Michigan
Massachusetts
Weekly Release #6: vs. Massachusetts
2/16/1999 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics
Upcoming Schedule
Saturday, Feb. 20 -- vs. Massachusetts (Cliff Keen Arena), 7 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 27 -- at Iowa (Iowa City, Iowa), 7 p.m. CST
Wolverines to Host Massachusetts
Ninth-ranked Massachusetts will travel to Ann Arbor to meet the No. 2-ranked University of Michigan men's gymnastics team on Saturday (Feb. 20) at Cliff Keen Arena. UMass has a solid team, having lost just one senior off its 1998 team that finished second in the ECAC Championships. Junior Jeff LaVallee, a year 2000 hopeful for the United States Olympic Team, is leading the squad with a first-place ranking on the high bar (9.825). Consequently, the team's strongest event this season is the high bar, ranked fourth in the nation with a 37.875 team score. Senior Stephen Pryor is also a notable team member as a nationally ranked competitor in the all-around.
Winter Cup Challenge
Five gymnasts competed in the Winter Cup Challenge (Las Vegas, Nev.) on Friday and Saturday (Feb. 12-13). Sophomore co-captain Justin Toman (Wallingford, Conn./Lyman HS), junior Ethan Johnson (Chevy Chase, Md./Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School) and three freshman -- Daniel Diaz-Luong (Harrisburg, Pa./Bishop McDevitt HS), Scott Vetere (Pennsburg, Pa./Quakertown HS) and Josh Levin (Glen Ellyn, Ill./Glenbard West HS) were selected by head coach Kurt Golder to participate for the opportunity to become a US National Team member.
Diaz-Luong finished 18th in the all-around with a 51.050, including a second-place finish on vault (9.500). Following Diaz-Luong on the vault was Vetere with a third-place honor (9.450), contributing to his 25th place all-around finish.
Wolverines Remain Second in the Nation
Entering the seventh week of competition, Michigan holds on to the second place position in the NAGC/M rankings (Feb. 8). This is the third consecutive week that the Wolverines have claimed No. 2 with a team average score of 227.325. Penn State has remained first with a score of 227.325.
NAGC/M Top 20 Rankings (2/8/99)
1. Penn State 227.625 2. MICHIGAN 227.325 3. Ohio State 227.287 4. Iowa 226.900 5. Michigan State 225.312 6. Illinois 225.100 7. Oklahoma 225.050 8. Nebraska 224.112 9. Massachusetts 222.325 10. Brigham Young 221.600 11. Illinois-Chicago 221.575 12. New Mexico 217.635 13. Temple 214.650 14. Stanford 214.375 15. Minnesota 214.237 16. California 214.100 17. Air Force 212.500 18. Navy 210.025 19. James Madison 198.625 20. Arizona 196.925
Michigan's National Team Rankings
In all six events the Wolverines hold spots in the top five in the most recent GymInfo national ranking (Feb. 8). Michigan claims top honors on the parallel bars (38.487) and second on the high bar (38.112). The still rings are the third strongest event with a third-ranked score of 38.075. Michigan is ranked fourth on the vault (37.975) and the floor exercise (37.900) and fifth on the pommel horse (38.075).
Michigan's Individual National Rankings
Sophomore captain Justin Toman is ranked first on the parallel bars for the second week in a row (9.762) and fifth on the high bar (9.725) in the GymInfo individual national rankings (Feb. 8). Freshman Scott Vetere follows Toman with a third-place ranking on the parallel bars (9.712). Freshman Daniel Diaz-Luong holds third in the all-around with a 56.712. Sophomore Kenny Keener (Maryville, Tenn./Maryville HS) takes fifth place in the rankings of the still rings with a 9.700.
Career Highs
Freshman Daniel Diaz-Luong obtained three career-high scores this Friday (Feb. 5) against Penn State. Diaz-Luong received second-place finishes on the floor exercise (9.550) and the parallel bars (9.625) and tied for fourth place on the still rings with a 9.500. These individual scores contributed to his first-place all-around score of 56.475.
Fellow freshmen Scott Vetere and Josh Levin also had career highs against Penn State. Vetere beat his still rings score of 9.450 vs. Illinois-Chicago with a 9.650 for a third-place finish. Levin received a new career high on the parallel bars (9.200).
Tracking Michigan in the Rankings
Preseason 9th Jan. 18 4th Jan. 25 2nd Feb. 1 2nd Feb. 8 2nd
National Rankings (2/8/99)
Team
Overall - 2nd, 227.325 avg.
Floor Exercise - 4th, 37.900
Pommel Horse - 5th, 38.075
Still Rings - 3rd, 38.075
Vault - 4th, 37.975
Parallel Bars - 1st, 38.487
High Bar - 2nd, 38.112
Individual (Top 20)
Randy D'Amura
Floor Exercise - 18th, 9.500
Daniel Diaz-Luong
Pommel Horse - 6th, 9.700
Vault - T18th, 9.500
Parallel Bars - T10th, 9.587
High Bar - T11th, 9.675
All-Around - 3rd, 56.712
LaLo Haro
Floor Exercise - T16th, 9.525
Vault - T12th, 9.600
Parallel Bars - T12th, 9.575
All-Around - T14th, 55.850
Josh Levin
Pommel Horse - 7th, 9.650
High Bar - T19th, 9.425
Justin Toman
Floor Exercise - T18th, 9.500
Parallel Bars - 1st, 9.762
High Bar - T5th, 9.725
Kenny Keener
Still Rings - 5th, 9.700
Scott Vetere
Pommel Horse - T11th, 9.600
Still Rings - T20th, 9.550
Vault - T18th, 9.500
Parallel Bars - 3rd, 9.712
All-Around - 13th, 55.937
Players Mentioned
