Michigan
Big Ten Team and All-Around Finals
Wolverines Capture First Big Ten Title Since 1975
3/26/1999 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics
Site: Iowa City, Iowa (Carver-Hawkeye Arena)
Event: Big Ten Conference Team Championships
U-M Team Finish: 1st of 7 teams (230.275)
Record: U-M (19-5)
Next U-M Event: Saturday, March 27 -- at Big Ten Championships (Iowa City, Iowa), 7 p.m. CST
IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Big Ten Conference champs. That's a title the University of Michigan men's gymnastics team has not been able to claim since the 1975 team, which included a sophomore named Kurt Golder, won the Big Ten.
But Golder, now the Wolverines' third-year head coach, has guided his squad back to the top as Michigan upheld its No. 1 national ranking by taking the team title at the 1999 Big Ten Championships Friday (March 26) at Iowa's Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Michigan posted a team score of 230.275 for a comfortable margin over defending champion and fourth-ranked Iowa (229.475) and No. 3 Ohio State (229.250), which finished second and third, respectively.
The Wolverines also advanced at least two gymnasts to the individual finals in each event except the horizontal bar, giving U-M 12 competitors in Saturday's (March 27) action. The top eight plus ties from Friday's competition advanced to the individual finals.
Michigan posted the meet's top team scores on three apparatus Friday en route to its third-best total of the year and third straight 230-plus score. The Wolverines claimed top honors on the still rings (38.700), vault (38.375) and parallel bars (38.675) and finished a close second on the floor exercise (38.100 to Ohio State's 38.125) and pommel horse (38.925 to Iowa's 39.050).
Sophomore Justin Toman (Wallingford, Conn./Lyman Hall HS) was second in the all-around competition with a score of 57.625, finishing behind Iowa's Todd Strada (57.800). U-M freshman Scott Vetere (Pennsburg, Pa./Quakertown HS) placed third (57.200) and junior LaLo Haro (Puebla, Pue. Mexico/Instituto Iberia) was seventh (56.500).
Toman took top honors on the parallel bars -- the event in which he is the defending Big Ten champion -- with a career-best 9.925 and tied for first on the floor exercise (9.650), while freshman Brad Kenna (Barberton, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit HS) finished first on the vault (9.775) and Diaz-Luong shared the top spot on the pommel horse (9.825).
Sophomore Kenny Keener (Maryville, Tenn./Maryville HS) was second on the still rings as he put up a personal-best 9.875 for the second straight meet, and Diaz-Luong was a close second to Kenna on the vault with a 9.750.
Other Wolverines who advanced to the individual finals included senior Randy D'Amura (Austin, Texas/St. Michael's Academy) on the floor exercise (tie-fourth); Toman on the horizontal bar (fifth) and pommel horse (tie-sixth); and Vetere on the rings (fourth), parallel bars (tie-sixth) and vault (tie-seventh).
The individual finals begin at 7 p.m. CST Saturday (March 27) at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Final Team Standings
| Team Scores | FX | PH | SR | V | PB | HB | Total |
| 1. Michigan | 38.100 | 38.925 | 38.700 | 38.375 | 38.675 | 37.500 | 230.275 |
| 2. Iowa | 38.050 | 39.050 | 37.975 | 37.950 | 38.100 | 38.350 | 229.475 |
| 3. Ohio State | 38.125 | 38.450 | 38.375 | 37.650 | 38.525 | 38.125 | 229.250 |
| 4. Penn State | 37.650 | 38.350 | 38.575 | 37.650 | 38.375 | 37.050 | 227.650 |
| 5. Michigan State | 37.500 | 38.225 | 38.125 | 37.650 | 37.900 | 37.300 | 226.700 |
| 6. Illinois | 37.800 | 38.000 | 36.300 | 38.100 | 37.975 | 35.550 | 223.725 |
| 7. Minnesota | 35.850 | 38.250 | 35.700 | 35.500 | 36.150 | 35.775 | 217.225 |
Event-By-Event U-M Individual Scores
FLOOR EXERCISE Randy D'Amura 9.600 (T4) Daniel Diaz-Luong 9.400 Scott Vetere 9.350 Brad Kenna 9.350 Justin Toman 9.650 (1) LaLo Haro 9.450 POMMEL HORSE Tim Dehr 9.300 Daniel Diaz-Luong 9.825 (T1) Scott Vetere 9.650 Justin Toman 9.750 (T6) Josh Levin 9.600 LaLo Haro 9.700 STILL RINGS Brad Kenna 9.550 Daniel Diaz-Luong 8.950 Kenny Keener 9.875 (2) Scott Vetere 9.700 (4) Ethan Johnson 9.575 Justin Toman 9.550 VAULT Tim Dehr 9.200 Daniel Diaz-Luong 9.750 (2) Brad Kenna 9.775 (1) Scott Vetere 9.550 (T7) Justin Toman 9.150 LaLo Haro 9.300 PARALLEL BARS Kevin Roulston 9.550 Daniel Diaz-Luong 9.300 Josh Levin 9.550 Scott Vetere 9.650 (T6) Justin Toman 9.925 (1) LaLo Haro 9.350 HORIZONTAL BAR Brad Kenna 9.200 Josh Levin 8.550 Daniel Diaz-Luong 9.150 Scott Vetere 9.300 Justin Toman 9.600 (5) LaLo Haro 9.400 ALL-AROUND Justin Toman 57.625 (2) Scott Vetere 57.200 (3) LaLo Haro 56.500 (7) Daniel Diaz-Luong 56.375
( ) denotes place in the Top 8
Top 8 in each event advance to individual finals
NOTES
• Michigan's Big Ten team championship is its 13th overall and first since 1975. The Wolverines won 12 titles under legendary coach Newt Loken, with all coming between 1961 and 1975, starting with a string of six in a row (1961-66).
• How remarkable is the Wolverines' turnaround under coach Kurt Golder? Consider that prior to this year's championship Michigan had not finished higher than fifth in the Big Ten since 1980 (third). U-M was seventh in 1996 and sixth in 1997 in Golder's first two seasons.
• All seven Big Ten men's gymnastics programs came into the conference championships ranked in the GymInfo top 25, and the meet lineup included the nation's top five ranked teams and six of the top seven. Michigan took over the No. 1 spot in the most recent rankings (March 22), followed by No. 2 Penn State, No. 3 Ohio State, No. 4 Iowa, No. 5 Illinois and No. 7 Michigan State. Minnesota is 16th.
Players Mentioned
