Jan. 21, 2004
Stanford's No. 9 men's gymnastics team earned an unexpected win over No. 4 Michigan at the Whitfield Invitation this past Saturday, the 17th. This win was especially promising, as this weekend's meet was the NCAA first for over half of the Stanford athletes.
Adding further impact was the fact that the team bested Michigan by 0.075 points, an extremely narrow margin of victory. According to Head Coach Thom Glielmi, the win reinforced the idea that "every tenth does count."
Some highlights of the evening included Senior Dan Gill's win of the all-around competition with a 54.55, in addition to his win on the vault, with a score of 9.4. He also earned Stanford's top individual meet score, with a 9.5 on the high bar that earned him second-place in the event.
Junior Kelly Lang also won an individual event first place, earning a 9.25 on the parallel bars. First time NCAA competitor freshman Peter Derman won the still rings with a score of 9.25, even after having to complete his entire routine again - one of the hollow fiberglass rings snapped in half during his first attempt at the routine.
Overall, the team won the parallel bars, vault, and still ring events by margins of 1.3, 0.75, and 0.7, respectively. It lost to Michigan on pommel horse, high bar, and floor exercise by 0.1, 1.175, and 1.4, respectively. When all totals were tallied, however, the Cardinal bested the Wolverines by 0.075.
The team's next competition is in Oakland next Saturday the 24th at the Pacific Coast Invitational.