Last year, the Michigan men's gymnastics team concluded its season with a National Championship crown. But when the team opened its season on Friday with the annual Maize and Blue Intrasquad competition, it's safe to say the stakes weren't as high.

The Maize team, led by junior captain Syque Caesar and freshman Sam Mikaluk narrowly defeated the Blue team by a mere 1.35 points. Sophomore Rohan Sebastian took the all-around crown and Mikaluk earned the top spot in the floor exercise.

“For the first collegiate competition ever and doing six events for the first time, I thought it was pretty good,” Mikaluk said. “I pulled through on the floor, which I hadn’t tumbled or vaulted for two weeks prior, so coming out and doing a set like that really made me feel good. Being with the team and having every one behind me and pushing, it was a great experience.”

The 11 freshmen who competed showcased the Wolverines' youth. Michigan lost many key competitors to graduation last year, and the freshmen will play a crucial role if the team wants to contend for another national championship this year.

“There’s about five guys in that freshmen class that I think have potential to really help us out by the end of the year,” Michigan coach Kurt Golder said. “Of course, they’ve got to develop a lot and improve a lot in the next couple months.”

Senior Chris Cameron competed for the U.S. at the World Championships in October in Rotterdam, Holland. As the defending NCAA All-Around Champion, he will be a key factor this season.

Cameron, along with co-captains Caesar and senior Thomas Kelley will be the leaders that the Wolverines will depend on this season.

“I’m mostly just a leader with being in the gym as most as I can,” Cameron said. "Just the experience that I’ve garnered over the past few years kind of gives me that role. Syque and Kelley are doing a great job as captains.”

Cameron's training regimen is different from that of the rest of the team, because he is learning new skills that will help him on the international stage. This should not hinder his ability to be part of the team or cause him to miss any time, Golder had paraphrased.

With the abundance of new faces, the team has been working on getting to know each other inside and outside the gym. The team chemistry was a major factor in the teams success last season, and it appears to be the same this season.

“We’ve had many experiences throughout this first semester where we’ve gotten to know each other and gotten to embarrass ourselves in front of each other,” Mikaluk said. “We’ve all been hanging out every weekend, you know, just going out and having a good time. All we can do is go further from here and push each other.”

After giving its freshman an opportunity to work through any nerves, Michigan will start its official season with its first competition on Jan. 15 at the Windy City Invite. This will be the first occasion for the young Wolverines to showcase their talent against collegiate teams.

“I’m sure we’re going to get everybody’s A-game throughout the year,” Golder said. “We’re a mix of experience and a lot of young guys that we’re going to count on. In both cases, both those groups have to improve a tremendous amount.”