University of Minnesota Athletics
Gold Comes Out On Top at Intrasquad Meet
12/12/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Gymnastics
MINNEAPOLIS - The University of Minnesota's men's gymnastics team hosted their annual Maroon and Gold Intrasquad Meet Saturday afternoon at the Sports Pavilion with the Gold team finishing atop the Maroon team, 251.40-242.25.
"As a coach, how can you ever really be completely pleased, but having the meet over at the Sports Pavilion this early, which we've never done before, I was really happy with how the guys handled it," said head coach Mike Burns. "We're not competition ready quite yet, but we're not that far away either. There were some really exciting routines here tonight."
"One of the biggest things I saw was that the guys were able to deal with adversity, push through and fight to the end. We had way more stuck dismounts than I would have anticipated this early in the season."
In this meet, the top three scores from each rotation were counted.
Sophomore Jalon Stephens claimed three events - floor exercise, parallel bars and tied with senior co-captain Paul Montague, Jr. on high bar. Sophomore Yaroslav Pochinka earned the highest score on two events - vault and the still rings, while fellow sophomore, Tristan Duran, took home first on pommel horse.
The Maroon Team started on pommel horse while Gold was on floor. Gold pulled ahead early, leading 42.400-40.050. Stephens scored an event high for Gold, earning a 14.700. He was followed by teammates Pochinka and junior Zach Liebler, who earned 13.900 and 13.800, respectively. Duran notched a team-high for Maroon with a mark of 13.750 pommel horse. Freshman Vitali Kan tallied a 13.300 while fellow freshman, Ryan Wangler, earned a 13.00.
After two rotations, the two teams switched events as Maroon took a narrow lead, 81.55-80.85. Sophomore Jack Kramer scored highest on the team for Gold, tallying a 13.300 on pommel horse. Freshman Justin Karstadt was second on Gold with a 12.700, followed by Montague, who notched a 12.450. For the Maroon team, Kan held the team high for floor, scoring a 14.200. Freshman Shaun Herzog and Duran were second and third best on the Maroon Team, scoring 13.700 and 13.600, respectively.
Next, the Gold Team moved to still rings and Maroon to vault. Maroon held onto the lead through three rotations at 124.65 to Gold's 123.05. On vault, sophomore co-captain Joel Gagnon earned a team-high 14.500 for the Maroon Team. Freshman Michael Harris and Duran tied for second for Maroon on the apparatus with identical scores of 14.300. On Gold, Pochinka finished with the highest score, a 14.400 on still rings. Montague narrowly finished behind him with a 14.300 and Karstad finished third, tallying a 13.500.
Gold scored exceptionally well on the vault and pulled ahead 166.800-164.950. Pochinka earned a meet-high score of 15.100. Karstadt and sophomore Alex Wittenberg also performed well, scoring 14.650 and 14.000, respectively. Duran tallied a 13.900 for Maroon on the still rings, followed by Kan with 13.600 and Gagnon with 12.800.
In the final events of the afternoon, the teams competed on the parallel bars and high bar. Gold extended their lead with a phenomenal performance on parallel bars to pull ahead 210.000-203.550. Stephens notched an event-high score of 14.5, followed closely by his teammates, Montague and Karstadt, who scored a 14.400 and 14.300, respectively. For the Maroon Team on high bar, Duran scored the highest with a 13.300. Gagnon and Herzog finished second and third with scores of 12.800 and 12.500, respectively.
Gold sealed their victory in the final rotation, winning 251.400-242.250. Herzog scored a team-high 13.600 on the parallel bars for Maroon, followed by Harris and Duran who notched 13.400 and 12.300, respectively. Stephens and Montague tied for the team-high on the high bar with 14.000. Karstadt was third with 13.400.
In the All-Around, Karstadt took first with a final score of 81.55, followed by Duran at 81.15 and Stephens rounding things out with a 80.5.
"This team is really good," said Burns. "I think all the guys should come out of here today with a sense of accomplishment. I told them at the beginning of our lineup that, "fortune favors the bold." Even though we had some mistakes, I didn't see anybody get small. Now is the time to step-up and get big."
The Gophers return to action Saturday, Jan. 9 at the Sports Pavilion at 1:00 p.m. for their annual Alumni Meet.
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