Vetere, Laury Lead Wolverines to Home Victory Over Iowa

Friday, February 21

Ann Arbor, Mich.

7:00 PM

Michigan

213.075

212.225

Iowa

Vetere, Laury Lead Wolverines to Home Victory Over Iowa

2/21/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The fifth-ranked University of Michigan men's gymnastics team defeated Big Ten Conference foe Iowa 213.075-212.225 on Friday (Feb. 21) in Cliff Keen Arena. The win squared the season series with the No. 6-ranked Hawkeyes, who beat U-M at the Windy City Invitational (Jan. 11), and improved the Wolverines' season record to 6-4.

Vetere won titles on the floor exercise and pommel horse and competed on still rings for the first time this year.

Leading the way for the Wolverines was Conan Parzuchowski (Northville, Mich./University of Detroit Jesuit HS), who continued his season dominance on the still rings with a 9.600 to earn his fourth first-place finish of the year in the event. Parzuchowski also was presented with the Newt Loken Award after the match for his excellent performance. Freshman Justin Laury (Marietta, Ga./McEachern HS) turned in a solid performance to win the all-around (52.800), aided by second-place finishes on the pommel horse (9.100) and still rings (9.450).

Senior captain Scott Vetere (Pennsburg, Pa./Quakerstown HS) won both the floor exercise (8.900) and the pommel horse (9.175), while freshman Andrew DiGiore (Buffalo, N.Y./City Honors School) finished third on the vault (9.200), which marks the fourth time this year he has finished in the top five for the event.

Senior Jamie Hertza (West Bloomfield, Mich./West Bloomfield HS) finished in second place on the floor exercise (8.850) and took fourth place on the pommel horse (8.950). Freshman Luke Bottke (Saginaw, Mich./Heritage HS) finished fifth on the floor exercise (8.800), giving him top-five finishes in his first two competitions of the season.

Geoff Corrigan (Colorado Springs, Colo./Palmer HS) and Kevin George (Indianapolis, Ind./Cathedral HS) contributed to the U-M win by finishing fourth (8.900) and fifth (8.850), respectively, on the still rings. Corrigan also had a fourth-place finish on the horizontal bar (8.900), one spot behind sophomore Brian Berends (Hudsonville, Mich./Hudsonville HS), who put up a score of 9.000.

Freshman Gerry Signorelli (Colorado Springs, Colo./Mitchell HS) finished fifth on the horizontal bar (8.800). Signorelli's performance was clutch since it cemented the Wolverine win.

The Wolverines return to action on Saturday, March 1, when they face No. 8 Stanford in Palo Alto, Calif.

Final Team Standings

Team Scores	FX	PH	SR	V	PB	HB	Total
1. MICHIGAN	35.200	35.575	36.800	36.100	34.150	35.250	213.075
2. Iowa	35.200	34.650	34.700	36.875	35.150	35.650	212.225

Event-By-Event U-M Individual Scores

FLOOR EXERCISE Jamie Hertza 8.850 (2) Gerry Signorelli 7.900 Derek Croad 8.650 Geoff Corrigan 8.300 Luke Bottke 8.800 (5) Scott Vetere 8.900 (1) POMMEL HORSE Jamie Hertza 8.950 (4) Kevin George 8.000 Drew DiGiore 8.250 Brian Peterson 8.350 Justin Laury 9.100 (2) Scott Vetere 9.175 (1) STILL RINGS Geoff Corrigan 8.900 (4) Kevin George 8.850 (5) Brian Peterson 8.750 Conan Parzuchowski 9.600 (1) Justin Laury 9.450 (2) Scott Vetere 8.700 VAULT Geoff Corrigan 8.600 Brian Peterson 8.750 Conan Parzuchowski 9.000 Derek Croad 8.850 Justin Laury 9.050 Drew DiGiore 9.200 (3) PARALLEL BARS Brian Peterson 7.900 Geoff Corrigan 8.250 Conan Parzuchowski 8.400 Justin Laury 8.600 Scott Vetere 8.900 (2) Gerry Signorelli 7.100 HORIZONTAL BAR Kevin George 8.550 Brian Berends 9.000 (3) Conan Parzuchowski 7.600 Geoff Corrigan 8.900 (4) Justin Laury 8.350 Gerry Signorelli 8.800 (5) ALL-AROUND Justin Laury 52.800 (1) ( ) denotes place in the Top 5