8 — Thursday, September 12, 2019
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

C O M M E M O R AT I N G

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2019

University of Michigan Law School, 1225 Jeffries Hall

4:10–5:30 p.m. 

Sponsored by U-M Office of the Provost

A CONVERSATION WITH 
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE 
JUSTIN AMASH

On Friday night, a similar roar of 
applause to the one that filled Temple’s 
McGonigle Hall in April 1970 bounced 
off the walls in Ann Arbor’s Glick 
Ballroom.
A room full of people crowded 
around nine round tables overlooking 
the golf course along East Stadium 
Boulevard, eyes glued to the projector 
screen. On it, the faintly-colored film 
from the day that forever solidified the 
1970 Michigan men’s gymnastics team’s 
place in history rolled. Nearly half a 
century later, players from that national 
championship team still recall April 4, 
1970 well.
Over 18 months 
of planning went 
into the reunion, 
largely facilitated by 
a committee of four 
team members — 
Ron Rapper, Murray 
Plotkin, Ray Gura and 
Ed Howard.
When the idea of 
a reunion was first 
floated, the committee 
estimated about 30 
people would come. 
The team itself 
included 27 lettermen, 
of which two have 
passed away. Just two 
still live in Michigan, 
while others have 
settled as far away 
as Colorado, Florida and Arizona. The 
proposition of every living teammate 
making the trip felt far-fetched at first, 
but after the committee put out a feeler, 
it became reality quickly.
Eighteen months later, 85 people 
packed the Glick Ballroom to celebrate 
the 50th anniversary of the team’s 
national championship. Some former 
players brought up to three generations 
of family to the dinner, while others 
traveled alone or with a spouse. 
Championship banners draped from the 
windows and the championship trophy 
sat on a table adjacent to the door as 
guests walked in.
Since 1969, the Michigan men’s 
gymnastics program is responsible 
for seven of the university’s 15 team 
national championships. Following 

the 1970 title, it took three decades for 
the program to hoist the trophy again. 
But the 1970 team’s impact on the 
perception surrounding the sport on 
campus goes far beyond a slab of iron 
with a championship inscription.
“Makes one feel as if we’ve come of 
age and are considered as one of the 
major sports on our campus,” coach 
Newt Loken wrote in his annual team 
newsletter that summer. “You men 
have elevated the sport of gymnastics 
to (what) some have declared ‘a 
fantastically beautiful sport.’ ”
***
More often than not, the 1970 
national championship felt out of 
Michigan’s reach. Eight teams qualified 
for the two-day preliminary qualifiers 
in Philadelphia, 
with the top three 
advancing to the 
finals the following 
day.
The Wolverines 
found themselves 
in fourth place 
at the close of 
the afternoon 
session. With their 
season on the line, 
they surged past 
Southern Illinois 
and Temple to 
clinch a spot in the 
next day’s field.
Just over 
24 hours later, 
Michigan needed 
more than a surge. 
It needed a miracle. 
With every routine in the books besides 
one, the Wolverines trailed Iowa State, 
the heavy favorite, by 9.3 points — a 
“lofty score” at the time, according to 
Rapper. Silence fell over McGonigle 
Hall as Howard, the last man standing, 
stepped up to the horizontal bars. With 
the pressure of an entire season on his 
shoulders, Howard delivered a career-
best 9.4.
The national championship was 
decided by one-tenth of a point — the 
scoring difference of a 
slight arm flex, a three-
degree vertical error or 
an inadvertent slight step 
on a dismount. Howard 
put the perfect bowtie 
on a 12-0 season, forever 
cementing the team 

among Michigan’s all-time best.
The Wolverines’ narrow margin 
in the championship might’ve been 
thrilling, but it wasn’t an accurate 
portrayal of how badly Michigan beat 
teams during that era. Beginning in 
1968, the team won four consecutive 
Big Ten titles, posting a 28-0 dual meet 
record across a three-year period in 
the process. The Wolverines won those 
meets by an average of five points. 
That’s the equivalent of a 31-3 win in 
football and 10-1 score in baseball, 
according to Rapper.
***
Ironically enough, the reunion began 
with a lost ring.
When trampoline champion 
Goerge Huntzicker discovered his 
championship ring was missing two 
years ago, he phoned Rapper — the 
team’s captain — to ask how to get 
a new one. These types of rings are 
hard to come by, so Rapper thought it 
was worth it to reach out to the whole 
team to see if other players lost their 
rings too. The wheels began turning 
in his head and, soon enough, the idea 
snowballed.
A long-overdue reunion was in order. 
Using the event as an opportunity to 
issue redesigned rings to the team was 
the perfect reason to bring everyone to 
the Ann Arbor. But the face of the man 
responsible for building the team was 
missing, as Loken passed away in 2011 
at the age of 92.
“Winning a championship is the 
pinnacle of college athletics,” Rapper 
said. “And for this championship, credit 
must go to our coach, Newt Loken. 
… He emphasized the importance of 
hitting your routine and instilled in us 
the pride of representing Michigan in 
the sport of gymnastics. It was Newt 
who engineered our victory. In what is 
traditionally an individually-focused 
sport, this team victory was very 
special.”
Added Plotkin: “(Loken) knew how 
to make things happen. He knew how to 
say things in a way that made you want 
to stretch yourself.”

When Michigan granted varsity 
status to its men’s gymnastics team in 
1947, Loken was named the program’s 
first coach. From there, the program 
was off and running. As a 1941 national 
high bar and all-around champion at 
Minnesota, he had the perfect pedigree 
to shape and lead an elite program. 
He remained at the helm for 36 years, 
compiling a 250-72-1 career record 
while winning a pair of NCAA titles 
and overseeing 71 Big Ten individual 
event championships.
Plotkin graduated in 1972 but 
remained in Ann Arbor to complete his 
master’s degree. Loken, nearing the 
end of his career, made Plotkin his first 
assistant coach. To this day, he raves 
about how lucky he was to have the 

dual perspective of both playing and 
working for Loken.
Loken’s death in 2011 marked the 
end of an era in men’s gymnastics. Even 
after retiring from coaching, he didn’t 
miss a single home meet for 61 years. In 
fact, once Loken retired, his successor 
named an award for best individual 
performance at each home meet after 
him. Loken presented the award, a 
certificate which quickly became one 
of the program’s highest honors, until 
2010.
“(Loken) was 
unlike nearly 
every other coach 
who has reached 
legendary 
status in his or 

her sport,” wrote former Daily sports 
editor Colt Rosensweig, author of 
the biography “Newt: The Father of 
Michigan Men’s Gymnastics.” “Instead 
of barking orders like a drill sergeant, 
Newt resembled a kindly father. His 
unflagging optimism and constant 
encouragement — not to mention his 
excellent technical skills — motivated 
his gymnasts more than a good chewing 
out ever could.”
***
The program fell out of contention 
after Loken retired, posting eight 
straight losing seasons during the 
decade prior to current coach Kurt 
Golder’s hiring in 1997. While the 
Wolverines suffered through their 
winless 1996 season, Golder served as 
the top assistant at Iowa — a program 
trending in the opposite direction. With 
little ambition to become a head coach 
at the time, Golder was content.
That is, until Loken called him. The 
next day, Loken called again. And again. 
He wouldn’t take no for an answer.
Ultimately, Golder accepted the 
job — a testament to Loken and his 
legacy. It only took Golder three years 
to transform a winless team into a 
national champion. The program 
hasn’t looked back, winning three more 
national titles since.
***
As the guests dined on salads, 
roasted Yukon potatoes and pecan 
crusted chicken, Rapper approached 
the podium. Rapper’s grandson, an 
aspiring gymnast himself, was one of 
the 85 pairs of eyes on the front of the 
room. Loken’s children sat at the front 
table, while Plotkin’s grandchildren 
played with a ball in the back of the 
room.
Beyond the applause that 
accompanied Howard’s now-legendary 
9.4, three generations of admiration, 
chatter and pride brought an equal 
presence to the room. And the bond 
shared amongst the 1970 teammates 
proved to be as strong as ever.
“It’s great to get the band back 
together,” Rapper said. “There’s 
something to be said about the athletic 
bond that ties together members of an 
athletic team. The bond is particularly 
strong that brings together an NCAA 
championship team.”
Now, they have new rings to show 
for it.

DANIEL DASH
Daily Sports Writer

You men have 
elevated the sport of 
gymnastics to (what) 
some have declared “a 
fantastically beautiful 
sport.”

(Loken) knew how to 
make things happen. 
He knew how to say 
things in a way that 
made you want to 
stretch yourself.

50 years later, title team celebrates reunion

