Zimmerman helps gymnasts torch Flames By Rohit Bhave Daily Sports Writer Freshman Kris Zimmerman's scorching 9.9 on the parallel bars helped the No. 1 Michigan men's gymnastics team smoke Illinois-Chicago, 226.575-222.425 on Saturday in the Windy City. Zimmerman, became only the third Wolverine to notch a score of 9.9 or above this season. In only his second dual meet, the freshman joins sophomores Josh Levin and Scott Vetere in reaching the near-perfect mark. Zimmerman joined the team this year as part of Coach Kurt Golder's highly-heralded freshman class. Due to loss of All-Americans Justin Toman, Daniel Diaz-Luong and Kenny Keener to injury, more inexperienced gymnasts have been called into duty. Saturday's meet became as an acid test for the celebrated freshmen. Freshman Conan Parzuchowski served as an excellent example. The Northville, Michigan resident posted a strong 9.7 on the still rings one week after sitting out the home opener against Iowa. He joins a number of Wolverines stating their case for a permanent spot on the end-of-the-season rotation. Also, Tim Dehr stepped up his performance this week, coming off last week's 9.85 on the pommel horse. His consistent work ranging from 9.250 on the floor exercise to 9.550 on the parallel bars gave the Wolverines a steady flow of points throughout the meet - all this from a gymnast who received little work last season. While the freshmen impressed, Scott Vetere continued his torrid season and set a Michigan record 9.85 on the vault. The flashy Olympic hopeful has the go-ahead from Michigan coach Kurt Golder to wear his characteristic blue headband in meets. "It serves as a reminder to me that this sport is supposed to be fun," Vetere said. He hopes to distribute the headbands in meets this season, much like the t-shirts they already toss to the crowd. Toman did not compete because he had a cortizone shot to aid an ailing shoulder. The treatment should allow him to compete in all six all-around events in both the tri-meet against Penn State and Minnesota on Friday and the meet against Ohio State Saturday. Saturday's meet typifies the sort of meet that top-ranked program's win. Although the Wolverines experienced an overall decrease in their scores from last week's defeat of Iowa, they still managed to thump the Flames in every event. It is said that a team knows when it is good when it can win consistently without competing at its best. Michigan men's gymnastics takes that axiom one step further by dominating without their best. In a departure from last season when Golder would rest the team the day before meets, in this Olympic year he has chosen to maximize practice time by working the team harder instead. The result is a possible sacrifice in dual-meet performance for long-term success. Originally on page 2B in the 1-31-2000 issue of the Daily.