University of Minnesota Athletics
Saturday, December 8
Cooke Hall
1:30 PM
University of Minnesota
vs
Maroon vs. Gold
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Gymnastics
/ Men's Gymnastics
/ Men's Gymnastics
/ Men's Gymnastics
/ Men's Gymnastics
/ Men's Gymnastics
/ Men's Gymnastics
/ Men's Gymnastics
/ Men's Gymnastics
/ Men's Gymnastics
/ Men's Gymnastics
/ Men's Gymnastics
/ Men's Gymnastics
Photo by: Jessica Frankl
Maroon Wins Gold at Intrasquad
12/8/2018 5:22:00 PM | Men's Gymnastics
Team Maroon captured the Maroon and Gold intrasquad crown for the second straight year on Saturday when the team defeated Gold 239.55-238.20 at Cooke Hall.
The teams alternated events until both competed high bar last, and the top three scores for each team counted toward its running total.
"We've been doing this Maroon and Gold Meet for many, many years, every year since I've been here," head coach Mike Burns said. "And I think honestly, this is the best we've looked since I've been here, in terms of preparation, in terms of hit sets. We had plenty of mistakes, and obviously we've got to work on those, but just the team dynamic, the team energy, the team focus was really good."
"It was a great last intrasquad for me, and the team looked great," Kan said. "We did a lot more hit sets than we expected, but I think overall as a team we looked more prepared than we usually do."
Team Maroon sophomore Shane Wiskus took home the intrasquad all-around title for the second consecutive year with an 80.35 and events titles on still rings and parallel bars with scores of 13.50 and 14.55. Senior Justin Karstadt (Gold) was second in all-around with a 78.00 and runner-up finishes on pommel horse and rings. Senior captain Shaun Herzog (Gold) rounded out the all-around top three with a score of 76.10 and second place on parallel bars with a 13.25.
It was the first competitive action for Minnesota's nine freshmen, and many of them made an early impact. Danny Yoon of Team Gold hit each of his sets and was the overall event champion on floor with a score of 14.10. He also came in third on rings with a 13.10. Garrett Kasiski (Gold), came in second overall on vault with a score of 14.45. Eric Nakamura (Gold) came in third place on floor with a 13.95, second-best for Team Gold. Ben Eyles (Maroon) and David Pochinka (Gold) both tied for third overall on high bar with scores of 12.80.
"Really proud of some guys that stood out," Kan said. "Danny really stood out as a freshman, putting down all of his sets. A lot of other freshmen, Ben's high bar, David had a little rough spot but had some great sets, and I could go on and on about these freshmen. Overall really proud of how the freshmen stepped up."
The teams completed vault sets on Wednesday at Peik Gym, which gave Team Maroon a slight edge heading into Saturday. Gold took a lead after the first rotation, but maroon settled in from there and grabbed the advantage and eventual win.
"There was a lot of really awesome things today that I'm very proud of," Burns said. "As a coach, at this point in the season, I'm extremely happy with how these guys looked."
EVENT BREAKDOWN
VAULT
The teams had already finished vault going into Saturday's competition and Vitali Kan's 14.70 got Team Maroon out to a good start. Gold's Garrett Kasiski put on a stellar showing and placed second with a 14.45, while fellow freshman and Gold Team member Mike Moran came in third with a 14.20, but Maroon still claimed first early on, 42.95-42.80.
FLOOR
Gold was first up on floor for the day and was led by freshmen Danny Yoon and Eric Nakamura, who claimed first and third place in the event with scores of 14.1 and 13.95. Despite Vitali Kan's second place 14.0, Gold came away with a 41.85 on floor to edge maroon's 40.35 and take an early lead on the day.
POMMEL HORSE
Horse was Team Maroon's first event of the meet and where the team was able to reclaim the lead. Kan's 13.65 gave him the event title, and while Gold's Justin Karstadt finished just behind him with a 13.55, a 12.90 from Shane Wiskus and 12.70 from sophomore Henry Meeker helped Maroon capture the pommel horse gold with a 39.25 to gold's 36.85, its biggest margin of the meet.
RINGS
The rings would be the second event of the day in which Gold edged Maroon. Shane Wiskus claimed the event title with a 13.50, but Karstadt came closely behind with a a 13.40 and Yoon took third with a 13.10. It was a tight competition, but Gold came away victorious, 39.50-39.20.
PARALLEL BARS
Maroon was largely led on parallel bars thanks to Wiskus's strong 14.55, which handed him to the event title. Herzog had the next best event score and came in second with a 13.25 for Team Gold and Maroon senior Michael Harris took third with a 12.70. Maroon won the event over Gold with a final score of 39.80-38.35.
HIGH BAR
The meet all came down to high bar, as Maroon led Gold 201.55-199.35 heading into the event. Junior captain Timmy Kutyla had an excellent 13.30 performance and Harris claimed second place with a 12.90. Freshman Ben Eyles had a stuck 12.80 to tie for third with fellow freshman David Pochinka (Gold). Gold was able to put up a 38.85 over Maroon's 38.00 on the event, but maroon's lead had enough cushion to keep the team on top and bring home the meet title.
The Gophers get back to action next with the team's annual Alumni Meet, which will be held Saturday, Jan. 5 at 1 p.m. at Maturi Pavilion.
The teams alternated events until both competed high bar last, and the top three scores for each team counted toward its running total.
"We've been doing this Maroon and Gold Meet for many, many years, every year since I've been here," head coach Mike Burns said. "And I think honestly, this is the best we've looked since I've been here, in terms of preparation, in terms of hit sets. We had plenty of mistakes, and obviously we've got to work on those, but just the team dynamic, the team energy, the team focus was really good."
Senior captain Vitali Kan led the way for Maroon, as he claimed the highest score for his team on floor, pommel horse and vault, with scores of 14.0, 13.65 and 14.70, respectively. His scores on pommel horse and vault were the highest of all competitors. It was the first intrasquad win for Kan in his Minnesota career.How can we not be pumped after such a great meet and fan showing at Cooke Hall? Here are some Maroon and Gold highlights for your #MotivationMonday! pic.twitter.com/BfrpHfZ4zh
— Minnesota Men's Gym (@GopherMGym) December 10, 2018
"It was a great last intrasquad for me, and the team looked great," Kan said. "We did a lot more hit sets than we expected, but I think overall as a team we looked more prepared than we usually do."
Team Maroon sophomore Shane Wiskus took home the intrasquad all-around title for the second consecutive year with an 80.35 and events titles on still rings and parallel bars with scores of 13.50 and 14.55. Senior Justin Karstadt (Gold) was second in all-around with a 78.00 and runner-up finishes on pommel horse and rings. Senior captain Shaun Herzog (Gold) rounded out the all-around top three with a score of 76.10 and second place on parallel bars with a 13.25.
It was the first competitive action for Minnesota's nine freshmen, and many of them made an early impact. Danny Yoon of Team Gold hit each of his sets and was the overall event champion on floor with a score of 14.10. He also came in third on rings with a 13.10. Garrett Kasiski (Gold), came in second overall on vault with a score of 14.45. Eric Nakamura (Gold) came in third place on floor with a 13.95, second-best for Team Gold. Ben Eyles (Maroon) and David Pochinka (Gold) both tied for third overall on high bar with scores of 12.80.
"Really proud of some guys that stood out," Kan said. "Danny really stood out as a freshman, putting down all of his sets. A lot of other freshmen, Ben's high bar, David had a little rough spot but had some great sets, and I could go on and on about these freshmen. Overall really proud of how the freshmen stepped up."
The teams completed vault sets on Wednesday at Peik Gym, which gave Team Maroon a slight edge heading into Saturday. Gold took a lead after the first rotation, but maroon settled in from there and grabbed the advantage and eventual win.
"There was a lot of really awesome things today that I'm very proud of," Burns said. "As a coach, at this point in the season, I'm extremely happy with how these guys looked."
EVENT BREAKDOWN
VAULT
The teams had already finished vault going into Saturday's competition and Vitali Kan's 14.70 got Team Maroon out to a good start. Gold's Garrett Kasiski put on a stellar showing and placed second with a 14.45, while fellow freshman and Gold Team member Mike Moran came in third with a 14.20, but Maroon still claimed first early on, 42.95-42.80.
FLOOR
Gold was first up on floor for the day and was led by freshmen Danny Yoon and Eric Nakamura, who claimed first and third place in the event with scores of 14.1 and 13.95. Despite Vitali Kan's second place 14.0, Gold came away with a 41.85 on floor to edge maroon's 40.35 and take an early lead on the day.
POMMEL HORSE
Horse was Team Maroon's first event of the meet and where the team was able to reclaim the lead. Kan's 13.65 gave him the event title, and while Gold's Justin Karstadt finished just behind him with a 13.55, a 12.90 from Shane Wiskus and 12.70 from sophomore Henry Meeker helped Maroon capture the pommel horse gold with a 39.25 to gold's 36.85, its biggest margin of the meet.
RINGS
The rings would be the second event of the day in which Gold edged Maroon. Shane Wiskus claimed the event title with a 13.50, but Karstadt came closely behind with a a 13.40 and Yoon took third with a 13.10. It was a tight competition, but Gold came away victorious, 39.50-39.20.
PARALLEL BARS
Maroon was largely led on parallel bars thanks to Wiskus's strong 14.55, which handed him to the event title. Herzog had the next best event score and came in second with a 13.25 for Team Gold and Maroon senior Michael Harris took third with a 12.70. Maroon won the event over Gold with a final score of 39.80-38.35.
HIGH BAR
The meet all came down to high bar, as Maroon led Gold 201.55-199.35 heading into the event. Junior captain Timmy Kutyla had an excellent 13.30 performance and Harris claimed second place with a 12.90. Freshman Ben Eyles had a stuck 12.80 to tie for third with fellow freshman David Pochinka (Gold). Gold was able to put up a 38.85 over Maroon's 38.00 on the event, but maroon's lead had enough cushion to keep the team on top and bring home the meet title.
The Gophers get back to action next with the team's annual Alumni Meet, which will be held Saturday, Jan. 5 at 1 p.m. at Maturi Pavilion.
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