dalton NCAA Championships Friday night at Christl ford had the (15.350). Steven Legendre scored a 16.000 to Arena. Seven Illini finished in the top 10 to top two individuals in the event with Nicholas round out Oklahoma's team score of 61.150. advance to Saturday night's Individual Event Noone scoring 15.45 and Ryan Lieberman After a bye Finals, while sophomore Tyler Mizoguchi adding a 15.25. Both will compete in event rotation, Okla- placed sixth in the all-around (87.300) to earn finals as the top qualifiers on the parallel bars. homa then the first All-America honor of his career. Stanford continued to lead after its third moved to event, the horizontal bar. The Cardinal had the pommel horse MIZOGUCHI second-best score of the night notching a turning in a 58.55. Dixon led the Cardinal with a score of 58.250 on the 14.75 to advance to his second event final. event. Strong Abhinav Ramani (14.65) tied for seventh and performances Alex Buscaglia (14.60) placed tenth to also came from advance to the event final. freshman Jer- The fourth event for Stanford was the floor emy Adams exercise and the Cardinal held its lead with a (14.550) and 61.15. Penev again showed that he is not a Corey English normal freshman, taking second place overall (14.550), with a score of 15.85. Buscaglia also had a w h i l e good score of 15.25 to squeak into the event Alex Naddour final, tied for 10th. claimed the Stanford then moved on to the pommel night’s top horse, an event that has plagued them some score with a this season. Stanford was solid, scoring 57.00, 15.450. The Illini's first event was pommel horse, but saw its lead evaporate to just 0.05 over OU then where Luke Stannard tallied a 15.150 to lead Oklahoma and 2.95 over Michigan. moved to the team with a third-place finish on the event. The Cardinal finished on rings, one of its rings scoring a LEGENDRE He was the lone Illini to advance to Saturday, best events. However, Michigan went to vault, 58.250 and as defending pommel horse champion Daniel generally the highest scoring event for any received a Ribeiro (14.200) did not qualify. team. Stanford scored a solid 59.35 on rings, score of 14.800 from Patrick Piscitelli and The next stop was rings and the setting for which was good enough to stay ahead of Dalton. A clutch showing on vault followed one of the rarest occurrences in men's gym- Oklahoma, who placed third overall. How- for the Sooners who tallied a 64.200 to win nastics, let alone during the NCAA Champi- ever, Michigan got the score they needed on the event title. Key performances came from onships. Tyler Williamson had barely begun the vault as the Wolverines scored 62.70 to Ian Jackson, Legendre and Dalton, all posting his routine when the left ring snapped and claim the title. Gentry led the Cardinal with a 16.150. broke in two places, forcing him to hang for a fifth-place finish on rings (15.15), while Oklahoma scored a 57.800 on parallel bars few seconds with all of his weight on his right Noone was right behind him in sixth (15.00). with English (14.000), Dalton (14.450), Leg- arm before he dropped to the mat. After a endre (14.550) posting solid scores to help OU more than 30-minute delay that involved tak- UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA down the stretch. ing down the entire structure to replace the The University of Oklahoma tallied 357.050 On the final event, the Sooners scored a ring, the Illini finished out the event and points to finish third at the 2010 NCAA 56.750 on high bar with Jackson (14.350), moved on to vault. Unfortunately, the struggles continued for for sixth with all four gymnasts scoring event total of 2010. Tai Lee contributed a Illinois, with Mizoguchi making the lone ap- 15.350.