10 - Tuesday, February 13, 2007
SPORTS The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
MEN'S GYMNASTICS
Blue still impacted
by founding father
BENJIDELL/Daily
Freshman Chris Summers has scored three goals in the past two weeks since making the switch from defenseman to forward.
Frosh fire up front
By AMBER COLVIN
Daily Sports Editor
DETROIT - Maybe he was the
last freshmanskater to notch agoal.
Maybe it took him almost the
entire regularseason to do it.
Maybe it was just an empty netter.
But Chris Summers has an unde-
niable scoring touch.
When Summers slipped his first
puck into the net in the waning min-
utes of a victory over Western Michi-
gantwo weekends ago, fewknew just
what he had up his sleeve.
This past weekend, Summers
revealed it, spearheading the three-
goal comeback effort in a 3-3 tie with
Michigan State. The Milan native
chipped in Michigan's first two goals
and assisted on the equalizer with a
little more than a minute remaining
in the game.
And it was just his second full
game at forward all season.
Summers first moved to the front
against Western Michigan, filling in
for freshmen Brian Lebler after Leb-
ler was injured in the third period.
Though Lebler played this week-
end, Michigan coach Red Berenson
kept Summers as a forward, putting
him up on Michigan's speedy second
line alongside sophomore Andrew
Cogliano and junior Chad Kolarik.
"We needed a strongskaterto play
with Cogliano," Berenson said of
Summers. "He's a good competitor,
he's strong, he's tough - and he can
really skate."
Really skate?
"He looksalike Pavel Bure out there
sometimes," Cogliano said. "I can't
keep up with him sometimes. He's
always flying around."
The rookie's speed is just part of
what attracted the Phoenix Coyotes
to Summers last summer when they
drafted him in the first round (29th
overall) of the NHL Entry Draft.
Another part of it was his versatility.
- Summers grew up playing for-
ward, but switched to defense at
age 14. Then last season, while play-
ing with the United States National
Team Development Program, he was
sentto the frontlines again.
Though Berenson brought him
in as a defenseman, Summers has
proved he has the finesse of a for-
ward.
Saturday at Joe Louis Arena, Mich-
igan peppered Spartan goalie Jeff
Lerg with 57 shots. In the flurry, the
Wolverines had a hard time solving
Lerg- until one player puthimselfin
the rightplace at the right time.
"My role in the line was basically
just to go to the net and put awayany
loose pucks," Summers said.
With so many shots, there were
lots of loose pucks. Summers did his
duty first off an assist from fellow
freshman Steve Kampfer. Kampfer
fired the puck with Summerswaiting
on the doorstep, and Michigan got on
the board for the first time.
Summers worked itin again during
the third period off a nifty assist from
Cogliano. The Wolverine comeback
effort peaked at the end of the game
with another Cogliano-Summers
connection, this time with Summers
dishing the puck from behind the net
and Cogliano flipping it in.
Hard to believe this freshman was
the same guy just celebrating his first
career goal a week ago.
That night, Summers had these
prophetic words for the press:
"It's an icebreaker, just get the first
one," Summers said. "It happened
to be any empty netter, but oh well.
They don't askhow, theyjust askhow
many."
The freshman broke the ice indeed.
In just more than a week, his answer
to the "how many?" question went
from zerotothree.
By COLT ROSENSWEIG
Daily Sports Writer
The distinguished gentleman
sits in a chair in the corner of the
practice gym. Placing both hands
on the armrests, he grins brightly
and says, "Look at these old paral-
lel bars muscles at work!"
But this is no ordinary Michi-
gan gymnastics alumnus.
This is Newt Loken, the men's
gymnastics equivalent of Bo
Schembechler.
The practice gym is named
after him. The award for best per-
formance of the night on either
team, presented at each men's
gymnastics home meet, is named
after him. If Michigan coach Kurt
Golder had his way, the entire
Sports Coliseum would be named
in honor of him.
Known across the country, no
individual has had a bigger impact
on the Michigan men's gymnas-
tics program.
The 88-year-old Loken, head
coach of the men's gymnastics
team from its rebirth at Michi-
gan until his retirement in 1983,
is a familiar sight at practices and
home meets. In fact, he has not
missed a single Michigan home
meet since he took over as head
coach in 1948.
And his influence on the pro-
gram is still strong.
Both of the coaches since Loken
- Bob Darden and Golder - were
Michigan gymnasts under his
tutelage. Actually, if it weren't for
Loken's insistence, Golder might
still be coaching at Iowa.
"Newt called me enough times
that to get him off my backI finally
said, 'OK, I'll interview,' " Golder
said. "Once I said that, I thought,
'IfI'mgoingto dothis, I'mgoingto
do it right.'... SoI really went after
it at that point. But if it weren't for
his influence, it's quite likely that I
wouldn't have been here."
Men's gymnastics itself might
not be here if it wasn't for Loken.
After a spectacular career as a
gymnast at the University of Min-
nesota - amonghis many achieve-
ments was a national all-around
championship in 1942 - Loken
served as an athletic welfare offi-
cer in the Navy during World War
II. He helped sailors keep up their
fitness, often using a trampoline.
Following his service, Loken came
to Michigan to pursue his master's
degree. On the side, he offered his
services as a coach to the cheer-
leading team.
In 1947, the athletic board of
directors awarded varsity status
to men's gymnastics, which had
been dropped as a varsity sport
during the Great Depression.
Loken, who had been leading a
group of club gymnasts around
the Midwest performing at the
halftime of basketball games,
immediately accepted the offer to
become the team's coach.
At first, the fledgling Wolver-
ines had a tough time compet-
ing against more established
programs. But in the late 1950s,
when Loken could offer schol-
arships to prospective recruits,
Michigan gymnastics took off.
Loken's team won 12 Big Ten
championships - more than any
other coach - and national titles
in 1963 and 1970.
A consummate Michigan man,
Loken was not only a top gymnast
and coach, but is also a published
author, and a tremendous public
speaker. He has always exuded an
infectious enthusiasm.
"I have this image of him from
homecoming games," said Rich
Dopp, a Michigan gymnast from
1991-95. "As recently as probably
five or six years ago, he was still on
the field with the alumni cheer-
leaders at the Homecoming game.
... It may sound a little dorky, but it
just makes me want to go, 'Meech-
igan! Meechigan! Rah, rah!"'
The current team collectively
perks up whenever Loken comes
to practice. One by one, the gym-
nasts walk over to greet him and
shake his hand.
"Whenever everyone sees him,
it always brightens up people's
day," sophomore Joe Catrambone
said. "It just means a lot to me -
seeing him every day, him coming
in here when he doesn't even have
to be here anymore, and taking
time outto help some of the guys
still. It's just real nice."
Said assistant coach Scott
Vetere: "(Loken) wants to get to
know every guy. He knows every-
body on the team, and if he forgets,
he's 80-some years old, and he'll
ask again. He's just a pure gym-
nastics guy - always wants to be
around gymnastics, always wants
to learn more, (always) wants to
praise guys for what a wonderful
job they're doing."
Loken holds the current team
of gymnasts in equal esteem as
they hold him.
Rather than bemoaning the
constant changes to the gymnas-
tics Code of Points, and the tre-
mendous difference in the sport
from his college days, he revels
in every new skill and hit routine.
Few things make him happier
than rehashing the greatest per-
formances of the most recent meet
with the gymnasts.
"As I've kidded these guys, I
don't even show my old movies,"
Loken joked. "The elevation of
their skills is so great, right up
there at a high level."
Loken has a huge collection of
stories, which he gladly shares
with anyone who wants to hear
them.
He can tell you something
about every athlete whose name is
on the Park Family Wall of Fame,
where the top gymnasts in Michi-
gan history are commemorated.
He'll tell you about the time he
was pulled into the stands and
involuntarily went crowd-surf-
ing during halftime at a football
game. He was later found out by
the none-too-pleased band direc-
tor, William Revelli, who hated
any distractions from his halftime
show.
Or the time former Minnesota
head coach Ralph Piper had a tro-
phy engraved for his all-around
championship in 1942 - two
weeks before Loken actually won
the competition.
In addition to his published
tomes on gymnastics and cheer-
leading, Loken printed a little
book for his grandchildren called
"Newt's Sayings."
Over the years, the coach col-
lected a number of motivational
sayings, which he used liberally
with both his athletes and fam-
ily. Recently, his wife convinced
him to write some of the best ones
down.
One quote graces the final page:
"You never touch people so lightly
that you do not leave a trace." Of
Newt Loken, truer words were
never spoken.
"I've learned how to be a Mich-
igan man from him," said Vetere,
who competed for Michigan from
1999 to 2003. "I've learned to
always stay positive. ... I've tried
to live my life and coach like Newt
Loken would want."
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