Coming into the season, the Michigan men’s gymnastics team was ranked second in the nation. But a slow start saw the Wolverines fall to Illinois in January, and then Penn State last week.
So, by defeating the 2nd-ranked Fighting Illini on Saturday, No. 7 Michigan reminded the gymnastics world, and itself, what it’s capable of.
“We’ve had this plan for months and months now,” junior Fred Richard said. “We’re gonna train. We’re gonna wait till it works. And yes, it doesn’t always work. The first couple meets are rough. But as guys get better and more used to it, they all start to show.”
And against Illinois, show they did. In particular, the Wolverines put up the nation’s top team performances on both floor exercise and parallel bars en route to soundly taking down the Illini.
Michigan kicked off the meet with a 55.300 on floor. This score was nearly two points higher than the team’s previous high, which came in its defeat to the Nittany Lions and continued an overall upward trajectory for floor scores on the season.
On the apparatus, sophomore Jake Islam stuck every landing, putting up a 13.950, his highest score of the season by .650. Next, freshman Solen Chiodi finished his routing with a double pike, good for a 13.800, his highest career score by more than a full point.
“We had a lot of great areas today,” Wolverines coach Yuan Xiao said. “Like Jake on floor. He stuck every single pass, which is a phenomenal performance.”
Richard followed with a 14.200, a score that included the highest difficulty on the event. Even sophomore Charlie Larson, who fell on his second passage, recovered to be just .250 off Illinois’ top score of 13.500. Coming off the first rotation, Michigan led the Illini by nearly 3.5 points.
“It’s huge, especially the first event,” graduate Evgeny Siminiuc said. “Earlier on in the season, we were struggling a little bit with that, and today, just having everyone here on the floor, trusting each other and building confidence paid off.”
The Wolverines’ top performances didn’t stop there, posting a 56.900 on parallel bars. Siminiuc began the event for Michigan, where the three-time NCAA All-American in the event posted a 13.900 capped off by a front double-front. The score, more than three-tenths higher than any from Illinois, would still be the Wolverines’ lowest.
Richard followed Siminiuc by sticking the landing for a 14.450, a score that would have been the highest nationally coming into the meet. Senior Logan McKeown stuck a landing of his own for a 14.550, clinching the highest score of any NCAA parallel bars individual routine — and team performance — this season.
“It’s fun,” Richard said. “All the training, the hard work in the gym, finally pays off in the moment. And then you stick the dismount, you hear the energy. You get hype for the crowd.”
After the scores were tallied, Michigan took the rotation handily, outscoring the Illini again by nearly 3.5 points.
The Wolverines’ national-best scores on floor and parallel bars propelled them to a near seven-point victory, and displayed the top-end talent Michigan’s season does, and will continue to rely on.
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