The NCAA Men's Gymnastics Championships opened yesterday at Rec Hall, and those who were in attendance saw exciting play from all twelve teams. But by the end of the night, there were clutch performances, one stunning upset, and two solid favorites for tonight's team finals.
And of course there was great gymnastics.
Michigan's Last-Gasp Heroics
Michigan entered the last event neck and neck with Ohio State for the last spot in the team finals from Session 1. Needing a strong performance, Michigan called on senior Andrew Elkind, needing a score above 9 to propel the Wolverines into the finals. Elkind answered with a 9.050, pushing Michigan into the lead and clinching the last berth in the finals. Michigan just barely edged out No. 1 seed and conference rival Ohio State by .100 of a point.
Penn State's Floor Exercise
Nothing was more signifying of Penn State's most dominant performance to date than the floor exercise, which tied a season high with 37.350. None of the six gymnasts scored below an 8.850, and five of those six scored above 9, highlighted by Noah Shaham's 9.450, and Nick Virbitsky's 9.400.
Penn State head coach Randy Jepson simplified the success of the floor.
"We landed," Jepson said. "We haven't been good on landings all year."
Minnesota ends long finals drought
After a long drought since Minnesota reached the team finals, the Gophers snuck in the last berth in Session 2, besting California by .400 of a point.
"It's a great moment for Minnesota gymnastics," Minnesota head coach Michael Burns said. "It's been 17 years since we've been to the team finals at the NCAA championship, so it's a great day indeed."
One of the key moments came during the session when freshman Andre Berry landed a spectacular vault routine. It seemed to energize the crowd and the team, and the Gophers never looked back.
Illinois Advances
Illinois came in as the No. 8 seed this weekend, but thanks to strong performances from their team, was the surprise team to come out of Session 1. The Illini go as Wes Haagenson goes, and yesterday the junior was solid as always, but by far his best performance was a 9.650 on the floor and a 9.700 on the rings. Illinois also received a strong performance from junior Tyler Yamauchi. If Haagenson can be as good today as he was yesterday, then Illinois could be the darkhorse. It will also need strong performances from its support cast like Yamauchi and junior Michael Boyer, who set a school record in the floor exercise.
Ohio State falls in qualifier again
A third consecutive Big Ten title, a healthy Willie Ito, the stars were supposed to be aligned for Ohio State this year. And for a team which, coming in, was on such a high after winning the Big Tens and being the No. 1 seed, the end result was very disappointing. It wanted to prove last year was an aberration, instead it started a new streak: two years without a trip to the finals.
Despite the heartening news from earlier in the day, the coaches from Session 2 agreed that Ohio State not making it to the finals had no effect on their teams' performances tonight.
"Ohio State's demise did nothing to us," Burns said.
The Contenders for Tonight's Final
Before the tournament Miles Avery said that Penn State and Oklahoma were two of the favorites coming into the weekend. Both teams looked like the favorites last night, and most likely, it will come down to one of them tonight, and Jepson summed up the atmosphere expected for the final perfectly.
"It's a brand new day," Jepson said. "Nothing matters from tonight."
