Quintet rolls dice in Vegas

Five members of the Michigan men's gymnastics team had a Vegas vacation this weekend. But they didn't win big.

Michigan coach Kurt Golder took five of his gymnasts to Las Vegas this weekend for the Winter Cup Challenge, an event that is used to determine who will compose various national teams.

Michigan sent sophomore co-captain Justin Toman, junior Ethan Johnson and three freshmen - Daniel Diaz-Luong, Scott Vetere and Josh Levin.

The freshmen were competing in the all-around competition while Toman and Johnson were specializing in individual events. Toman was kept off of the still rings because of an arm injury, but competed in the other five events. Johnson only performed on still rings.

NATHAN RUFFER/Daily Five members of the Michigan men's gymnastics team competed in the Winter Cup Challenge in Las Vegas this

The all-around event consisted of two days of competition. The opening day featured 77 gymnasts competing for the top 36 positions to advance to the second round. All three Wolverines competing qualified for the second day of competition, although some almost didn't.

Diaz-Luong was 13th at the end of the first day with a 51.5, Vetere was 33rd and Levin qualified for the last spot, finishing 36th. The scores from the first round were erased for the second day of competition, and the gymnasts started anew.

Diaz-Luong finished 18th overall, scoring a 51.05. Although he didn't win the all-around, he nearly won the vault, finishing second with a score of 9.5. His second-place finish was the highest finish for any Wolverine.

Vetere placed 25th in the all-around with a 49.75. He also excelled in the vault, scoring 9.45, leaving him in third place behind Diaz-Luong. Levin scored a 49.7, leaving him 26th in the all-around. His performance was led by his strongest event, the pommel horse, but was more accurately characterized by consistency.

Toman also performed consistently on the first day of competition, led by his fourth-place finish on the parallel bar. His performances on the other five events were strong enough that an average performance on the still rings - would have placed him in the top 10 in the all-around.

Particularly disappointing for Toman is that the still rings are considered his strongest event.

Johnson rounded out the contingent of Wolverines competing, scoring a 7.75 on the still rings. His performance was sub-par, and left him far behind the top competitors on the rings.

Former Buckeye Blaine Wilson won the all-around competition with a score of 56.4, keeping him ahead of Jason Gatson, who scored 55.8 to take second place. Wilson has been the all-around national champion for the last three years, an unprecedented string in recent years.

weekend.

02-15-99