Weekly Release #8
3/9/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics
Upcoming Schedule
Saturday, March 13 - vs. Ohio State (Cliff Keen Arena), 7 p.m.
Fri-Sat., March 19-20 -- at Big Ten Championships (Champaign, Ill.), 7 p.m. CST
What's Ahead for the Wolverines
The No. 7-ranked University of Michigan men's gymnastics team (7-5) returns home on Saturday (March 13) for its final dual meet of the season, taking on the No. 6-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes at 7 p.m. in Cliff Keen Arena. The Wolverines went 0-4 against the Buckeyes in 2003 and look to improve upon that record this year.
Scouting the Buckeyes
Ohio State University is currently ranked sixth in the country in the GymInfo rankings with a scoring average of 216.317. The Buckeyes finished in second place at last year's Big Ten and NCAA championships. OSU is led by 2003 Big Ten all-around champion Randy Monahan and All-American Jamey Houle. Ohio State on the Web: www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com.
Recapping the Loss at Iowa
Michigan dropped its final away contest of the 2004 regular season to the University of Iowa on Saturday (March 6) in Iowa City, Iowa. The seventh-ranked Wolverines sustained several falls in an off night to be outscored by the sixth-ranked Hawkeyes 217.925-213.55.
Michigan had a rough start to the competition on pommel horse and rings, counting two low scores on each event. The team improved in the third rotation on the floor but still trailed Iowa by a score of 109.17-105.72. In the fourth rotation the Wolverines struggled on parallel bars but came back strong on their final two events, high bar and vault, to mount a last chance effort to cut into Iowa's lead. The Hawkeyes remained consistent, however, posting solid scores on their final two events to outlast Michigan and maintain their lead.
Individual highlights for the Wolverines came from junior Eddie Umphrey (Albuquerque, N.M./La Cueva HS) as he won the rings (9.30), finished second on parallel bars (9.00) and third on the vault (9.325). Sophomore Andrew DiGiore (Buffalo, N.Y./City Honors School) also recorded a top finish by winning the vault (9.50). Other key contributing performances came from sophomores Justin Laury (Marietta, Ga./McEachern HS) and Gerry Signorelli (Colorado Springs, Colo./Mitchell HS). Laury notched second-place finishes on the pommel horse (9.35) and high bar (9.575), while Signorelli placed third on the floor (9.325) and fourth on the high bar (9.10).
Wisconsin Club Team Competes
The University of Wisconsin's club team also competed in last weekend's meet at Iowa. This was the second time this season the Badgers club squad has faced highly ranked Big Ten varsity teams. They fared well in the competition, despite not fielding a full six-man lineup on each event.
Freshman Duo Contributes to Team Score
The freshman duo of Aaron Rakes (Lexington, Ky./Dunbar HS) and Andrew Elkind (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill East) continued to add depth to Michigan's lineup in last week's competition. Rakes contributed a solid fourth-place finish on the pommel horse (9.00) and was fifth on rings (8.75), and Elkind added a fifth place on the parallel bars (8.90) in his characteristic clean style.
DiGiore Wins Vault, Again
Andrew DiGiore has followed his 2003 Big Ten and NCAA vaulting titles by establishing himself as a top contender to repeat this year. He has won the event in three out of his last four competitions, including last week at Iowa.
Hernandez Not Allowing Knee Injury to Slow Him Down
Redshirt freshman Andre Hernandez (Round Rock, Texas/Round Rock HS) has proven himself to be one of Michigan's most dependable performers, having "hit" every routine he has competed in NCAA competitions so far this season. A knee injury which he sustained Feb. 13 has kept him out of Michigan's last three competitions but not off the apparatus. Hernandez continues to train his difficult routines on the pommel horse, rings, parallel bars and the high bar, without dismounts, in his trademark consistent style while giving his knee time to heal. He is slated to return to competition this weekend (March 13) against Ohio State.
GymInfo National Rankings (3/8/04)
(by Three-Score Average)
Rank, Team Score 1. Illinois 220.708 2. Oklahoma 220.342 3. California 217.367 4. Penn State 217.208 5. Iowa 216.717 6. Ohio State 216.317 7. MICHIGAN 214.808 8. Nebraska 213.100 9. Stanford 212.750 10. Illinois-Chicago 212.042
Quoting Coach Kurt Golder
On the trip to Iowa ... "Iowa was a tough trip. The competition was a struggle but we had some good things. Gerry Signorelli on floor, Andrew Elkind did real well on his events and Drew DiGiore on vault were all real good. There were a lot of good things to point at, but we also had a lot of problems. Then on top of that we weren't getting any benefit from the judges. The headlines in The Michigan Daily actually refered to me as Bobby Knight. That was a tough meet, but we'll take the good from it and build on that. It's better to have your peak ahead of you than behind you at this point in the season. I think this team can pull it togther at the very end as we did last year."
On Andre Hernandez ... "We plan to have Andre in the lineup this weekend after three weeks. He'll probably do four events, no floor or vault. He's a real steady performer, particularly on parallel bars where he has a real high start value. He can give the team a real boost."
Contact: Justin Toman, Matt Godfrey (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
