Men's gymnasts look for No. 1 ranking

Saturday

Michigan at Iowa

Where:

Iowa City

When: 2:30 p.m.

The Latest: The second-ranked Wolverines and the fourth-ranked Hawkeyes. Enough said.

By Dan Dingerson
Daily Sports Writer

Many Michigan students will be relaxing in places like Mexico, the Bahamas and Florida next week as the University takes its annual spring break.

The Michigan men's gymnastics team, on the other hand, will not have the week off. Instead they will compete twice during the vacation from classes.

The Wolverines will first travel to Iowa on Saturday. The meet features two of the top four teams in the country this year.

No. 2 Michigan, although ranked ahead of the fourth-ranked Hawkeyes, hasn't beaten Iowa this year.

The Wolverines fell to the Hawkeyes when the two faced off in the season-opening Windy City Open.

The Hawkeyes will also host the Big Ten Championships in March.

This weekend is vital to the Wolverines because it gives them a chance to see if they can beat the Hawkeyes in their gym.

Although Iowa is ranked fourth in the country this season, the team finished second in the nation at last year's NCAA Championships.

Michigan comes off a performance in which it recorded the best score in the nation to date.

But the team's two top scores this year have both come at home, which is a concern for Michigan coach Kurt Golder.

"For the team, we have to prove that we can turn in a big score on the road, because none of the championships are at home," Golder said. "Can we do it on the road, and more importantly can we do it in the championships? I feel very confident that these guys can step into those situations and succeed."

The Wolverines have tried to keep the focus on themselves, and improving their scores rather than looking at the teams that they are facing.

The goal in recent weeks has been to achieve a score, and then hope that victory resulted from that score.

After competing in Iowa, the team will travel to California to compete in the Santa Barbara Invitational on March 6.

The meet will feature five teams, headlined by top-ranked Penn State. Washington, California and the host school, UC-Santa Barbara, will also compete.

The invitational will be the last out-of-conference event for the Wolverines before they compete in the NCAA's.

It will also give the Wolverines a chance to face Penn State at a neutral site, similar to the situation that the teams will face at the Big Ten Championships and the NCAA Regional competition.

"The more times that we can go through an event similar to the championships - like this invitational - the better off our team is going to be," Golder said.

02-25-99