The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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445.050, comfortably ahead of Okla- homa (441.650), Stanford (436.300), Illinois (435.350), Ohio State (433.500) and Penn State (429.800). Mikulak wound up posting the best score of all competitors on the floor exercise (15.95), pommel horse (15.60), still rings (14.75), vault (15.30) and parallel bars (16.05), giving the Crisler crowd more than enough rea- son to exult. His 91.10 tally put him above the masses once again. But the Wolverines featured many contributors, including four-time cap- tain Caesar's fifth-place finish on the high bar and sixth-place tie in parallel bars, Ervin's tie for seventh in floor ex- ercise, a ninth-place finish by freshman Tristian Perez-Rivera on vault, and the 10th-place tie by Hunter and senior Matt Freeman on pommel horse. For Golder, the best moment came just before the final event, when the athletes take the floor to address the Best Of The Rest While Kurt Golder's back-to-back national champions in men's gymnastics proved the most luminous Michigan team from 2013-14, they weren't alone in the achievement category. Here are other men's squads certainly worthy of mention. 1. Swimming & Diving — Head coach Mike Bottom's Wolverines dominated the competition throughout the year, capturing the Big Ten championship and finishing fourth in the NCAA Championships. Michigan won the Big Ten title for the fourth straight year, led by senior captain Connor Jaeger, who churned his way to a national championship in the 1,650-yard freestyle among three NCAA All-America honors. 2. Basketball — Head coach John Beilein's Wolverines provided a stunning follow-up to their 2013 NCAA championship game appearance. Even losing two players early to the NBA and going without standout big man Mitch Mc- Gary, the Wolverines steamrolled to the Big Ten title, winning it by three games. They then stormed on to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament, bowing out only on a last-second three pointer by Kentucky in a heartbreaking loss. 3. Cross Country — Head coach Alex Gibby's crew gutted it out for a runner- up finish in the Big Ten. They also earned an NCAA Regional title, before finishing No. 21 at the NCAA Championships. Junior Mason Ferlic paced the 13th-ranked Wolverines at the national meet, finishing 22nd overall in 30:32.8, becoming Michigan's first cross country All-American since Nate Brannen in 2004. 4. Wrestling — Head coach Joe McFarland's mat men had their hands full in an always-rugged Big Ten Conference, finishing eighth among the squads in their own league. But they were strong enough to nail down a No 17 spot in the NCAAs, with some very solid individual performances. Redshirt junior Steve Dutton at 141 pounds and fifth-year senior Eric Grajales at 149 pounds each earned All-America honors. — John Borton