Michigan
Minnesota
Wolverines Earn Close Road Win Over Golden Gophers
2/17/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- The No. 1-ranked University of Michigan men's gymnastics team edged out No. 7 Minnesota by the score of 208.900-208.300 on Saturday (Feb. 17) at the Sports Pavilion. The Wolverines (9-0, 7-0 Big Ten) had the top team score on the floor exercise, still rings and high bar, and they overcame a deficit in the final rotation for the second time this season to remain undefeated.
The parallel bars was the final event for the Wolverines, and they trailed by 1.05 points going into the final rotation. Freshman Torrance Laury (Marietta, Ga./McEachern HS) and senior/junior co-captain Andrew Elkind (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill East HS) claimed second and third place, respectively, to help Michigan to the win. Laury posted a second-place score of 9.100, while Elkind scored a 9.000.
On the floor exercise, sophomore Kent Caldwell (Charlotte, N.C./Charlotte Latin HS) tied his personal best of 9.700 to claim his fourth floor title of the season. Sophomore Ralph Rosso (Morganville, N.J./St. John Vianney HS) took second place with a career-best 9.500, while sophomore Jamie Thompson (Lakemont, Ga./Oconee County HS) finished in fourth place with a personal record of 9.400.
Rosso led the Maize and Blue on the pommel horse with a third-place score of 8.450, while Laury rounded out the top five with a fifth-place score of 7.950.
On the rings, Michigan took first, second and third and won the event by 1.500 points, tallying 37.500. Rosso claimed the still rings title with a score of 9.600, just 0.100 shy of his career best. Rakes (9.400) and Elkind (9.300) finished second and third, respectively, and sophomore Joe Catrambone (Deptford, N.J./Gloucester Catholic HS) tied for fourth place with a season-best score of 9.200.
Sophomore Scott Bregman (Lawrence, Kan./Free State HS) earned his first vault title of the season, notching a career-best score of 8.950. Thompson tied for second, scoring an 8.700 and missing his personal best by 0.250.
Elkind claimed first place on the high bar with a 9.000, while senior Aaron Rakes(Lexington, Ky./Dunbar HS) tied for second, scoring 8.900.
The Wolverines will continue their road swing when they travel to Oakland, Calif., to compete in the Pacific Coast Classic on Saturday (Feb. 24) at the Oakland Convention Center.
Final Team Standings
| Team Scores | FX | PH | SR | V | PB | HB | Total |
| 1. MICHIGAN | 37.750 | 32.000 | 37.500 | 33.650 | 35.150 | 33.750 | 209.800 |
| 2. Minnesota | 36.400 | 33.500 | 36.000 | 34.150 | 35.650 | 33.600 | 209.300 |
Event-By-Event U-M Individual Scores
FLOOR EXERCISE Ralph Rosso 9.500 (2) Mel Santander 8.200 Jamie Thompson 9.400 (4) Scott Bregman 9.150 Kent Caldwell 9.700 (1) POMMEL HORSE Torrance Laury 7.950 (5) Ralph Rosso 8.450 (3) Mel Santander 7.750 Paul Woodward 7.850 Andrew Elkind 7.050 John Sawicki 7.650 STILL RINGS Arren Yoshimura 8.800 Joe Catrambone 9.200 (t4) Aaron Rakes 9.400 (2) Torrance Laury 9.200 (t4) Ralph Rosso 9.600 (1) Andrew Elkind 9.300 (3) VAULT Mel Santander 7.850 Torrance Laury 7.700 Ralph Rosso 7.500 Jamie Thompson 8.700 (t2) Scott Bregman 8.950 (1) Kent Caldwell 8.150 PARALLEL BARS John Sawicki 8.500 Arren Yoshimura 8.250 Paul Woodward 8.250 Torrance Laury 9.100 (2) Mel Santander 8.550 Andrew Elkind 9.000 (3) HIGH BAR Mel Santander 7.800 Arren Yoshimura 7.250 Torrance Laury 7.150 Aaron Rakes 8.900 (t2) Joe Catrambone 8.050 Andrew Elkind 9.000 (1) ( ) Place in Top 5
Q U O T E S
Michigan Head Coach Kurt Golder
On the importance of winning on the road after trailing ... "I think it's great; it's a win we can draw from. I think we learned it in the Penn State meet, but it's something that when we get in a championship meet and it's very close and the fight the guys displayed and the attitude to never give up, I think we can draw on that in the future."
On something the team should learn from tonight's win ... "We need to realize we have a lot of work to do. There are a lot of areas where we don't perform our skills perfectly, maybe we don't keep the hold long enough or something isn't clean enough. When you do those kinds of things on the road, you will get deducted for it. It's an area where we're vulnerable, and if we can take one thing from this that we need to clean up and keep those holds long enough, it'll be well worth it."
On not being too comfortable with the No. 1 ranking and keeping the same fight as tonight ... "We always talk about things like that. I think that's one of the things that hurt us the most: we got a little too comfortable. We realized that we can be knocked off and we have to be careful. I don't think we weren't focused, it's just those kinds of things sneak up on you."
Contact: Joseph Conrad (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
