Golder whips former team By Rohit Bhave Daily Sports Writer Led by the outstanding performances of junior Tim Dehr on pommel horse, sophomore Scott Vetere on still rings and senior Lalo Haro on the high bar, the Michigan men's gymnastics team romped Iowa Saturday night, 228.825-225.625. The Wolverines did not disappoint the 778 fans who braved the frigid Ann Arbor night to witness the defending national champions dominate the first three events and post seven personal bests. After Michigan's solid showing on the floor exercise, Tim Dehr kicked off the Michigan hit parade on the pommel horse. The junior turned in a career best in the event. Michigan coach Kurt Golder was impressed by Dehr's showing, a performance he attributes to the junior's steadiness and confidence. "I have tremendous confidence in his ability to hit," said Golder, who was an assistant coach at Iowa before coming to Michigan four seasons ago. As a team, the Wolverines did very well on the event, notching a 39.1 - their best showing ever on the pommel horse. Following Dehr, freshman Jamie Hertza and junior captain Justin Toman hit personal bests on the pommel horse as well, matching Dehr with 9.85's of their own. Donning a Jamal Crawford-esque blue headband, sophomore Scott Vetere continued the Michigan rout in the next event by posting a 9.9 on the still rings, tying a personal best. With that performance, Vetere earned the all-around title for the meet. Junior Captain Justin Toman also turned in a personal best on the pommel horse, but struggled on the vault, missing his landing. Toman is still perfecting his new routine -instead of launching himself off the vault with his feet, Toman uses his hands to catapult himself into the air. Saturday night was only the second time he had used the difficult maneuver in competition. "(The vault) is still a work in progress. I just have to nail the landing," Toman said. Although they had mounted a large advantage in their first three events, Iowa won the vault and parallel bars events - events that were supposed to be Michigan's strongest - causing some concern amongst the Wolverines. Dehr said the Wolverines need to improve their intensity and focus in the last three events of the meet, despite their gaudy lead. Improvement will come in the form of returning two All-Americans to the last few events. Justin Toman and sophomore Daniel Diaz-Luong should contribute later in the year on parallel bars and high bar, once they heal from nagging injuries that the events could have aggravated. For Golder, the most encouraging item from Saturday's meet was the Wolverines performance on the high bar. While Golder concedes that the event will never be a weapon for Michigan, he set a goal prior to the season to win the event at least once. The Wolverines trumped the Hawkeyes by a tenth of a point in their first home meet, 38.1 to 38.0 to fulfill their coach's goal. Golder appears to have found a winning lineup in the event, a list that will soon be bolstered by the addition of Diaz-Luong, an All-American in the event last year. Haro bested Michigan freshman Kris Zimmerman's 9.7 with an impressive 9.8 to contribute to the Wolverine total. Michigan has improved by four points from the 224 it recorded in the intrasquad scrimmage. Golder said he is pleased by his team's progress to date, as they are scoring higher right now than they did at this point last season. He said he expects improvement when more gymnasts come back from injuries and when he puts together his best lineup on the mat. Add to that the natural improvement that occurs when gymnasts like Toman acclimate themselves to their new routines and the Wolverines appear to have very rosy prospects for the end of the season. JOANNA PAINE/Daily Michigan State's Greg DeGrand defeated Jason Rawls 3-1 on Sunday, ending the dual meet in an 18-18 tie. Following Dehr, freshman Jamie Hertza and junior captain Justin Toman hit personal bests on the pommel horse, matching Dehr with 9.85's of their own. Donning a Jamal Crawford-esque blue headband, sophomore Scott Vetere continued the rout in the next event by posting a 9.9 on the still rings, tying a personal best. With that performance, Vetere earned the all-around title for the meet. Junior captain Justin Toman also turned in a personal best on the pommel horse, but struggled on the vault, missing his landing. Toman is still perfecting his new routine -instead of launching himself off the springboard with his feet, Toman uses his hands to catapult himself into the air. Saturday night was only the second time he had used the difficult maneuver in competition. "(Vault) is still a work in progress. I just have to nail the landing," Toman said. Although they had mounted a large advantage in their first three events, Iowa won the vault and parallel bars events - events that were supposed to be Michigan's strongest - causing some concern amongst the Wolverines. Dehr said the Wolverines need to improve intensity and focus in the last three events of the meet, despite their gaudy lead. Improvement will come with the return of two All-Americans to the last few events. Justin Toman and sophomore Daniel Diaz-Luong should contribute later in the year, once they heal from nagging injuries that the events could have aggravated. For Golder, the most encouraging item from Saturday's meet was the performance on the high bar. While Golder concedes that the event will never be a weapon for Michigan, he set a preseason goal to win the event at least once. The Wolverines trumped the Hawkeyes by a tenth of a point in their first home meet, 38.1-38.0 to fulfill their coach's goal. Golder appears to have found a winning lineup in the event, a list that will soon be bolstered by the addition of Diaz-Luong, an All-American in the event last year. Originally on page 1B in the 1-24-2000 issue of the Daily.