Blue whets appetite

By Rohit Bhave

Daily Sports Writer

All year, the Michigan men's gymnastics coach Kurt Golder has made recapturing the NCAA Championships his goal. This weekend's Big Ten Championships never cracked Golder's priority list. But the top-ranked Wolverines may win them anyway.

Golder's training techniques this season have been geared towards peaking at the end of the season. He has opted to train on meet days to give his team up to ten additional workouts this years - holding out his top guys to give others more meet experience. Golder has readied everyone to perform prominent roles at the Big Ten and NCAA Championships.

Although ranked No. 1 in the nation, the Wolverines are stumbling into the Big Tens. Winning meets lately without performing at its best, Michigan has displayed startling inconsistency along with explosive potential. Like defending champions in many sports, the tumblers appeared to have been biding their time until post-season play. After a restless regular season, their time to shine has finally arrived.

With the status of co-captain Justin Toman (knee) in doubt for the meet, Michigan will turn to white-hot Scott Vetere to provide a spark on Friday. The sophomore has bettered 9.8 an astounding eight times in the last two meets.

Most importantly, his best performances have keyed recent Michigan comeback victories against Oklahoma and Michigan State. In the face of the Wolverines' inconsistencies the last few weeks, Vetere's rock-solid routines have inspired confidence in his teammates, despite bleak circumstances against Oklahoma and Michigan State.

With the best talent in the Big Ten, Michigan, said Golder, can win if it has the right mental frame. While Toman, Daniel Diaz-Luong and seniors Ethan Johnson and Lalo Haro normally fuel Michigan's emotional fire, Golder wants to see the type of team-wide enthusiasm that propelled his team to the Big Ten and National Championships last year.

"Because results mirror morale, spirit will swing the meet for us," Golder said. "We need to just come out with tremendous enthusiasm and maintain it."

If the NCAA Championships are the main course of the championship season, the Big Tens comprise the appetizer. With four of the top five teams in the nation competing this weekend, a strong performance will further the savvy Wolverines' immense competitive edge in Iowa City.