CHAMPAIGN — For the second consecutive year, the No. 6 Michigan men’s gymnastics team finished as the runner-up to No. 3 Illinois in the Big Ten Championship.
Freshman Sam Mikulak won the all-around competition Friday night — becoming the first Wolverine freshman to do so since 1975 and the first Big Ten freshman since 1994.
But Mikulak’s achievements were second to the fact that the Wolverines lost by a mere 2.8 points at Huff Hall.
“(The all-around title) is not quite as fulfilling because we didn’t win the Big Ten Championship,” Mikulak said. “But I feel like (the loss) will motivate us to get back in the gym and work harder. Hopefully, I will be able to realize how big this is because people keep telling me it is quite an accomplishment. I’m in it more for the team.”
Though the Wolverines trailed by 10 at one point, they managed to cut that deficit to just 2.8 by the end of the competition. But even with the late momentum Michigan showed on the vault and rings, it wasn’t enough, as Illinois had a steady grip on first place.
Entering the final rotation of the night, the Wolverines trailed No. 5 Penn State by seven points for the second-place spot. Historically, the vault is the highest-scoring event in gymnastics, which allowed Michigan to surpass the Nittany Lions and finish as the runner-up.
“We dug a huge hole in the first three events,” Michigan coach Kurt Golder said. “I was told that at one point we were 10 points out of first place. The guys didn’t give up, and that’s a credit to them, and they finished the meet strong.”
On the high bar, senior Thomas Kelley — ranked second in the nation on the event — suffered two falls and didn’t make the event finals. Mikulak and senior Ian Makowske scored high enough on the high bar to grant them a spot in the event finals.
“I self imploded on high bar,” Kelley said. “I think I put a little too much pressure on myself. I was thinking about the next skill before I finished the skill before it.”
In 2008, Kelley was the Big Ten Freshman Gymnast of the Year and in 2009 he won the Big Ten all-around title. His all-around finish of fifth-place on Friday was good enough to achieve an All-Big Ten selection, his fourth consecutive.
In the event finals on Saturday, junior Syque Caesar collected the parallel bars title and Makowske won the high bar with a season-best score of 15.50. Caesar came into the competition ranked fourth on the parallel bars nationally and Makowske ranked third, respectively.
Senior Chris Cameron — the returning Big Ten Gymnast of the year and all-around champion — was noticeably absent from the lineup. His score of 15.65 from the 2010 Big Ten Championships on the floor exercise would have won the event this past weekend. But due to medical reasons, he didn’t compete or travel with the team.
“I think (Cameron) just needed a break from it psychologically,” Golder said. “There’s a lot of pressure when you’re the NCAA champion and things just aren’t going your way for month after month. We thought it was best to give him a break completely. Whether he’ll be back for NCAAs is 50-50.”
Last year, Illinois defeated Michigan at Big Tens but went on to win an NCAA Championship. It is hoping for an encore this year when the NCAA Championships commence in two weeks in Columbus.