Weekly Release #9
3/12/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics
Upcoming Schedule
Friday, March 14 -- French National Team (Cliff Keen Arena), 7 p.m.
Fri-Sat., March 22-23 -- at Big Ten Championships (Minneapolis, Minn.)
What's in Store for the Wolverines
The No. 8-ranked University of Michigan men's gymnastics team (7-5) will host the Corritore Classic on Friday (March 15), taking on the French National Team at Cliff Keen Arena at 7 p.m. This will conclude the home schedule for the 2002 Wolverine squad. Following the competition both teams will available to sign autographs.
Corritore Classic
This weekend's competition has been named after former Wolverine gymnast John Corritore, a two-time Big Ten and 1978 NCAA parallel bars champion. Corritore donated a significant amount of money to allow the team to host this international competition.
Scouting the French
The French team captured fourth at the 2001 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Ghent, Belgium, during the week of Oct. 28CNov. 4. In the preliminary round, in which they counted four scores, they scored a 218.593 ... Johan Mounard was their highest placing all-arounder (14th) with a score of 54.223 ... Their lone representative in the apparatus finals, Francois Ruffier, finished in sixth place with a 8.987 ... The team is coming off of its National Championships and preparing for the European Championships following this upcoming weekend's meet.
Michigan Says Goodbye to Senior Class
The Wolverines will say farewell to three seniors during the March 15 meet against France, as it marks the final home appearance by seniors Daniel Diaz-Luong (Harrisburg, Pa./Bishop McDevitt HS), Brad Kenna (Barberton, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit HS) and Justin Toman (Wallingford, Conn./Lyman Hall HS). Senior co-captain Scott Vetere (Pennsburg, Pa./Quakertown HS) is redshirting the season after suffering an injury during the summer and will compete during the 2003 season.
Wolverines End Cal's Four-Year Home Winning Streak
Michigan grabbed the lead on the first event and never looked back during its 212.900-208.850 upset of the No. 5 California Golden Bears on March 3 at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley, Calif. The Wolverines' season-high away score helped to end the Golden Bears' four-year home winning streak.
Kenna and Toman Continue to Capture Titles
Seniors Justin Toman and Brad Kenna continue to rack up the individual titles for the Wolverines. The pair, who tied for first on the vault with a score of 9.200 at Cal, have combined to capture 11 individual event titles so far this season. Toman also captured the still rings title (9.250) to bring his season total to five event titles. To go along with his vault title, Kenna captured the parallel bars crown with a 9.100 score to raise his total to six.
Wolverines Hold On to No. 8 Ranking
In the latest GymInfo national ranking the Wolverines remained in the No. 8 spot for the third consecutive week with an average score of 210.675. The Maize and Blue is currently ranked second on the parallel bars, fourth on the still rings, sixth on the vault, ninth on both the floor exercise and pommel horse and 12th on the horizontal bar. Big Ten teams hold six of the top eight spots in the team rankings -- No. 1 Penn State, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 4 Illinois, No. 5 Minnesota, No. 6 Iowa and No. 8 Michigan. The rankings are currently based upon the two-score average.
GymInfo National Rankings (3/11/02)
(by Two-Score Average)
1. Penn State 215.775 2. Ohio State 215.537 3. Oklahoma 215.150 4. Illinois 214.212 5. Minnesota 213.425 6. Iowa 213.162 7. California 211.987 8. MICHIGAN 210.675 9. Massachusetts 210.375 10. Stanford 208.587 11. Temple 207.750 12. William & Mary 206.300 13. Nebraska 206.125 14. Cal-Santa Barbara 205.537 15. Army 203.900
Individual Gymnasts Ranked Nationally
Individually the Wolverines continue to be among the nation's elite. Juniors Conan Parzuchowski (Northville, Mich./University of Detroit Jesuit HS) and Kris Zimmerman (Winnetka, Ill./New Trier HS) lead the way for the Wolverines with eighth-place rankings on the still rings and parallel bars, respectively. Brad Kenna is immediately behind Zimmerman in the parallel rankings in ninth-place. Jamie Hertza (West Bloomfield, Mich./West Bloomfield HS) follows close behind, ranking 10th on the pommel horse.
Contact: Louis Levine (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
