On Friday, 12 teams from every corner of the country – including the No. 9 Michigan men’s gymnastics team – gathered in West Point, N.Y., to compete in the NCAA Men’s Gymnastics Championships hosted by Army.
The teams competed in several in pre-qualifying rounds before moving on the championship round which took place on Saturday. The Wolverines competed in events such as floor, vault, rings and bars.
The highlight of the event was when sophomore Anthony McCallum won the vault title for the second year in a row. He secured the title by executing a challenging Tsukahara double pike, which earned him a score of 15.10.
This accomplishment was made even more impressive, as he became the sixth Michigan gymnast in history to win back-to-back titles on any event and the first back-to-back vault winner in Michigan history.
As a team, the Wolverines performed well on the vault as sophomore Emyre Cole secured third place with a score of 14.90. McCallum and Cole were both awarded All-American honors on the vault – a career first for Cole.
The two honors are the 207th and the 208th citations in program history. In addition, McCallum’s title marks the 31st NCAA championship in the school’s history. The last time the Wolverines earned two All-American honors on the vault was in 2014, and this year will the second time the team has a pair of All-American winners under coach Kurt Golder.
In addition to McCallum – who also tied for 18th on the parallel bars with a 14.10, five other Wolverines qualified for the finals in their respective events.
Two seniors, Adam Dean and Anthony Stefanelli, competed in their final collegiate events this past weekend. Dean competed on the high bar and earned a 13.45, while Stefanelli closed out the night on the parallel bars with a 14.10 to tie for 18th.
Two Michigan gymnasts competed on the rings in the finals. Redshirt sophomore Marty Strech tied for 18th place with a score of 14.05, while sophomore Ryan Dunning scored a 14.10 in the second round, which placed him in a tie for 15th.
Sophomore Uche Eke participated in his first ever NCAA Championship. Eke qualified for the parallel bars and earned a score of 13.65.