The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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nasts to make a push for the postseason. And the plan worked incredibly well. "Going into the Big Ten Championship, my body felt like it had adjusted better to competing in the all-around," sophomore all-arounder Adrian de los Angeles said. "I have a workout plan that I follow, which is designed so we peak at the right time. I feel like it has worked out well for all of us. We peaked at Big Tens and NCAAs. It was nice." The Wolverines, less than a month removed from a blowout loss to Penn State, finished 4.85 points ahead of the Nittany Lions at the Big Ten Championships to claim the 16th conference title in program history. "Once Big Tens came around, we finally had our strongest lineup together," Mikulak said. "With the chance at a conference title, something to put us in the history books, we really wanted it. We had the desire and confidence, and that transferred to NCAAs." In the regular season, the Wolverines had scored better than 441.0 in just one meet, tallying a season-high 446.15 in a Feb. 16 dual meet against Ohio State. In the postseason, they posted a 443.85 in the NCAA prelims and a 443.2 in the finals. Michigan also saw success on an individual level. Mikulak claimed his second NCAA all-around national championship (91.15) and took event titles in parallel bars (15.5) and high bar (16.1). In the all-around competition, de los Angeles was right behind Mikulak, taking second place on the podium (88.35). It's the first time in at least 30 years that gymnasts from the same school have taken No. 1 and No. 2 in the all-around competition (records before the mid-1980s are incomplete). "It was a wave of relief," Mikulak said. "We came in and did everything we wanted. It went how we expected it would. We finally completed something we have been striving for for so long. It was like getting an A on all your finals. You just feel so accomplished. "I didn't even know I had won the all-around, because I was already so uplifted by winning the team title. That wasn't my focus. I wanted to hit all my routines for the team, and it just worked out that way." Mikulak and de los Angeles grew up together, competing at the same gym in the Los Angeles area since kindergarten. The two share a special bond — and the all-around competition brought their relationship full circle. "We're pushing each other all the time," Mikulak said. "We're always trying to catch each other. Our weaknesses are the other person's strengths. Adrian is better than me on floor and rings. And he's trying to catch up to me on high bar, and parallel bars is always a toss-up. Through each other, we're always striving for perfection." "I've always seen him as a target goal that I want to set for myself," de los Angeles added. The Wolverines have now won three of the last four all-around national championships. Chris Cameron won it in 2010. "Until four years ago, Michigan had