The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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JANUARY 2022 THE WOLVERINE 55 OLYMPIC SPORTS dance will be able to take a photo with the 2021 NCAA championship banner. — Anthony Broome MEN'S GYMNASTICS MOVES FORWARD AFTER SUDDEN COACHING CHANGE There will be a new face in charge of the men's gymnastics program this season, after longtime head coach Kurt Golder announced his retirement on Nov. 29, days before the team's intrasquad meet on Dec. 4. Golder led Michigan to four NCAA championships (1999, 2010, 2013, 2014) and six Big Ten Conference titles in 25 seasons on the job. "Kurt Golder has been a positive advo- cate for the University of Michigan and the sport of men's gymnastics at a na- tional level for a long time," director of athletics Warde Manuel said in a state- ment. "We are thankful for his accom- plished service and wish him well in his next chapter." Yuan Xiao, who has been at Michigan for 17 seasons, takes over as the pro- gram's interim head coach. Graduate se- nior Cameron Bock sees a different coach- ing style, but is confident in the voice that will lead the Wolverines in 2022. "He has a bit of a different perspective coming from China and coaching some of the Olympians and national team members there," Bock said. "It is a bit more technical and intimate, but both of those coaches have great styles. They are just from different perspectives. "This year, we have a great team with a lot of depth and many new guys. A good amount of the meets, especially the lower-stakes competitions, I will prob- ably take a back seat and let the new guys get some of that experience." Despite the changes, both expected and unexpected, that occurred, Bock feels good that the infrastructure in place will help Michigan defend its 2021 Big Ten championship. "It's good," he said. "Having Kurt retire so suddenly threw us for a little bit of a loop. The design of our program, this team and the systems that we have in , are pretty solid. We just took the hit and are keeping it rolling. We are going into the season feeling pretty strong." Men's gymnastics kicks off its 2022 season on Jan. 8 at home when it hosts Northern Illinois at 1 p.m. ET. — Anthony Broome TRACK AND FIELD LOOKS TO KEEP CLIMBING BIG TEN LADDER The track and field program is under new control with Kevin Sullivan, who was elevated to director of the combined men's and women's programs and cross country. He was elevated from the po- sition of cross country head coach and assistant track and field coach by director of athletics Warde Manuel this summer. "I think overall we're excited about both the men's and women's programs," Sul- livan said. "We are coming off the back of successful years in both programs. "For the men, we have a couple of gaps in areas that we didn't necessarily expect [due to the leadership change], but that will hopefully get rectified as we move closer to next year. Even so, we have still got a pretty strong men's team with really good athletes that are going to compete well for us at the conference and national level." "On the women's side, I think we're com- ing off of an extremely strong year. We were second place indoors and fourth place outdoors [in the Big Ten]. We've added some really exciting freshmen that will continue to elevate our team to another level, and that's going to give us a competitive opportunity in the confer- ence. It is hard to put a prediction on that, but I'm confident that we can hold our own with any team in the Big Ten on the women's side." The men's program will be led by a pair of All-America distance runners, sixth- Maize & Blue Highlights Women's Basketball After getting blown out 70-48 at No. 10 Louisville Dec. 2, the Wolverines bounced back to win four straight games, including a pair of victories — 93-81 over Wisconsin and 73-61 over Min- nesota — to begin Big Ten play … The fourth victory came via a 74-68 decision in overtime over No. 5 Baylor at the Basketball Hall of Fame Women's Showcase Dec. 19, and included senior guard Leigha Brown scoring 25 points … That is the program's first-ever win over an AP top-five team and served as revenge af- ter the Bears eliminated U-M from last year's NCAA Tournament. Men's Swimming And Diving Michigan had 11 individuals meet NCAA qualifying standards at the Minnesota Invitational Dec. 4, a non-scoring event … U-M's 400-yard freestyle relay earned the 'A' cut with a 2:50.44 time, which checked in fourth place … Fifth-year senior Ross Todd clocked a 435.70 in the men's platform dive, which was nearly 95 full points ahead of second place and was good for an NCAA Zone Diving qualifying score. Women's Swimming And Diving Senior Maggie MacNeil, who won three medals in Tokyo over the summer including the gold medal in the 100-meter but- terfly while swimming for Canada, swept her individual events in the Minnesota Invitational Dec. 4 (50-yard freestyle, 100-yard butterfly and 100-yard freestyle) … Her 100-yard freestyle time of 47.17 seconds was the best in the NCAA this season … She punched her ticket to the NCAA Championships with 'A' times in all three individual events, plus the 100-yard backstroke (50.33) as part of the 400-yard medley relay and for four relays. Volleyball Michigan fell to MAC champion Ball State, 3-2, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Dec. 3 … The Wolverines made their 14th NCAA Tournament appearance in the last 16 years, with the berth marking the program's 20th total and 19th un- der 23rd-year head coach Mark Rosen, the winningest coach in U-M volleyball history. Wrestling U-M finished third at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational Dec. 3-4, with 94.5 points and six total placewinners, led by redshirt freshman Dylan Ragusin's championship at 133 pounds. — Clayton Sayfie NATIONAL RANKINGS FOR U-M OLYMPIC SPORTS IN ACTION As of Dec. 17 Team Record Ranking Women's Basketball 10-1 13 Men's Gymnastics — 3 Women's Gymnastics — 1 Men's Swimming And Diving 4-0 7 Women's Swimming And Diving 4-0 3 Wrestling 3-0 3