The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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team that can make it happen. "If we can go without Stacy and win by seven points, it's a real good indicator to me that we're in good shape. We're right where we want to be." They stayed that way, when the best of the best descended upon Crisler Center in April. Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, Illinois, Stan- ford and Oklahoma came in with the top crews nationally, and the Wol- verines were very familiar with the majority of them. They took control from the begin- ning, and despite a scary moment or two, never let go. "We started with pommel horse, which is typically a low-scoring event and the most difficult one to get everybody to hit on," Golder noted. "When we were in first place after that event, I said, 'We're in re- ally good shape. We just have to con- tinue what we're doing right now.'" The continuation wasn't seamless. Mikulak, the three-time NCAA all- around champion, two-time NCAA high-bar champ, and 17-time All- American, fell off the high bar, in the next-to-last event. So did junior Nick Hunter. Suddenly, a big lead shrank like a grape on hot pavement. "Every score counts, so our lead quickly evaporated," Golder noted. "It went from very comfortable to uncomfortable. We were scrambling a little bit as coaches, to try to ana- lyze whether we need a huge score from the guys and they needed to do their most difficult routines, or whether we just need hits and to pro- tect our lead. We ended up going for it, and not playing it conservative. It worked out really well." They went for it and got it, fin- ishing with a title-winning total of Men's gymnastics head coach Kurt Golder has led the Wolverines to national titles in 1999, 2010, 2013 and 2014, and only two coaches in Michigan history — swimming coach Matt Mann (13) and football's Fielding H. Yost (six) — have won more championships at U-M. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS