Caesar, Mikulak Claim Event Crowns at Windy City Invitational

Saturday, January 14

Chicago, Ill.

7:00 PM CT

Michigan

Windy City Invitational

From left: Adrian de los Angeles, Syque Caesar, Sam Mikulak

Caesar, Mikulak Claim Event Crowns at Windy City Invitational

1/15/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics

Jan. 15, 2012

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Site: Chicago, Ill. (UIC Physical Education Building)
Event: Windy City Invitational
Score: 3rd of 6 Teams (338.700)
Records: U-M (3-2)
Next U-M Meet: Saturday, Jan. 21 -- vs. Penn State (Cliff Keen Arena), 7 p.m.

CHICAGO, Ill. -- The No. 3-ranked University of Michigan men's gymnastics team began its 2012 regular season on Saturday (Jan. 14) in the program's yearly trip to the Windy City Invitational with a third-place finish in the annual event held at UIC's Physical Education Building.

Michigan placed a trio of all-around competitors, as sophomore Sam Mikulak (Corona del Mar, Calif./Corona del Mar) won the floor exercise en route to earning a 85.00 for a second-place finish. Senior Syque Caesar (Port Saint Lucie, Fla./ Lincoln Park Academy) won parallel bars and scored a 83.20 for a fourth-place finish, while freshman Adrian de los Angeles (Long Beach, Calif./Millikan) took sixth with 81.70 points.

The Wolverines got off to a rough start on high bar in the first rotation, totaling a team score of 51.400. Caesar led the charge with a 13.50, while de los Angeles notched a 13.30.

The second rotation sent Michigan to the floor exercise, where Mikulak executed his double twisting double back to earn a score of 15.60 to lead Michigan on floor and take the event title. He was followed by career highs from both Caesar (15.2) and junior Rohan Sebastian (Oklahoma City, Okla./Bishop McGuinness Catholic), who scored a 15.1 to help the Wolverines score a collective 60.90, resulting in the highest event score in the entire competition on an individual event.

On pommel horse, sophomore Matt Freeman (Canton, Mich./ Plymouth) led off with a team-high 13.20 in his first collegiate performance on the apparatus. He was followed by a pair of 13.20s in freshman Mark Panhorst (Hanover Park, Ill./Glenbord North) and de los Angeles to give U-M a team tally of 51.90 heading into rotation four.

The Wolverines sat in fifth place with 164.2 points heading into the still ring competition, where Mikulak led the way with a 14.8, followed by a 14.6 career high from Freeman. Sophomore Alex Bubnov (Fanwood, N.J./ Scotch Plains-Fanwood) then matched Freeman's 14.6 to aid in the Wolverines' 58.1 in the event.

The Wolverines then moved to vault competition, where Mikulak notched a 14.8 to pace Michigan. Caesar scored a 14.5, and was followed by de los Angeles' 14.3 as Michigan scored a 57.8, jumping UIC with 280.100 to move into fourth place heading into the final rotation on parallel bars.

With No. 8 Minnesota and No. 2 Illinois tied for second place with 282.1 points heading into the final rotation, the Wolverines entered in fourth before scoring a 58.6 on the apparatus to jump the Golden Gophers and move into third. Caesar continued his solid night on parallel bars with a first-place 15.5, followed by Mikulak's second-place 14.9.

The Wolverines return to action to host their season opener against Penn State, current ranked No. 6, on Saturday (Jan. 21) at 7 p.m. at Cliff Keen Arena.

Team Standings	FX	PH	SR	VT	PB	HB	Final
Ohio State	59.700	56.900	57.400	58.600	56.200	55.700	344.500
Illinois	57.700	53.900	59.800	57.900	55.600	57.000	341.900
Michigan	60.900	51.900	58.100	57.800	58.600	51.400	338.700
Minnesota	58.100	56.000	57.200	56.600	56.300	53.900	338.100
UIC	56.700	53.900	55.700	56.400	54.800	48.700	327.200
Iowa	51.300	49.000	56.200	56.900	53.800	49.600	316.800

Event-By-Event U-M Individual Scores

ALL-AROUNDSam Mikulak               85.00  (2)Syque Caesar              83.20  (4)Adrian de los Angeles     81.70  (6) HIGH BARSyque Caesar              13.50Adrian de los Angeles     12.40Sam Mikulak               13.30Mike Myler                12.10Nick Hunter               10.50Rohan Sebastian           12.20 FLOOR EXERCISEHub Humphrey              13.90Syque Caesar              15.20 (3)Adrian de los Angeles     15.00Sam Mikulak               15.60 (1)Rohan Sebastian           15.10 (5)Stacey Ervin              14.20 POMMEL HORSEMatt Freeman              13.30Mark Panhorst             13.20Adrian de los Angeles     13.20Sam Mikulak               11.60Michael Myler             10.80Dylan James               12.20 STILL RINGS Matt Freeman              14.60Jordan Gaarenstroom       14.10Rohan Sebastian           14.10Adrian de los Angeles     13.10Alex Bubnov               14.60Sam Mikulak               14.80 (3)*Syque Caesar             13.00 VAULTRohan Sebastian           13.80Alex Bubnov               14.20Stacey Ervin              13.80Adrian de los Angeles     14.30Sam Mikulak               14.80Syque Caesar              14.50 PARALLEL BARSMark Panhorst             14.20Nick Hunter               14.00Stacey Ervin              13.50Adrian de los Angeles     13.70Syque Caesar              15.50 (1)Sam Mikulak               14.90 (2) * score counts for all-around only, not team score

Q U O T E S

Michigan Head Coach Kurt Golder
On the meet ... "Tonight was a little disappointing. We were well prepared and I expected us to do better, but with the first meet you never really know how you're going to do. We'll get back in the gym and continue working hard getting our problems solved and get the team back to where it belongs.

"We have to fix high bar. We don't have our full-strength lineup out there, and we need to get some our guys healthy. Some of our very top guys that can give us huge scores didn't really do it for us tonight, so just solving those problems will help in the future.

"We need to do creative things to solve our problems. We've put in the work, and we just need to continue to do the same thing but also look at some other alternatives."

N O T E S

• Syque Caesar's win on parallel bars is the third pb event title of his career.

• Sam Mikulak recorded his third career floor win.

• Mark Panhorst, Adrian de los Angeles, Stacey Ervin, Nick Hunter and Hub Humphrey all made their collegiate debuts.

Contact: Scott Kemps (734) 763-4423