Michigan Takes Fifth Place at Big Ten Championships

Friday, March 19

Champaign, Ill.

7:00 PM CT

Michigan

Big Ten Team and All-Around Finals

3/19/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- The No. 7-ranked University of Michigan men's gymnastics team placed fifth at the 2004 Big Ten Conference Championships held Friday (March 19) at the University of Illinois' Huff Hall. Michigan posted a score of 216.375. Illinois placed first with a score of 221.975 in front of a rowdy home crowd of 783, followed by Penn State in second (220.100), Ohio State in third (218.425), Iowa in fourth (216.800) and Minnesota in sixth (213.275).

Michigan started out the meet on high bar with a solid routine from junior Brian Berends (Hudsonville, Mich./Hudsonville HS), who tallied an 8.75. Leading the event for the Wolverines were junior Geoff Corrigan (Colorado Springs, Colo./Palmer HS) with a 9.05 and sophomore Justin Laury (Marietta, Ga./McEachern HS), who posted a 9.35. Despite two falls, the Wolverines were in fourth place after the first rotation.

On floor exercise, current school record holder sophomore Gerry Signorelli (Colorado Springs, Colo./Mitchell HS) notched a 9.30, followed by scores of 9.20 from fellow sophomore Luke Bottke (Saginaw, Mich./Heritage HS) and junior Eddie Umphrey (Albuquerque, N.M./La Cueva HS). Freshman Andrew Elkind (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill East) added a 8.85 to bolster the team's score. Michigan remained in fourth place heading into the third rotation with a score of 72.60.

On the pommel horse, the team struggled with three gymnasts falling, but Signorelli showed his consistent clean style to post a solid 9.00. Several high scores from Illinois and Penn State dropped the Wolverines to fifth place after three rotations.

On rings Michigan fought back with a string of strong performances from Corrigan, who scored an 8.825; Umphrey, who notched a 9.30; and Laury, who recorded a 9.25. The Wolverines remained in fifth place after the fourth event with a score of 144.225.

In the fifth rotation Bottke started the team off on the right foot on the vault, posting a 9.125. Umphrey and Laury follwed with strong scores of 9.25 and 9.30, respectively. Sophomore Andrew DiGiore (Buffalo, N.Y./City Honors School), the 2003 Big Ten vault champion, anchored the event for the Wolverines by scoring a 9.45. Heading into the last rotation, Michigan bounced back to fourth place with a total of 181.575.

Ending on parallel bars, freshman duo Andre Hernandez (Round Rock, Texas/Round Rock HS) and Aaron Rakes (Lexington, Ky./Dunbar HS) posted consistent scores of 8.70 each. Corrigan notched a tenth better with an 8.80, while Laury tallied an 8.6 to conclude the team competition for Michigan.

In the all-around competition, Laury placed ninth (53.65), Corrigan placed 10th (53.425) and Signorelli placed 13th (52.40). Ohio State's Randy Monahan (55.675) repeated as this year's Big Ten all-around champion, followed by Illinois' Justin Spring (55.60) and Penn State's Kevin Tan (54.45).

The Wolverines continue competition at the Big Ten Championships with the individual event finals on Saturday (March 20) at 7 p.m. CST. Event titles on each of the six events are up for grabs with the top eight athletes on each event from Friday's competition qualifying to tomorrow's finals. Michigan qualified five athletes into the event finals: Signorelli (floor), Umphrey (rings), Laury (rings and high bar), DiGiore (vault) and Corrigan (parallel bars).

Final Team Standings

Team Scores	FX	PH	SR	V	PB	HB	Total
1. Illinois	37.475	38.400	36.575	37.350	35.800	36.375	221.975
2. Penn State	36.600	36.050	37.475	37.200	36.100	36.675	220.100
3. Ohio State	36.525	35.950	36.850	36.650	35.400	37.050	218.425
4. Iowa	36.675	36.600	35.450	36.150	34.850	37.075	216.800
5. MICHIGAN	36.550	35.500	36.125	37.350	34.800	36.050	216.375
6. Minnesota	34.950	36.875	35.350	36.850	34.250	35.000	213.275

Event-By-Event U-M Individual Scores

FLOOR EXERCISE Andrew Elkind 8.85 Gerry Signorelli 9.30 (6t) Luke Bottke 9.20 Geoff Corrigan 8.775 Eddie Umphrey 9.20 Justin Laury 8.50 POMMEL HORSE Andre Hernandez 7.70 Gerry Signorelli 9.00 Aaron Rakes 8.85 Geoff Corrigan 8.65 Andrew DiGiore 9.00 Justin Laury 8.65 STILL RINGS Devin Deer 8.05 Andre Hernandez 8.05 Aaron Rakes 8.75 Geoff Corrigan 8.825 Eddie Umphrey 9.30 (6t) Justin Laury 9.25 (8) VAULT Luke Bottke 9.125 Geoff Corrigan 9.325 Eddie Umphrey 9.25 Justin Laury 9.30 Andrew DiGiore 9.475 (2) Gerry Signorelli 9.00 PARALLEL BARS Chris Gatti 8.30 Aaron Rakes 8.70 Andre Hernandez 8.70 Geoff Corrigan 8.80 (8t) Eddie Umphrey 8.45 Justin Laury 8.60 HORIZONTAL BAR Brian Berends 8.75 Gerry Signorelli 8.50 Aaron Rakes 8.90 Geoff Corrigan 9.05 Andre Hernandez 8.10 Justin Laury 9.35 (8) ALL-AROUND Justin Laury 53.650 (9) Geoff Corrigan 53.425 (10) Gerry Signorelli 52.400 (13)