May 4, 1999
- Paul Wong
- Michigan gymnast Justin Toman won the National Championship in the parallel bars in 1999. (LAURIE BRESCOLL/Daily)
LINCOLN, Neb. – The goal for the men’s gymnastics team this year was to win a team national championship. On April 23, the team accomplished that.
The season was not over though for the Wolverines, as the following night they had to prepare for individual championships.
Michigan had 11 routines that qualified for the event championships, more than any other team. Sophomore co-captain Justin Toman and freshman Scott Vetere led the Wolverines by qualifying for three events each.
The competition determined not only the event individual champions, but the top six qualifiers in each event were also named All-America.
Justin Toman scored a 9.8375 on the parallel bars to capture the national title. In all, five Wolverines returned to Ann Arbor with All-America honors. During the team qualifying round, the all-around national champion was crowned. The Wolverines had three gymnasts competing in the all-around with Toman, Vetere and junior Lalo Haro.
At NCAAs – just as he had two weeks earlier at Big Tens – Toman fell just .15 short of the title, this time with a 57.9.
“It was disappointing, to finish so close again, but the team title makes up for it,” Toman said. “It was like d