Gymnastics Returns 10 Letterwinners
6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Gymnastics
January 11, 1999
Michigan State returns 10 letterwinners from a 1998 season in which the team finished fourth at the Big Ten Championship, its best showing since 1991, and qualified as a team for the NCAA Eastern Regional for only the second time in five years.
Add nine talented freshmen, the biggest group of rookies in head coach Rick Atkinson's 10 years as Spartan mentor, and the 1999 gymnastics season looks very promising for the Spartans.
"This season will be fascinating," said Atkinson. "It's probably the deepest team we've had here in a long time. We're young, which will hurt us, but our most talented gymnasts are also our youngest. Having depth is nice."
Michigan State will have to compensate for the loss of All-American vaulter Keith Douglas and high bar expert and Nissen Award finalist Ethan Sterk. The senior leadership and experience of Kenny Baker, Dave Barron and Mike Phipps will be needed to guide the team but the talent of the sophomore and junior classes will be just as important.
"Kenny looks awesome," said Atkinson. "He's improved drastically over the summer, especially on the high bar. He'll be top six in the Big Ten this year.
"Dave Barron looks like a machine," Atkinson continued. "We expect him not to miss a routine all season. Same thing with Mike Phipps."
The goals, while similar as in the past, are more attainable with the wealth of talent on this year's squad.
"Our first goal is to win our first meet," said Atkinson. "We've been notoriously bad in the first outing of the season. Secondly, we'd like to finish in the top three at the Big Ten Championship. If we accomplish that, our goal would be to do well enough at Regionals that we would qualify for the NCAA Championships.
The 1999 schedule is tough and may not produce a winning record, but it will prepare the Spartans for the end of the year, when a team needs to be at its best to qualify for the Championships.
"We have a tough schedule," said Atkinson. "We could be 2-7 and still ranked sixth (in the nation). We play four national qualifiers from last year and two others with the potential to go this year."
Michigan State, thin on many events last year, is now as deep as 11 on some events.
At the beginning of the year I would have said our pommel horse was our strongest event and our still rings the weakest," said Atkinson. "Now, I don't see any drop-off from one to the other.
"We're looking forward to a great season."
EVENT-BY-EVENT BREAKDOWN
Floor Exercise
The floor is a solid event for the Spartans. Last year it was their best
event. This year expect even more consistency. Watch for big performances
>from juniors Mike Quarress and Brady Grimm, sophomore Tommy Housley and
freshman Jon Plante.
Still Rings
Count on senior Mike Phipps, who has been solid on this event all
throughout his career, and sophomore Chris Weedon, who had an outstanding
rookie season. Housley and junior Troy Takagishi round out a solid top four.
"This is our most important event," said Atkinson.
Our No. 5 and No. 6 routines are still weak so those four will have to be
close to perfect.
Vault
This is the event with the most variance for the Spartans. There will be
four solid scores in Quarress, Housley, Grimm and freshman Dave Ruiz. The
other two scores will come from a group of four people. The most likely
candidates are Moomaw and Weedon.
Pommel Horse
"We have a solid, dependable lineup on the horse," said Atkinson. Freshman
Russell Young and junior Jeff Moomaw will be pivotal scores. Moomaw is
probably the most improved on this event, while Kenny Baker and Plante
average 9.800 at the top of the lineup.
Parallel Bars
"This is our surprise event," said Atkinson. "We thought they were pretty
good, but they have turned out to be even better. Each routine is nice,
clean and consistent."
Housley, Quarress and Plante are the Spartans' top P-Bar routines. Coming along are Weedon, Grimm, Baker and Moomaw as the Spartans try to go eight deep on this event.
High Bar
Recruiting attention to the high bar has paid off for Michigan State as it
is deepest on this apparatus. Weedon, Baker, Plante, Housley, freshman
Jason Lewis, Quarress and Ruiz all start at a 9.8 or higher degree of
difficulty.
"We have 11 high bar routines," said Atkinson. "We've never had more than six in any other year."
All-Around
Last year only one Spartan, Housley, went the distance on the all-around,
and in only one meet. This year, Housley will team with the rookie Plante
in the ironman competition. Moomaw will also be available.
