Golder's first win is golden

On a day dedicated to the "Sweet Tooths" of the world, the Michigan men's gymnastics team tasted Big Ten victory for the first time in two years. And how sweet it was.

The Wolverines (1-5) blew out No. 17 Minnesota, 226.85-222.575, en route to their first dual-meet win under second-year coach Kurt Golder.

"One fourth," Golder said after Saturday's meet at Keen Arena. "One fourth of the routines today were personal bests."

But personal records weren't the only marks falling. Michigan had record team performances on the pommel horse (38.0) and vault (38.45), while establishing a season-high team-point total.

The outstanding performance may be attributed in part to the team's week off before the contest. Originally slated to take on No. 6 Ohio State in Columbus last weekend, a scheduling change allowed the 11th-ranked Wolverines more time to focus their

MARGARET MYERS/Daily Freshman Kevin Roulston led the way with a 56.9 as the Wolverines captured their first conference victory of the coach Kurt Golder era.

energy on the Golden Gophers (0-4).

"It gave us a little bit of time. We focused more on cleaning up some skills and perfecting skills," Golder said. "We were able to get away from the grind of routine, routine, routine."

And that translated into an anything-but-routine showing Saturday.

Michigan sophomore Jose "LaLo" Haro and freshman Kevin Roulston tied for first at 56.9, giving the Wolverines a one-two punch in all-around competition. Minnesota's Fang Lindsey placed third in the all-around with a 54.75.

For Roulston, the score represents an all-around personal best, and Haro showed signs of once again emerging among the Big Ten elite. Despite lagging 0.9 off last season's pace, the Michigan co-captain and All-Big Ten team member bested his score on the pommel horse and came close to hitting a difficult routine on the floor exercise.

"He did his mount on floor in the warm-up, just a few minutes before the meet started, and it was perfect," Golder said. "That's a new skill, a new sequence that he has to do to be competitive internationally.

"It's short-term versus long-term. In the NCAA Championship, if we water down (the difficulty level) now, he might be able to get a bigger score right now, but when it comes to international competition we're not going to win a championship. So we're taking our lumps now."

Michigan redshirt freshman Tim Dehr also raised some eyebrows Saturday. Dehr won the vault with a personal best 9.75 and also recorded a personal high on the pommel horse.

But just as it seemed everything was going Michigan's way, the Wolverines received a scare on the still rings. As freshman Kenny Keener went into the dismount of his routine, one hand slipped off the ring and he slammed into the mat below. The impact was powerful enough to jettison one of Keener's contact lenses.

"When he swung through the bottom, his hand slipped, and the other hand slipped and he landed in a heap on his shoulder," Golder said.

Despite the slip, Keener, Michigan's top ring man, seemed to be all right.

"It could have been an injury," Golder said. "But he came out of it OK and he did fine on the next event."

Saturday's team score, which improved by more than three points, could prove important as the Wolverines attempt to qualify for the NCAA Regionals in April. Qualification is based on the average of one home team score, one away and one at-large.

"We're going to be right on the bubble," Golder said. "This will help our average. Hopefully, those 223s we got earlier we won't even use - and if things go the way they should, we won't even count this score."

02-16-98