Finally!

Men win tourney for first time in 31 years

By Adam McQueen

Daily Sports Writer

Elusive titles are always the most coveted, and victory is sweetest when it yields a new prize.

This was the case for the men's gymnastics squad on Saturday, when it claimed the Windy City Invitational team championship - its first in the event's 31-year history.

Michigan justified its preseason No. 1 ranking by outmustering seven other top-15 opponents for the win.

The Wolverines tallied a score of 207.550, good enough to edge No. 8 Illinois (207.200) and No. 2 Ohio State (205.400), who finished second and third, respectively.

Senior tri-captain Tim Dehr and junior Scott Vetere keyed the Michigan victory.

Dehr delivered a first-place finish in the parallel bars (8.800) and took second on the pommel horse (9.200).

Vetere was equally impressive sharing first-place honors on the still rings (9.150), second on the parallel bars (8.750) and fifth on the high bar (8.800).

The meet was marked by an impressive overall team effort. At least two Michigan athletes finished in the top five in four of the meet's six events.

Strong showings in the pommel horse, the last event of the night, sealed the title for the Wolverines.

Dehr placed second in the event, junior Daniel Diaz-Luong took fourth and senior tri-captain Kevin Roulston was fifth.

Roulston was the only Michigan gymnast to compete in the all-around. He finished with a combined score of 49.650 - turning in a second place performance in the floor exercise (8.950) and placing fifth on the horse (8.750).

Michigan coach Kurt Golder could not have been happier to take home the championship.

"We have chased the elusive Windy City title for 31 years," Golder said. "It feels great to finally win."

The Wolverines have steadily improved over the past four years at the invitational. A fourth-place finish in 1998 was followed by third in 1999 and second in 2000.

Last season Michigan entered the meet as the preseason No. 1, but was defeated by the No. 2 Buckeyes.

They came into the meet this year in the same situation but were able to avenge years of disappointment by finally taking home the crown.

The Michigan squad showed no sign of its preseason injuries in Chicago. It turned in a top-rate performance and avoided any further injuries.

"It was our goal to come away healthy and to have a nice, consistent performance," Golder said. "We did both of those things."

As a team, the Wolverines won three of the meet's six events - the floor exercise, pommel horse and parallel bars.

The second-place finish to Illinois in the still rings, an event Michigan is traditionally very strong in, surprised Golder.

"The rings are a strong event for us," Golder said. "It was a shock to be beat by Illinois. It was a real wake up call."

No. 2 Ohio State received its wake-up call this weekend, finishing third.

The Buckeyes will try to rebound when they visit Cliff Keen Arena this Saturday in a head-to-head match-up with the Wolverines.

"By beating Ohio State, ranked No. 2, we really put a target on our backs," Golder said. "It should be real exciting to have the two top teams go at it next weekend."