University of Minnesota Athletics
Gymnasts Kick Off Season With Alumni Meet
1/9/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics
The streak is alive.
The University of Minnesota men's gymnastics team held its annual Alumni Meet Friday night at the Sports Pavilion. For the 43rd consecutive time, the Gopher Alumni defeated the Varsity squad. The Alumni ran away with this one, thanks to some more-than-generous judging, by a tally of 355.5-342.5.
"I saw them in the back room, with their checkbooks, talking to the judges," a joking Minnesota head coach Mike Burns said of the Alumni. "I saw a lot of zeroes. They knew they really had to pay the judges off hard and heavy tonight."
Despite kidding the Alumni about bribery, Burns said how much he appreciated having them take part in the event again this season. The Gopher head coach was also very impressed with many of the older guys who took part. He noted Tim LaFleur, in particular. In a first for the Alumni Meet, there was a father-son rivalry, as the elder LaFleur faced off with his son Adam, who was competing for the Varsity team.
"The Alumni - it's always great to see them out here," Burns said. "To get a guy like Tim LaFleur - 54 years old - out here doing gymnastics, it was pretty darn good. Very impressive. Reid Gysland, he's been around a long, long time. It was really great to see him."
Guillermo Alvarez led the way for the Gopher Alumni. He took individual honors on five events.
As for the Gopher Varsity, Colin McGuire looked to be in mid-season form. McGuire won the floor exercise -- and winning any event against the Alumni in this meet is an achievement. He hit four of four routines and had the Varsity team's high scores on the floor, pommel horse and high bar. For his efforts, McGuire earned the Cooke Award, given to the outstanding gymnast in each home meet.
"This week, we came back from being on a break and I had to get in shape real quick," McGuire said. "It was just one of those nights where I felt good. I came out and did what I was supposed to do."
Burns was impressed with McGuire and his entire squad.
"I was really pleased with our guys tonight," Burns said. "It's still early in the season, but this is by far the best Alumni Meet we've had as far as preparation for the season.
"He had a beautiful floor routine," Burns said of McGuire. "We've been waiting for him to show that and he finally did tonight. He had an awesome high bar set, stuck his dismount, stayed on (pommel) horse and did a nice job there."
Other top Gopher Varsity finishes included: Adam Reichow, who finished third on the floor exercise and tied for second on the vault; Jesse Moravec, who tied for third on the still rings; and Andre Berry, who was third on the parallel bars.
2010 Minnesota Men's Gymnastics Alumni Meet
Team Scores | Varsity | Alumni |
Still Rings | 57.2 | 58.8 |
Floor | 58.7 | 58.8 |
Pommel | 52.1 | 59.4 |
P Bars | 55.2 | 55.9 |
H Bar | 57.4 | 59.9 |
Vault | 61.9 | 62.7 |
Final Score | 342.5 | 355.5 |
Individual Results
Floor Exercise
1. Colin McGuire (Varsity), 15.2
2. Guillermo Alvarez (Alumni), 15.1
3. Adam Reichow (Varsity), 14.7
Still Rings
1. Guillermo Alvarez (Alumni), 15.1
2. Clay Strother (Alumni), 15.0
3. Jesse Moravec (Varsity)/Michael Morse (Alumni) 14.5
Pommel Horse
1. Guillermo Alvarez (Alumni), 15.3
2. Clay Strother (Alumni), 15.1
3. Kit Beikmann (Alumni), 15.0
Vault
1. Guillermo Alvarez (Alumni), 16.2
2. Alex Quast (Alumni)/Adam Reichow (Varsity), 15.7
High Bar
1. Guillermo Alvarez (Alumni), 16.0
2. Clay Strother (Alumni), 14.8
3. Tim LaFleur (Alumni), 14.6
P Bars
1. Guillermo Alvarez (Alumni), 14.3
2. Clay Strother (Alumni), 14.1
3. Andre Berry (Varsity), 14.0
Players Mentioned
