NCAA Championships Individual Event Finals: Notes & Quotes
4/18/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics
Five Wolverines earned All-America status in tonight's NCAA Individual Event Finals, which ties for the most all-time. The last time Michigan had five All-Americans was in 2001, and there has been three other times in the history of the program that it has occurred (1963, '99 and 2000).
The last time Michigan had All-Americans on five events was in 1999, the year of its last national title. Michigan has never had a season with All-Americans on all six events.
Until tonight, a Michigan gymnast had not collected more than a single recognition since 2002 -- six seasons ago.
Sophomore Thomas Kelley and senior co-captain Phil Goldberg earned All-America status on high bar and rings, respectively, for the second season in a row.
Sophomore Chris Cameron participated on a team-best four events -- floor, pommel horse, rings, and parallel bars.
Goldberg equaled his season-best and team-high 15.400 on still rings -- a mark that he originally set yesterday.
Goldberg and Kelley's second-place finishes are Michigan's highest on any event since 2003 when Andrew DiGiore won the vault event crown.
Cameron's All-America status on floor exercise is the first for Michigan since the 2006 campaign.
The top eight competitors on each event received All-America recognition.
Q U O T E S
U-M Sophomore Chris Cameron
On his overall performance in tonight's competition... "I went off last night -- everything I did was to the best of my ability. But if I were to pick a night to go out fighting it was definitely last night. I am so happy I did it then. Tonight was great too. Maybe it wasnt as crisp, but I think I had a better floor set. Obviously, I didnt score as well, but I am still happy about that. Pommels -- I was extremely happy about that too. I think I had a better set even though I scored lower. On rings, I picked up a swing, which was weird and shorted my dismount. But, any mistakes I made tonight weren't due to not training hard enough or not being prepared, they were just mistakes that happened.
On his teammates' performances in their individual events... "Joe [Catrambone] held nothing back, and that was awesome. Phil [Goldberg] held every position solidly, stuck his dismount and held for a long time. He just has the best positions in the NCAA."
On Michigan's performance as a whole throughout NCAAs... "Michigan is back. We are here to stay. It has been a decade since greatness, but greatness is back and it's alive. We're going to take this all the way -- No. 1 in 2010."
Players Mentioned
