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The NCAA News -- May 10, 1999

Michigan completes quick turnaround by capturing men's gymnastics team crown

Michigan got off to a fast start in the team preliminaries and went on to win its third National Collegiate Men's Gymnastics Championships title April 22-24 at Nebraska.

"Michigan got hot early and stayed hot the entire meet and never really gave us a chance," said Francis Allen, coach of third-place Nebraska.

The Wolverines took the lead they would not relinquish in the first rotation of the team finals. Michigan chose to start the competition on the pommel horse and posted a 38.60 score to mount the charge to its first title since 1970. The title is only three years removed from a season in which the Wolverines were winless and were facing possible discontinuation of the program.

"The plan was to get here in the fourth year and be in contention in the fifth year," Golder said. "We got lucky and got some great recruits. Everything fell into place."

One of those recruits was sophomore Justin Toman, who led the Wolverines by posting the top all-around score of 58.075 in the team finals.

The Wolverines posted first-place finishes in five of the six events. Toman took firsts in the floor exercise and the parallel bars with scores of 9.825 and 9.750, respectively. Teammate Daniel Diaz-Luong earned top-place honors on the pommel horse and vault, while teammate Scott Vetere finished in the top spot on the rings with a mark of 9.850.

"I was a little nervous, but it got the adrenaline going and we took it from there," Vetere said.

Nebraska's Jason Hardabura earned the all-around title during the team preliminaries by scoring 58.050 points to secure his crown. After winning the all-around title, Hardabura was much more interested in the team championship.

"Let me tell you, it's the best feeling in the world to be part of such a close team," Hardabura said. "There is so much that goes into it."

Runner-up Ohio State advanced to the finals by placing second in the team preliminaries and keeping that position through the team finals, finishing with 230.850 points. Nebraska, which edged Penn State to advance to the team finals, finished third with a score of 229.600.

Brigham Young boasted two individual winners, including Guard Young, who won the vault with a 9.8125 average. Cortney Bramwell won the rings by posting a 9.9250 score, the highest score recorded during the individual-event portion of the championships.

Todd Bishop of Oklahoma was the only repeat winner, taking the high bars with a 9.9000 mark.

Penn State's Brandon Stefaniak won the Nittany Lions' championship-best 43rd individual title with a win in the pommel horse.

TEAM RESULTS

(Note: Scores for the top three teams are from the team-final session. Scores for the other teams are from the team-preliminary session.)

1. Michigan, 232.550; 2. Ohio St., 230.850; 3. Nebraska, 229.600; 4. Penn St., 228.200; 5. Brigham Young, 227.150; 6. Stanford, 226.700.

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

All-around: 1. Jason Hardabura, Nebraska, 58.050; 2. Justin Toman, Michigan, 57.900; 3. Todd Strada, Iowa, 57.875; 4. Jason Katsampes, Stanford, 57.850; 5. Guard Young, Brigham Young, 57.800; 6. Jeff LaVallee, Massachusetts, 57.425.

Floor exercise: 1. Jasaon Hardabura, Nebraska, 9.8000; 2. Guard Young, Brigham Young, 9.7750; 3. Tim Elsner, Ohio St., 9.7125; 4. Jeff LaVallee, Massachusetts, 9.7000; 5. Tal Moscovitz, California, 9.6875; 6. Steve Van Etten, Oklahoma, 9.6750.

Pommel horse: 1. Brandon Stefaniak, Penn St., 9.7750; 2. (tie) Jason Krob, Minnesota, and Jamie Natalie, Ohio St., 9.7375; 4. Tal Moscovitz, California, 9.6750; 5. (tie) Todd Bishop, Oklahoma, and Justin Toman, Michigan, 9.6625.

Rings: 1. Cortney Bramwell, Brigham Young, 9.9250; 2. Ron Roeder, Penn St., 9.8625; 3. Scott Vetere, Michigan, 9.8250; 4. Kenny Keener, Michigan, 9.7750; 5. Jeff LaVallee, Massachusetts, 9.7125; 6. Jim Koziol, Nebraska, 9.7000.

Vault: 1. Guard Young, Brigham Young, 9.8125; 2. Eddie Seng, Penn St., 9.7500; 3. (tie) Daniel Diaz-Luong, Michigan, and Brad Kenna, Michigan, 9.7375; 5. Daren Lynch, Ohio St., 9.7125; 6. Jeff LaVallee, Massachusetts, 9.7000.

Parallel bars: 1. Justin Toman, Michigan, 9.8375; 2. (tie) Todd Bishop, Oklahoma, and Doug Stibel, Ohio St., 9.7750; 4. Ron Roeder, Penn St., 9.7250; 5. (tie) Peter Landry, Ohio St., and Jason Katsampes, Stanford, 9.6875.

High bar: 1. Todd Bishop, Oklahoma, 9.9000; 2. Blake Bukacek, Nebraska, 9.8250; 3. Justin Toman, Michigan, 9.7750; 4. Jason Hardabura, Nebraska, 9.6875; 5. (tie) Shane deFreitas, Iowa, and Guard Young, Brigham Young, 9.6625.