The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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NCAAS: MEN'S GYMNASTICS the most difficult event to hit con‑ sistently. Michigan head coach Kurt Golder and his team knew if they could start fast on pommel horse, on which the Wolverines are uncom‑ monly strong, it could pay big divi‑ dends during the rest of the meet. Michigan nailed it, with all five participants scoring at least 14.75, including a monster 15.6 from Miku‑ lak. The Wolverines posted the high‑ est pommel horse score of the event (75.10) and were atop the overall team standings after the first rotation — a lead they never surrendered. "I have a lot of confidence in this team," Golder said. "That is actually our most consistent event, and that is very rare. If you go out and start out on pommel horse and you hit, it takes the pressure off a lot. "They were as high as can be after pommel horse. They were anxious to go. We had the hardest event behind us, and we were roaring to go. They were really pumped." Through the next three rotations — rings, vault and parallel bars — Michigan built an almost four‑point lead over Oklahoma, and Mikulak was in control of the all‑around standings. On high bar, though, Mikulak went into a Kolman, which involves a full release from the bar, two back flips and a full twist. His feet dipped too far on the way up, sending him spi‑ raling into the air and crashing down to the mat below. It was the first time Mikulak had missed the Kolman in more than two months. With the fall, Mikulak posted a 13.35 on the high bar, tying for 37th out 42 gymnasts on the event at the meet. "My only thought was just finish the routine," Mikulak said. "Mis‑ takes happen, but I knew our team was strong enough that it wouldn't hinder the result very much. We still came out champions. "I feel good about it still. It gave me a little motivation for floor. I had to go out and stick everything there, and I was happy with that." The Wolverines' overall lead had been sliced in half, and Mikulak's all‑around title was put in jeopardy, heading into the final event: floor exercise. "Any time you see a big lead get cut in half, I know that that can evap‑ orate quickly with another mistake," Golder said. "We were evaluating and watching the scores very closely to decide whether we needed to go aggressive and needed huge scores to win, or whether to go conservative and just play it safe." Junior Hub Humphrey kicked things off with a stellar 15.15 on floor, and the Wolverines were off and run‑ ning toward another national title. With just two routines to go, from junior Stacey Ervin (who competed on floor, parallel bars and high bar despite tearing a bicep two weeks before the meet) and Mikulak, Michi‑ gan knew the Sooners couldn't catch them. Ervin scored a 15.3 with a near‑ perfect routine, and Mikulak put up the best floor score of the meet with a 15.95.