The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1537777
2024-25 YEAR IN REVIEW BEST INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCES OF THE YEAR MALE SPORT BEST INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR PAUL JUDA AT NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS, GYMNASTICS The night of April 19 at Crisler Center was magical, with Michigan taking home its seventh NCAA champion- ship. Juda — a Deerfield, Ill., native and one of the most accomplished student-athletes on campus — earned his third national title by winning the parallel bars with a season-high 14.200. He also finished second in the all-around (82.164). The meet came down to the Wolverines' final vault from Juda, and his victory with a 13.966 score put the team over the top. Michigan was trailing Oklahoma by 0.537 points heading into the final rotation. Before Juda's final vault, the Michigan fans gave him a boost, chanting, "Let's go, Blue!" Stone- faced knowing what was at stake, Juda stood on the mat composed before he nearly stuck a perfect landing. It was an emotional moment even before the results were announced, with Juda having un- characteristically fallen off pommel horse earlier. Juda, the individual medalist on parallel bars, joined his teammates who were anxiously awaiting his score, and the entire team and arena erupted when his 13.966 was awarded — the Wolverines narrowly edging out second-place Stanford, 332.224 to 332.061, to capture the team title. The NCAA men's gymnastics championship meet at Crisler Center came down to the Wolverines' final vault from Paul Juda with U-M trailing Oklahoma heading into the final rotation. The graduate student from Deerfield, Ill., stuck a perfect landing to help Michigan capture the team title. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN PHOTOGRAPHY Savannah Sutherland clocked a personal-best 52.46 seconds to capture the 400-meter hurdles national title for the second time in her career (2023), setting four records — the U-M program, NCAA and NCAA Championship meet and the Canadian national records. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN PHOTOGRAPHY FEMALE SPORT BEST INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR SAVANNAH SUTHERLAND AT NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS, TRACK Eugene, Ore., treated the Borden, Saskatchewan, native well in June, with Sutherland taking home the 400-meter hurdles title for the second time in her career (2023) to end the NCAA Outdoor Cham- pionships, helping the Wolverines finish tied for 26th. She led the entire race, clocking a personal-best 52.46 seconds to finish 2.20 seconds ahead of second-place runner Akala Garrett of Texas. Sutherland, a six-time first-team All-American throughout her career, set four program records, an NCAA record and NCAA Championship meet record during the event. She became only the second runner in NCAA history to break 53 seconds in the event. The previous NCAA 400-meter hurdles record was held by Kentucky's Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (52.76), who is the current reigning world champion and 2024 Olympic gold medalist. COACHES OF THE YEAR MALE SPORT COACH OF THE YEAR YUAN XIAO, GYMNASTICS It was another successful season for the men's gymnastics team, with the group winning its fifth consecutive Big Ten championship and seventh-ever NCAA title. Xiao was unsurprisingly tabbed as the Big Ten Coach of the Year for the fourth consecutive season, mentoring seven Wolverines who combined for 17 All-America honors and two Big Ten and NCAA individual titles. He was also named national Coach of the Year by the College Gymnastics Association. Michigan's national championship was its first since 2014, with the Wolverines scoring a 332.224 in the team finals hosted in Ann Arbor. Fred Richard won the all-around title, and Paul Juda finished first in the parallel bars. The Wolverines have been in the top five in the NCAAs each of the last eight seasons. Xiao wrapped up his fourth season as the U-M head coach and 20th with the program. Yuan Xiao concluded his fourth season as head coach and 20th overall at Michigan by guiding the Wolverines men's gymnastics program to the NCAA championship and its fifth consecutive Big Ten title. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN PHOTOGRAPHY 32 THE WOLVERINE ❱ AUGUST 2025