Michigan
NCAA Team and All-Around Finals
Bottke, DiGiore Qualify for NCAA Individual Event Finals
4/7/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics
NORMAN, Okla. -- University of Michigan senior Andrew DiGiore (Buffalo, N.Y./City Honors School) led eight Wolverines in tonight's (Friday, April 7) NCAA Men's Gymnastics Championships team and all-around competition by placing first on the vault with a 9.70 heading into tomorrow's event finals. Senior Luke Bottke (Saginaw, Mich./Heritage HS) also qualified for the event finals in the floor exercise.
The evening began with a surprise for the Wolverines when DiGiore moved from alternate status on the vault to being a competitor. He made the most of his last-minute opportunity by sticking his two and a half twisting vault and posting the event's highest score of the night.
Oklahoma won the team competition (221.400), ahead of Illinois (220.975) and Stanford (218.375). Jonathan Horton from Oklahoma won the all-around title with a 56.00.
Senior Gerry Signorelli (Colorado Springs, Colo./Mitchell HS) was the Wolverines' lone all-around competitor and placed 10th with a score of 52.50.
On the floor exercise, despite a fall on his trademark quadruple twist, freshman Kent Caldwell (Charlotte, N.C./Charlotte Latin HS) maintained his composure to record an 8.40. Bottke followed with a near flawless set for a 9.30 and qualified for tomorrow's event finals.
Freshman Ralph Rosso (Morganville, N.J./St. John Vianney HS), Michigan's lone competitor on the pommel horse, swung a clean set to notch an 8.15.
Moving to the rings, Aaron Rakes (Lexington, Ky./Dunbar HS) improved on his previous day's performance with a solid score of 8.975. Freshman Phillip Goldberg (Ringgold, Ga./McCallie HS) was next to show his strength and matched his season high with a 9.20.
Sophomore Daniel Rais (Livonia, Mich./Franklin HS) launched a huge double twisting vault but took two steps on the landing for a 8.95. Bottke nearly matched his vault from the preliminary competition when he just missed sticking his vault for a 9.075.
In his second event of the night, the parallel bars, Rosso swung a smooth set but slightly over-rotated his dismount for an 8.15. On the high bar, Michigan's final competitor of the night was freshman Joe Catrambone (Deptford, N.J./Gloucester Catholic HS). Catrambone recorded a fall and could muster only a 7.75.
The top 10 performers on each event qualified for tomorrow's Individual Event Finals at 7 p.m. CDT. DiGiore (vault) and Bottke (floor) will represent Michigan as they vie for All-America honors and a shot at national titles on their respective events.
Event-By-Event U-M Individual Scores
FLOOR EXERCISE Kent Caldwell 8.40 Luke Bottke 9.30 (7t) Gerry Signorelli 9.15 POMMEL HORSE Ralph Rosso 8.15 Gerry Signorelli 8.50 STILL RINGS Aaron Rakes 8.975 Gerry Signorelli 8.50 Phil Goldberg 9.20 VAULT Luke Bottke 9.075 Gerry Signorelli 9.10 Dan Rais 8.95 Andrew DiGiore 9.70 (1) PARALLEL BARS Ralph Rosso 8.15 Gerry Signorelli 8.70 HORIZONTAL BAR Joe Catrambone 7.75 Gerry Signorelli 9.00 ALL-AROUND Gerry Signorelli 52.50 (10) ( ) denotes place in Top 10
Contact: Justin Toman (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
