They're coming home.
After finishing last week's Windy City Invitational eighth out of 12 teams, the Michigan men's gymnastics team is preparing to hold its first intercollegiate home meet of the season.
The dual contest between Michigan and Illinois will take place Sunday at 1 p.m. at Cliff Keen Arena.
Senior co-captain Jason MacDonald is looking forward to Sunday's matchup, noting that Illinois - which landed second place in the Windy City Invitational - will offer some much needed, intense competition.
"Now is the time for us to hone in on what we need to do," he said. "We need to compete against good teams now to help us better prepare for the more intense meets down the road."
And if the Fighting Illini perform like they did in Chicago last week, the Wolverines will have their work cut out for them.
Michigan student coach Chris Onuska, who competed for the Wolverines for four years before becoming a coach, said that Illinois' all-arounders Greg McGlaun and Yuval Ayalon will provide particularly stiff competition.
But MacDonald is no stranger to McGlaun's ability or technique. These two were club gymnastics teammates for six years prior to their collegiate careers. In total, they've known each other for 12 years.
"It's cool to compete against people who you know so well," MacDonald said.
MacDonald will compete on the parallel and high bars.
Freshman Jose Haro, the only Wolverine to compete in the all-around at the Chicago meet, admits he's not absolutely sure what will come of Sunday's meet.
"I don't know how (the dual meet) will turn out," he said. "The last meet was good for me. I felt good. I was confident. I scored above nine on everything except the pommel horse. So I guess I'll work hardest on improving that.
"As a team, we need to be a little more confident. Last time we were a bit shaky on the pommel horse and rings."
Michigan will not soon forget the beating it took on the horse at the Windy City Invitational. Haro's 8.8 horse score - the lowest score of his six events - was also the highest Michigan score. Freshman Ethan Johnson scored 7.35, and sophomore Randy D'Amura ran a 6.9. Senior co-captain Flavio Martins, ailing from a bout with the flu, scored 7.1. (Syracuse's Manuel Galanza was the only person at the entire meet to score lower with a 6.8).
In comparison, Illinois' lowest horse score was Chris McGlone's 7.65. In fact, Illinois surpassed Michigan in total scores for every event. Thus, the Wolverines are looking forward to giving the Fighting Illini a little payback.
While the Wolverines will have nothing to look forward to but rest prior to Sunday's two-team bout, Illinois will be competing against Michigan State on Saturday night. Illinois fatigue could be a potential ally to the Michigan camp.
Still, Haro isn't betting his money that Illinois will be too tired to make it a contest. But he thinks he knows how the University community can best aid the Michigan tumblers.
"Just be there," he said. "I would like to see a lot of people there supporting us. I think if no one's there it wouldn't be as good for us as a team. The point is just to be there."
MARGARET MYERS/Daily
The Michigan gymnastics team hopes it can muster more confidence on the pommel horse and rings against Illinois on Sunday than it had last weekend when it finished eighth out of 12 teams.