2B — April 13, 2015
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SportsMonday
BY THE NUMBERS
Michigan Men’s Gymnastics
3.11
Average finish for the Michigan men’s
gymnastics team in 18 NCAA Tourna-
ments under coach Kurt Golder
1
Finish outside the top six in the nation
(in 2006, when the Wolverines did not
qualify for the NCAA Championships)
4
National championships under Golder,
including the last two seasons, once at
Crisler Center
2008
Last time Michigan finished worse
than second in the Big Ten until this
year, when it finished third
‘M’ misses three-peat
Wolverines finish
fourth behind
Oklahoma, Penn
State, Stanford
By CAROLYN KODIS
Daily Sports Writer
The third time wasn’t the
charm for the Michigan men’s
gymnastics team.
Friday
night,
the second-
ranked
Wolverines
aimed
for a three-peat as national
champions, but came up short,
landing in fourth place out of
six teams. Michigan’s final tally
was 437.650, behind eventual
champion Oklahoma, Penn State
and Stanford.
“Obviously I’m disappointed
because we didn’t perform up to
our capabilities,” said Michigan
coach Kurt Golder. “I don’t think
we were a good enough team to
get past Oklahoma. We would
have had to be perfect and they
would have had to falter in order
to get by them.”
Keeping in stride with their
last two titles, the Wolverines
went with the same event order
that had worked so well in
the past two years. Their first
rotation of the night was the
pommel horse, where senior
Adrian de los Angeles led the
way with a 15.00, followed
closely behind by junior Nolan
Novak,
who
scored
14.85.
Despite these strong efforts,
Michigan couldn’t keep up with
its competition and found itself
sixth after its first event. That
deficit proved to be too much, as
Michigan never rose higher than
fourth on the night.
The Wolverines made up for
lost points on the still rings.
With big scores from seniors Hub
Humphrey and Colin Mahar,
Michigan tallied its highest rings
score of the season with a total of
73.90. However, the Wolverines
were still in a disappointing
fifth place, and would stay there
during their best event of the
season — the vault. Despite
high scores from senior Paul
Rizkalla and sophomore Anthony
Stefanelli, their points were
not able to make up for a pair of
missed landings.
Michigan moved up to fourth
place after a strong parallel
bars
performance.
Freshman
Dmitri Belanovski made a major
contribution to the Wolverines’
fourth rotation with a 14.85.
“It’s no surprise,” Golder said.
“Dmitri is always a steady guy in
practice. I’m so impressed with
his consistency, and he’s only a
freshman.”
Michigan
ended
its
night
with an exclamation point on
floor. Senior Stacey Ervin and
Rizkalla led the way with 15.50
and 15.30, respectively. Both
exercises played a key role in
earning a season-high total of
75.60 in the event. Unfortunately
for Michigan, the scores weren’t
enough to push the Wolverines
out of fourth place.
Four gymnasts represented
Michigan the following day in
the individual event finals. Novak
and de los Angeles competed on
pommel horse, and Novak, with
a stunning 14.77, finished second
in the event.
Belanovski wowed again on
the high bar, where he tied for
third with 15.025, just 0.1 points
away from first. Also tying for
third, Ervin earned 15.575 on
floor. He, Belanovski and Novak
all earned All-American honors.
“I find it interesting,” Golder
said. “(Ervin and Belanovski)
have been roommates on the road
all season and they both end up
tying for third in their events. It’s
funny how that worked out.”
A pure coincidence between
a freshman and senior ended
the disappointing weekend on a
more positive note. And as Ervin
steps down as a team leader,
Belanovski steps in as a new star
of the team and, possibly, a sign of
things to come.
SPORTSMONDAY COLUMN
Jim Hackett’s
indefinite tenure
N
early half a year into
his indefinite tenure
as Michigan’s interim
athletic
director,
Jim Hackett
hasn’t been
very vocal
about his
stay.
One of his
only clues
as to how
long his term
will last
is that it’s
contingent on a discussion with
his wife, Kathy. He noted it
at a press conference on Nov.
22 and now, most recently, on
April 1 after a fireside chat.
Maybe he hasn’t had time to
finish that talk. After all, he has
been busy hiring a new football
coach and working to revitalize
the fan and player experience
at football games. But there’s
something disconcerting about
one discussion impacting the
athletic department’s future.
It’s considerate that Jim
Hackett is taking on such a
big responsibility with his
partner. He hasn’t been more
transparent about his stay since
expressing that sentiment,
though, as the athletic year
comes to an end with work still
to be done.
Because as well as Hackett
has handled everything,
you, the fan of Michigan
athletics, should be aware of
the impact of his tenure on the
greater vision of the Athletic
Department — the things that
don’t relate to Jim Harbaugh.
Jim Hackett says he won’t
think of his term as a matter
of time; he says it’s about
accomplishing his priorities
before he figures out his
future. That’s a nice policy for
building a house or cooking
for your housemates, but
not so much for the athletic
director of a program that saw
fans protest at the University
President’s house just half a
year ago.
He has received praise from
fans for his work with the team,
but before you get too excited,
consider that his interim tag
could create problems on the
execution of that vision.
During Dave Brandon’s
tenure, the University’s Board
of Regents announced an
initiative to expand and revamp
its athletic campus for smaller
sports. Part of it, including
offices and facilities for field
hockey, softball and both
basketball teams, was already
completed before Hackett
started on Oct. 31.
The proposed renovations
would impact two-thirds of
Michigan’s 27 athletic teams,
including the construction
of a new track and new
rowing facility as well as
the expansion of Canham
Natatorium and Cliff Keen
Arena. You can still see the
effort to bring in donations,
which is a hefty, long-term
project that features teams of
associates spread out across
the country. Those teams
need someone to commit to
seeing them through, which
can be made easier by setting a
timetable.
The funding for the project
is a task in itself, and it requires
the help from donors, people
like Stephen M. Ross. Last
year, Ross donated $100
million to the athletic campus,
in part because of his close
relationship with Brandon —
he told The Detroit News in
a report published Thursday
that he was in favor of Brandon
staying.
Ross told the paper,
“Michigan now needs to hire
the next athletic director
because Jim is the interim
one. That’s what everybody
is expecting, and you can see
what happens when people
don’t agree with something at
Michigan.” If the biggest donor
to the athletic department, the
one who the athletic campus
is named after, is expecting
a new athletic director, then
it’s important to clarify his
intentions for others.
Many people are already on
board with what’s done, but
it isn’t made easier when he
hasn’t set a timetable for how
long he’ll be around. It might
be tough to convince a donor to
give money when they have no
idea how long he’ll be around to
utilize it.
And how does he build
the relationship between the
administration, including a
president that still has little
experience in athletics, to
trust bigger decisions about
the expansion of facilities or
fundraising efforts? It might
be tough to approve something
knowing the athletic director
might be out to see the project
through.
Hackett has already worked
to bring back the tradition in
the football program, letting
Jim Harbaugh make the calls
on music played at the Big
House or even the color of the
cleats. These things please
donors, because they’re a
return to some of the program’s
core values, but how much
more can Hackett finish before
time is up?
Music and cleats are quick
fixes. Athletic facilities and
stability are long-term projects
that become more important in
the grand scheme of things.
If he were to leave now, then
the department would already
be set back to rebuilding
relationships with coaches
and players again. But being
transparent about his stay is
helpful in picking the next
leader. Then the replacement
process doesn’t have to be
rushed.
Maybe that person is
Hackett, who has filled in
admirably. But the athletic year
is coming to an end, and you
don’t know what’s coming next
because you don’t know how
long the leader will be there.
And if he does know more, you
don’t know what it is because
he hasn’t shared.
There’s no harm in setting
a timetable for everyone. But
what’s the benefit to keeping
his tenure a mystery?
As head of one of the biggest
branches of the University,
Hackett has managed things
as well as he could have been
asked. Imagine how much
more he could do with one
discussion.
Garno can reached at
ggarno@umich.edu or on
Twitter: @G_Garno.
ZACH MOORE/Daily
Dmitri Belanovski earned All-American honors as a freshman Saturday.
GREG
GARNO
women’s boxing, though, and
without connections in the sport,
Johnson was unable to find a foe.
She finally booked her first fight
during her junior year — without
telling her parents until after,
when she told them she won.
“We said, ‘If you’re gonna do
something, put everything you
have into it,’ and she has,” Sandy
Johnson said. “After, when we
see the film, we know that she’s
won. That makes it a lot easier.”
Friday, Sandy and Ed Johnson
watched their daughter box in
person for the first time at the
Intramural
Sports
Building,
which hosted the USIBA College
National Championships.
And Johnson got all she could
handle early from her opponent,
Army’s Gaby Barrera-Gutierrez.
Barrera-Gutierrez came out
with a series of frantic punches,
looking to wear down Johnson.
But Johnson, who, according to
her father, runs eight to 10 miles
per day, withstood the flurry. She
stood her ground and went into
the first break looking confident,
while Gutierrez looked already
fatigued.
Normally, Johnson said, she
respects her opponents so much
that she doesn’t hold grudges
during or after a match. This one
was different, though.
Johnson
was
actually
supposed
to
fight
Barrera-
Gutierrez on Thursday, leaving
her open for a different match
Friday and an appearance at
the Golden Gloves tournament
in Detroit on Saturday. But
Gutierrez didn’t arrive at the
tournament,
delaying
their
match to Friday and forcing her
to choose between Golden Gloves
and another USIBA fight.
“I was mad at her,” Johnson
said.
In
the
second
round,
Johnson used that anger as fuel
and
capitalized
on
Barrera-
Gutierrez’s exhaustion. Taking
control of the pace, she landed
combo blows and jabs to the
side of Barrera-Gutierrez’s head,
leading to a standing eight count
just before the second bell.
With her winning formula
already established, she backed
Gutierrez into the ropes at the
start of the third round. Pushing
her along the edge of the ring,
Johnson landed a series of
combos to the body and head,
relentlessly exploiting openings
until the referee called the match.
“I realized she had a pause
when she was swinging when
she was tired,” Johnson said. “I
figured she probably couldn’t
take hard punches. So that’s what
I tried to do — just clean, hard
shots.”
Outwardly unassuming and
modest, Johnson is a tactician
in the ring, strategizing while
dodging open fists and ducking
closed ones.
And if she seems surprisingly
proficient for a boxer with
just two years of live fighting
experience, her other role might
be even more shocking.
Since women’s boxing doesn’t
technically
have
club
sport
status at the University, Johnson
also serves as one of the team’s
volunteer coaches. When she
wasn’t fighting, she was ringside,
cheering the other Michigan
women to the team title.
Five Wolverine women won
individual titles over the weekend,
knocking
two-time
defending
champion Army from its pedestal
in resounding fashion.
And it’s no wonder why they
were able to rise to such heights
so
fast.
Johnson’s
workout
routine is so intense that a SWAT
team once trained with her and,
as first reported by WCBN, it
was so intense that some of the
members threw up from it.
The small, redheaded senior
helped build the program to a
national title contender, even
without school funding or a
full coaching staff, which the
Michigan men have. Next year,
even
though
she
will
have
graduated, she hopes it will
finally get some of the same
advantages the men do.
Johnson will hit her head on a
brick wall if that’s what it takes.
Maybe five individual titles and
a team national championship
will do the trick instead. It
might save the brick wall some
embarrassment.
JOHNSON
From Page 1B
ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
Kate Johnson is a volunteer coach as well as an individual national champion.