THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Thursday, March 20, 1969
A
d
Fred ftodney vaults onto the horse . . . . . . bounces off of the apparatus..
. follows through on his leap . . . . and receives Coach Loken's praise.
Beginning
a
gym
season a
The dual meet season is over, but for the Michi-
gan gymnastics team, the' real test is yet to come.
Tomorrow marks the start of the Big Ten tourna-
ment, and the favored Wolverines will have to re-
spond with a sterling performance if they are to
carry home the title.
In truth, the conference championship is only
a part of what the gymnasts will be seeking this
week in the Events Building. Not only must they
win the seven event title, but they must outscore
the other teams in the six NCAA events (trampoline
is excluded) if they are to cap their fine season
with a trip to Seattle and the National Champion-
ships.
After the results of this season's dual meets,
which saw the Wolverines chalk up national highs
in both their six and seven event scores. Michigan
must be favored to both win the championship and
represent the conference at Seattle.;
Overall consistency has, been the key all season,
and if the Wolverines are to be victorious, they
must maintain their consistency.
In value to the team, no one rates higher than
Sid Jensen. A member of the Canadian Olympic
team, Jensen has been one of the top all-around
performers in the Big Ten this y e a r. Especially
strong on the rings and parallel bars, he has scored
above 50 in nearly every meet. His score of 54.225
against Iowa is one of the highest turned in by an
all-arounder in the country this season. Together
with sophomore Rick McCurdy, Michigan shows
great strength at the two all-around positions.
A key performer for the Wolverines this year
has been defending Big Ten parallel bars titlist Ron
Rapper. Saving his high of 9.45 for the important
Iowa meet, Rapper has never scored below 9.25. His
even performances are a vital contribution to the
team's success.
Charlie Froeming, Michigan's top ring man, was
one of the main reasons that that squad scored the
team high in four of the eight meets. His 9.5
I the end
against Michigan State and Indiana helped t h e
ring team compile a 2830, the highest event score of
the season. He will be seeking to upseat Don Hatch
of Iowa to take the conference championship.
And of course, no one on the team has shown
more consistency than Dave'Jacobs in his trampo-
line routines. Never scoring lower than 9.35, he has
averaged nearly 9.5 and has been Michigan's high
trampolinist in every meet he was in. His score
in the Big Ten meet will count only towards the
conference championship, and will not contribute
to the six-event score that decides the representa-
tive to the NCAA tournament. In addition to his
trampoline work, however, he will be seeking to re-
gain the conference floor exercise title he won as
a sophomore.
Coach Newt Loken expects that the toughest
challenge will come from Iowa. At the dual meet
here in Ann Arbor, the highly rated Hawkeye side
horse team performed poorly and the rest of the
team contributed disappointing scores. Iowa coach
Mike Jacobsen described his team's performance in
that meet as "horrible," a n d promised a better
showing at the conference touranment.
The condition of the Wolverine squad is good.
A pulled hamstring muscle, which has bothered
Dave Jacobs' performances in floor exercises, has
been improving, so he should be able to turn in one
of his finest.scores of the year.
Coach Loken considers the two horse events to
be Michigan's key in the meet. "The side horse and
long horse (vaulting) have probably been our most
erratic events," he concluded. "If these two teams
hit, the rest of the scores will fall right in line."
It is probable that the Wolverines have not hit
their potential this season, but Loken feels he will
be "extremely satisfied with a 164," the score his
gymnasts achieved against Iowa in the _dual meet.
If that tally is achieved, there is little that should
keep the Wolverines from their trip to Seattle.
-JERRY CLARKE
JOI
Ai
Dave Jacobs handstands along
Chuck Froeming swings into the act
44
k Mm.%
xx"
XX XX