MGoBlogs: Men's Gymnastics, Vol. II, No. 7
2/4/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2009
Senior Joe Catrambone(Deptford, N.J./Gloucester Catholic) takes some time to discuss this weekend's Winter Cup Challenge (Feb.5-7) in Las Vegas, as well as the team's second home meet of the season against the University of Illinois-Chicago (Feb. 7). Competing in his final season as a Wolverine, Catrambone brings a lot of depth to the squad, capable of participating in all six events. Last season, Catrambone competed on the high bar, parallel bars, still rings and floor exercise at the 2008 NCAA team finals, registering solid scores in each. He also won the high bar title at the 2008 Pacific Coast Classic with a mark of 15.350.
Everyone was pretty excited this past weekend as we took on the University of Iowa in our first home meet of the season. Even though the Hawkeyes were only ranked No. 12 in the nation, we treated them as if they were the best team out there right now. It was great to see the intensity that we had in Cliff Keen and how much support we had for one another.
We definitely took a step in the right direction after coming back from Penn State with a loss. I think everyone had a sense of urgency to really focus on the eliminating the little deductions on each event. Making sure that we weren't going to fall off the event was a very crucial and important part of our team this past weekend.
It was amazing to see some new faces in the lineup for the first time this season. Senior Scott Bregman, junior Torrance Laury, and redshirt freshman Devan Cote all competed for the first time during the 2009 season. All three of these guys definitely stepped up a tremendous amount for the team.
If I had to give an award to an MVP of the meet this past weekend, I would give it to Devan Cote. I think everyone would agree with me that he did a phenomenal job competing for the first time ever as Michigan Wolverine. He placed second on the pommel horse and fourth on the high bar. He had an uncharacteristic mistake on the parallel bars when he had to split his legs on a skill called a "Healy" to remain in control of the routine. A "Healy" is where a gymnast is in a handstand on parallel bars and does a full spin forwards on one arm and swings back through to a handstand.
From my standpoint, it was great to see Devan step up and hit such great routines because I try to work with him a lot in the gym. I know he has the talent, but sometimes he needs to believe in himself a little bit more. Knowing what he is capable of doing and finally giving him that chance to show it was remarkable! The entire team lit up every time Devan finished a routine. He got the whole team pumped up and sparked the atmosphere in the right direction. Devan proved to the team and the coaching staff that he is a great competitor and could make a huge impact on our team.
Chris Cameron also made a very impressive showing as he won the Newt Loken Award for having the most outstanding performance of the entire competition. He nailed each event that he competed on -- pommel horse, rings, parallel bars and high bar. He made sure that Michigan had a win by hitting a great high bar routine. Other standouts and highlights in the meet were Syque Caesar's floor routine, which kick-started our night, and Ryan McCarthy's crowd-pleasing high bar routine.
This week in the gym will be interesting because we will only have a total of 17 guys as opposed to the normal 24. Some of our guys are going to Las Vegas to compete in the Winter Cup to try and make the National Team. The seven guys that have qualified for the competition are sophomores Chris Cameron and Thomas Kelley, junior Mel Anton Santander, seniors Ralph Rosso, Ryan McCarthy and Phillip Goldberg, and fifth-year senior Paul Woodward. They all seemed to be well prepared for the competition, and I'm sure that they will represent the block M very well out there.
However, the 17 guys that are left in Ann Arbor still have a competition against the No. 11 University of Illinois-Chicago. It will be a very interesting but fun competition. Once again there will be some new faces in the lineup to fill in the spots on each event. This means that some of the guys will get to compete that normally do not get the opportunity to do so, and everyone will be able to see how they deal with the challenge. If there is one downfall to this weekend's meet against UIC it would be the fact that we lack depth on each event. In the end, it shouldn't affect us, because if we have to put up four guys and count four scores I still feel that we will pull the victory out. I know that the guys are going to work extremely hard even with the seven original lineup starters gone to try and get the win this weekend. We have so much desire and determination on this team that I feel we will all pull together and make sure we get the W in the meet.
Players Mentioned
