Michigan
NCAA Finals
Richard Takes Trio of NCAA Titles, U-M Earns Runner-Up Finish at NCAA Championships
4/15/2023 10:44:00 PM | Men's Gymnastics
» Fred Richard won a trio of NCAA titles in the all-around, as well as high bar and parallel bars. He totaled five All-America honors in the process.
» Michigan earned a runner-up finish with a season-best 419.889 in the team competition, trailing only repeat champion Stanford.
» Six Wolverines earned a total of 10 All-America citations.
Site: State College, Pa. (Rec Hall)
Event: NCAA Championships (Finals)
Score: 2nd place of 6 teams, (419.889)
Next U-M Event: Season completed
• Complete Results (PDF) | Photo Gallery
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Freshman Fred Richard became the third gymnast in Wolverine history to take home a trio of NCAA titles as the third-ranked University of Michigan men's gymnastics team placed second with a team score of 419.889 at the NCAA Championships on Saturday (April 15), hosted by Penn State University at Rec Hall.
The second-place finish marks the third-straight year the Wolverines have finished in the top three and is the highest team finish since winning the NCAA title in 2014. Richard's three NCAA titles mark the third time a Wolverine has won three in one season, joining Gil LaRose (1953) and Sam Mikulak (2013).
U-M totaled 10 All-America honors to bring the program total to 254. In addition to Richard, five Wolverines took home citations: sophomore David Wolma (vault), junior Javier Alfonso (still rings), senior Adam Wooten (high bar), freshman Landen Blixt (floor exercise) and senior Virgil Watkins (parallel bars).
Michigan (22-9) began the night on pommel horse, hitting 3-of-5 routines and earning a team score of 66.365, the second-highest score of the season, to sit in fifth place after one rotation. Blixt led the effort with a 13.500.
Still rings saw U-M mark a season-best 70.197, led by a career-best 14.466 from Richard, which earned him a fifth-place finish. Junior Javier Alfonso (14.233, 8th place) also broke the 14.000 plateau as Michigan moved to vault with a 136.562 running score and remained in fifth place.
Behind a 14.900 from Wolma, U-M marked its second-highest season score on vault with a 72.365. Blixt scored a 14.566 to place third in the event. As a result, the Wolverines moved into third place in the team race (208.927), trailing Stanford by 3.2 points and second-place Illinois by 1.31.
In the fourth event, Michigan jumped into second place behind a season-best 70.197 team score on parallel bars. Richard became the first gymnast since Sam Mikulak in 2014 to win an NCAA parallel bar title and the tenth overall with a 15.000. Watkins placed second with a 14.666 to also earn All-America honors for the second time in his career. With two rotations to go, U-M trailed the leader, Stanford, by 4.136 and held a 1.50 point lead over Oklahoma.
Richard added his third title of the night on high bar with a 14.433, contributing to a team total of 69.165 and running score of 349.090. Wooten placed third with a 14.300 as the Wolverines cut into the Stanford lead and trailed by 2.337 with one rotation to go. The win on the apparatus is the sixth in program history and first since Milulak in 2014.
On floor exercise, Richard nearly made it four NCAA titles in one event and would have tied the modern NCAA record for individual championships as he scored a 14.800. However, he tied with Stanford's Nick Kuebler, who won the tiebreaker due to having a higher execution score. Blixt placed sixth with a 14.600 on the exercise as U-M compiled a 70.999, but was unable to catch the Cardinal in the final rotation.
Richard collected a score of 85.998 in the all-around, and gave U-M back-to-back titles in the discipline as teammate Paul Juda won last season. It marked the seventh win in program history and he is the first freshman since Mikulak in 2011 to win the all-around.
The All-America haul of 10 gives the Wolverines 254 in program history and double-digits in each of the last two seasons (11 in 2022, 13 in 2021).
Stanford ran away with the meet, leading wire-to-wire and finishing with a 422.458, while fellow Big Ten institution Illinois came in third (415.590).
Tweet of the Meet
???????? ????????????????
— Michigan Gymnastics ?? (@UMichGym) April 16, 2023
Fred Richard (@FrederickFlips) takes home 3?? NCAA Championships (all-around, high bar, parallel bars).
He becomes the third Wolverine EVER to win three in one championship, and totals five All-America honors on the night.#GoBlue?? pic.twitter.com/ckXkZWcdJX
The meet wraps up U-M's 2023 campaign, which was highlighted by a pair of Big Ten Championships (regular and postseason) as well as Richard being named Big Ten Freshman of the Year and Gymnast of the Big Ten Championships. Senior Paul Juda was honored as U-M's third Nissen-Emery Award winner and head coach Yuan Xiao was named CGA Central Region and Big Ten Coach of the Year.
Players Mentioned
