University of Minnesota Athletics
2010 Preview: Parallel Bars
1/12/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics
The University of Minnesota men's gymnastics team has had a mantra throughout its preparation for the 2010 season - Reduction of Deductions.
That mantra may not be more important or apropos than in the parallel bars. There are so many opportunities for a gymnast to lose deductions from his score for small mistakes on the bars, that they can often snowball into big problems.
"Our goals for p-bars are to try to eliminate all the little deductions," Burns said. "It's an event where it's easy to take little hand steps on the handstands and take landing deductions. Those are the two areas we're really focusing on, trying to eliminate those small deductions that don't seem like a lot, but they add up over the course of a routine and then landing the dismounts and keeping our deductions to a minimum."
The Gophers were ranked No. 6 in the nation and No. 3 in the Big Ten at the end of last season on the parallel bars. They were led by then-freshman Russell Dabritz, who finished the season ranked No. 4 in the nation and was the runner-up at the Big Ten Championships. Burns is looking for Dabritz to come back strong in his second year of the program and help lead the Gophers on the bars.
"Russell Dabritz is probably our top returning guy," Burns said. "He just missed making the NCAA Finals last year. We're looking for great things out of him."
Burns has been impressed with Andre Berry's performance on the bars, calling him a "nice surprise." Berry, meanwhile, feels the Gophers are going to be very good on the parallel bars.
"I think it's going to be a really good event for us this year," Berry said. "We've got a Big Ten silver medalist - Russell (Dabritz) - he'll be on the p-bars squad. I'm coming back on p-bars this year. Incoming freshman Harris (Coleman) is going to be an integral part of our lineup. We're going to be really strong on p-bars. I'm not worried about that event."
Michael Paulus could be another member of the team who could help Minnesota in its quest to improve on the parallel bars in 2010. Paulus was injured during the 2009 season and Burns feels his return to the lineup could be very beneficial to the Gophers.
"Michael Paulus I think is going to be a real solid competitor for us," Burns said. "He made the lineup last year, early in the season. Then he had a shoulder injury that he had to have surgery on in February. That cut his season short, which was a real shame, because I think he could have done real well, possibly a Big Ten finalist to be honest. He's made a great recovery, so I'm really happy with where he's at and hoping he has a successful season for us this year."
Burns also mentioned Ross Cameratta, D.J. Repp, Thomas O'Brien and Aaron Fortunato as being potential contributors on the parallel bars. With only six gymnasts competing each night, there will be some jockeying for position throughout the season.
"It's going to be a challenge to see if we can get the top six guys on p-bars," Burns said. "We've got a lot of guys working out on that event and it's going to be a competition to see who's going to make the lineup."
That first parallel bars lineup will be unveiled Saturday at the Windy City Invitational, when the Gophers kick off the regular season at the meet hosted by the University of Illinois-Chicago.
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Players Mentioned
