The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Tuesday, April 20, 2010 - 5B
The Game was good,
a but OSU was better
MARISSA MCCLAIN/Daily
Michigan men's gymnastics coach Kurt Golder accepts the NCAA Championship trophy after the Wolverines took home the title last Friday night,
A' 9wins first AA title since t99
April 19, 2010 - WEST POINT, a score 88.90. allowed the Wolverines to rematn bar set, McCarthy said "Every-
New York - After four hours of
competition and six rotations of
events, the No. 3 Michigan men's
gymnastics team was leading the
NCAA Championship finals by .3
points over Stanford.
And the Wolverines wouldn't
need much more than that on Friday
night, as the men's gymnastics team
took home the program's fourth
national title and Michigan's first
team varsity national championship
since 2005. In the process, the team
avenged last year's 1.3-point cham-
pionship loss to Stanford.
Leading the way for Michigan
was junior Chris Cameron. He was
selected as the Big Ten Gymnast of
the Year two weeks ago and won
the all-around competition at Big
Tens. So winning this year's NCAA
all-around victory came as no sur-
prise to spectators in Crisler Arena.
Cameron posted a total score of
90.5, which was good enough to
upend the defending champ from
Oklahoma - Steve Legendre - by
1.55 points. Senior Mel Santander
placed third in the all-around with
"I usually grasp everything I've
done right away," Cameron said.
"Not this. This hasn't hit me yet."
Michigan coach Kurt Golder
said afterward that he thought the
experience of coming up just short
last season helped the Wolverines.
"Finishing second last year gave
us a lot of incentive," Golder said.
"They had a team meeting last year
after the NCAA Championships,
and they made a commitment to do
everything in their power to win
it. It's just great for all of us that it
worked out."
In the team's losses this year, the
pommel horse and the fifth rota-
tion were weak spots for Michigan.
These routines were plagued with
mistakes and falls. With a score of
58.85 on the pommel horse and a
meet-high 59.50 on the rings dur-
ing the fifth rotation, victory was
almost assured for the Wolverines.
Placing first on Thursday
allowed Michigan to choose its
starting event on Friday.
Knowing they would end on the
highest-scoring event - vault -
confident, despite trailing Stanford
the entire meet. Going into the last
event, Michigan was down by 3.05
points. After scoring a 62.70 on
vault, they looked sure to win.
But it wasn't over. Due to a bro-
ken ring, anybody who fell on their
dismount on the rings was given a
second chance to compete.
Oklahoma was a full three points
behind Michigan at this point, so
the likelihood of them catching up
was slim to none, even with two
competitors left. And as it turned
out, junior Thomas Kelley was able
to compete again, increasing Mich-
igan's score, and sealing the deal for
the national championship.
The top eight scorers in each
event Friday were crowned All-
Americans and went on to compete
for individual event titles on Satur-
day. Redshirt senior Kent Caldwell
was named All-American on the
floor exercise and vault and redshirt
senior Ryan McCarthy won the only
event title for Michigan on high bar.
"I had to focus on making sure
that I was aggressive on my high
thing came into place after that. I
caught my release move, did a good
dismount, and a clean landing."
Following McCarthy on the high
bar, junior Ian Makowske placed
second and Santander tied for third.
Santander and junior Thomas
Kelley placed second and fifth on
the parallel bars. Cameron and
McCarthy were also All-American
on the parallel bars, tying for sev-
enth.
Though the season is over, some
Wolverines are not done yet.
Golder and freshman Rohan
Sebastian left immediately after
that meet to travel to England for
the European championships as
coach and participant of the Irish
national team. Cameron will be
traveling to Australia for the Pacific
Rim Championships for the U.S.
national team.
As the Wolverines hoisted the
national championship trophy at
the conclusion of the meet, they
began to chant: "It's great to be a
Michigan Wolverine."
- MICHAEL LAURILA
ome way, somehow, The dale, Ariz. right then and there.
Game lived up to all of the And they certainly had their
hype. chances. Michigan was the
The two teams that met in the beneficiary of three Ohio State
newly sodded Ohio Stadium were turnovers - which were all pretty
clearly the top two squads in the much flukes, too.
nation. When a team recovers two
Michigan and Ohio State fumbled snaps and its 331-pound
fought until the very end, with lineman intercepts a pass 10 yards
the Wolverines exchanging blow down the field, that's usually a
after blow sign that things are going itsway.
with the Despite the good breaks that
nation's top- SCOTT went the Wolverines' way, they
ranked team. BELL still couldn't topple the Buckeyes.
But as clear On Football But, a three-point game is a
as it was that three-pointgame, and anyone
the two were who doesn't think the Wolverines
the cream of the NCAA crop, it are the second best team in the
was even more transparent who nation is wrong. It's that simple.
the better of those teams was. Let's size up the competition:
Scarlet-and-gray clad students Southern Cal? Sorry, losses to
walked away after storming the Oregon State aren't exactly what
field with much, much more than define champions these days.
just the 10-yard chunks of grass Notre Dame? A certain 26-point
they grabbed in the post-game loss at the hands of Michigan pops
celebration. into mind. Florida? Auburn's been
There was a trip to the Nation- dominated at home twice, and it
al Championship game, just one still managed to beat you. Tough
of the many incentives on the line break, guys. Arkansas?
Saturday afternoon. There were You know where this is going,
bragging rights, something the you lost to Southern Cal by 36,
Buckeyes have claimed for nearly be glad your players didn't quit
the entire Jim Tressel era. The after that joke of a showing. Boise
Buckeye coach now holds a 5-1 State? Try playing a school with a
advantage over Michigan. name I can pronounce.
And of course, there were the Suddenly a three-point loss
other prizes on the line. When on the road against the nation's
you factor in a Big Ten title and a top team doesn't look too bad
Heisman trophy for quarterback anymore. But the BCS isn't that
Troy Smith, I'd say the Buckeye simple.
faithful left their stadium with a Some people think that a
little more than just large patches rematch is bad for college foot-
of sod. ball. Why should Michigan get
Michigan? Well, they left a second chance atcthe Buckeyes
Columbus with the dubious task of after losing to them at the end of
having to play the waiting game. the season?
Michigan coach Lloyd Carr Wolverine fans will argue that
played it coy and quarterback the game was atthe Horseshoe,
Chad Henne and LaMarr Wood- and thatthe true test of who is
ley were both relativelytight- better could be determined on a
lipped about the situation. neutral field. That maybe true,
Then there was Mike Hart. but the players aren'tcbuying that
"You know, it hurts," Hart said excuse.
at the beginning of his post-game "They played on their home
press conference. "You want to turf, the crowd energizes them,"
beat Ohio State. It hurts." Hart said. "That's no excuse.
He may not have to wait for We can win here, we can win at
next year, though. After his com- home."
ment, he was asked about the And then there's the tough sub-
prospect of a rematch. ject of Bo.
"Do I think there should be a On Friday, the Michigan foot-
rematch? Probably," Hart said. "I ball family lost legendary coach
think we're both the top teams in Bo Schembecher.
the country, regardless of what "I told our team we weren't
anybody says. going to use Bo and his passing
"On a neutral site, it would be a away as a motivational deal,"
big game." Carr said.
Would it be any different "That would have beento dis-
though? Ohio State was in control honor him."
of most of the game, and most There were six touchdown
agreed the three-point Buckeye passes on Saturday - exactly one
margin of victory was a bit mis- less than were scored during
leading. the ten games playedbetween
"I guarantee if we playthem ground-game aficionados Bo and
again it would be a whole different Woody during the peak of the
game," Hart said matter-of-factly. Michigan-Ohio State rivalry.
"We should have got them the first And the 42 points Michigan
time around. We didn't. So if it allowed certainly weren't Bo-like
doesn't happen, that's our faults." - in 21 years of coaching at Michi-
And he could be right. Michi- gan, Bo never had asteam that
gan is still in the National Cham- allowed 42 points.
pionship hunt despite its loss. But the BCS isn't Bo-like,
Michigan is No. 2 in the AP either. It's the farthest thing from
poll and No. 3 in the ESPN/USA old school you can get, and Bo
Today poll. was the epitome of old school.
Most importantly, the Wolver- After losing on Saturday, the
ines held onto their No. 2 spot in Wolverines are left doing one
the BCS rankings. final thing that isn't Bo-like:
But on Saturday, they could Crossing their fingers in hopes
have skipped the waiting game that they aren't Rose Bowl bound.
and booked their tickets to Glen- - NOVEMBER 20,2006
Icers magical postseason run ends early
'M' loses to Miami
(Ohio) in second
! round of the NCAA
Tournament
March 29, 2010 - FORT
WAYNE, Ind. - EnricoBlasi looked
onward from high atop Allen Coun-
ty War Memorial Coliseum on Sat-
urday night.
Blasilooked relaxed,sittinginthe
last row, leaning back with his legs
draped over the seat in front of him.
Perched so high after his team's
win over Alabama-Huntsville, the
Miami (Ohio) coach watched the
beginning of the Michigan hockey
team's 5-1 dismantling of the No. 2
seed Bemidji State in the first round
of the NCAA Tournament.
The Wolverines' speed and pre-
cision methodically took advan-
tage of the Beaver's mistakes - just
like they did a week earlier against
Miami in the CCHA Tournament.
Michigan hockey coach Red
Berenson told Blasi on Friday that
the Wolverines did everything
they could in the two teams' CCHA
semifinal matchup last weekend
- which Michigan won 5-2 - to
help the RedHawks prepare for the
NCAA Tournament.
Maybe it was too much prepara-
tion, as the Wolverines lost 3-2 in
double overtime Sunday night.
It was a bittersweet ending to a
Cinderella run for the Wolverines,
who had won seven straight games
in March, entering Sunday, which
propelled them into the NCAA
Tournament and past Bemidji State
in the first round.
It was even more remarkable
considering Michigan had been the
lower seed in the past five contests.
Michigan (26-18-1 overall) and
Miami had already played each
other three times this season and
the play was as even as it could be
throughout the NCAA Midwest
regional final game.
Each team was feeling the other
out, with quick jabs here and there,
as junior goaltender Shawn Hun-
wick and the RedHawks' sopho-
more goalie Connor Knapp seemed
to try to outdo each other.
But the save Hunwick couldn't
make made the difference.
Miami (29-7-7) carried the play
for most of the third period with
the score dead even at 2-2.
The RedHawks watched a puck
that bounced over Hunwick's left
shoulder clang off the post with
three minutes left in the game.
Then, less than three minutes
into the first overtime, a referee
blew a play dead for a penalty on
Miami right before freshman for-
ward Kevin Lynch knocked home a
loose puck.
"I thought it was a goal," senior
defenseman Steve Kampfer said.
"We were all jumping up and down
on the bench. I don't know.
"Right there and then you get the
momentum, they're down and out."
The Wolverines picked up their
intensity in the first overtime while
it seemed that Miami was playing
more timidly, as Michigan outshot
the RedHawks 20-6.
The game was scoreless for near-
ly 60 minutes after Miami knotted
the game at the beginning of the
ARItL BOND/Daily
Senior forward Brian Lebler consoles goaltender Shawn Hunwick after Miami
(Ohio) scored early into double overtime to win the Midwest regional.
second period. That is, until a puck
trickled under Hunwick's pads.
"I think this (game) hurts the
most," Kampfer said. "On a stand-
point of we weren't supposed to be
here, we had a great run going."
Michigan scored five goals on
the CCHA Player of the Year, soph-
omore goaltender Cody Reichard,
when the teams met at Joe Louis
Arena on March 20.
Sunday night, Blasi decided to go
with Knapp and the netminder val-
idated his coach's decision, making
55 saves.
"You're so close," Berenson said.
"If we would have gotten (to the
Frozen Four), this team was really
making believers out of everyone
that two months ago wouldn't have
given us hope in heck of making a
Ford Field, Frozen Four appear-
ance. This would've been great."
And the Wolverines went toe to
toe with the No. 1 seed in the entire
NCAA Tournament Sunday for 82
minutes.
"It's a fine line between winning
(and losing)," Berenson said. "I don't
even feel like we lost. I feel so good
about our team and what they've
accomplished..... The thing I like
about this team was that they really
came together. There was no indi-
vidual agendas. There was no one
worried about the wrong things.
"Everybody was for the team.
And that had to be a great feeling
for these guys in the locker room."
- TIMROHAN'
Blue grabs NCAA Tournament berth for first time in 11 years
March 16, 2009 - The Michigan
faithful waited more than 4,000
days and watched more than 300
games in preparation for a day like
Sunday.
And judging by the turnout at
Crisler Arena, it was worth it.
For the first time since 1998, the
Michigan men's basketball team
has earned an NCAA Tournament
bid. CBS announced Sunday night
that No. 10 Michigan would face
No. 7 Clemson in the South Region-
al in Kansas City.
If the Wolverines win, they will
face the winner of No. 2 Oklahoma
and No. 15 seed Morgan State.
"I knew that the country wants
to see the block 'M' back at the
dance," MichiganAthletic Director
Bill Martin said.
The Wolverines have played
their best basketball this season
with their backs against the wall.
Michigan was the 61st team to
have its name called Sunday, which
put the team through the grinder
yet again.
"It wasvery appropriate because
that kind of sums up our season,"
fifth-year senior C.J. Lee said.
When studio host Greg Gumbel
finally said 'Michigan' on the CBS
telecast, it was to the tune of hun-
dreds of screaming fans who filled
the lower bowl on the east side of
Crisler Arena.
Michigan coach John Beilein
addressed the crowd after the
show.
"I don't even know because of
all the excitement, where are we
going?" Beilein asked.
Michigan waited more than a
half hour to hear its name called
- not an easy task for players or
coaches.
"I was so nervous," fifth-year
senior co-captain David Merritt
said. "My stomach was turning
over just to think that there was a
chance we wouldn't make it.
"Luckily and thank God that our
name came up as a10 (seed)."
Assistant coach Mike Jackson
was also feeling the pressure.
"I told Coach (John) Mahoney
after the second (regional) that
we were probably going to be in
the last group, not really believing
it, but ji
myself o
The
"I]
cot
the
a
full a h
tion sho
dropper
floor st
the bro
ust kind of trying to psych an interview with CBS 15 minutes
aut," Jackson said. before the start of the selection
lower bowl was mostly show, he had to cover his right ear
because the Crisler crowd was so
loud.
knew that the "We were hugging so many
people," Beilein said. "I don't know
Untry wants... if I saw the looks on (the players')
faces.
block 'M' back "There was a lot of joy in the
t thedance." room. There was a lot of passion
out there."
The selection is the program's
21st all-time NCAA Tournament
appearance.
alf hour before the selec- The Wolverines' strong RPI
)w, and the Jumbotron was (44) and strength of schedule (11)
d to about 10 feet from the were key to earning a bid.
fans could easily watch Nonconference wins over Duke
iadcast. When Beilein did and UCLA and Big Ten wins
against Illinois, Purdue and twice
against Minnesota, all teams that
made the tournament, also helped
Michigan's cause.
Despite sitting on the bubble for
the past few weeks, the Wolverines
essentially locked a bid after top-
ping Iowa 73-45 in the first round
of the Big Ten Tournament on
Thursday.
Even after dropping its quar-
terfinal matchup against Illinois,
Merritt was confident that Michi-
gan had done enough to earn a bid.
Although Beilein said making
the tournament with the Wolver-
ines is ahead of his initial rebuild-
ing process, both the team and fans
appear ready.
-ALEX PROSPERI