Judah wins floor title, Michigan earns second place in NCAA finals

Michigan earned second place in the NCAA with a team score of 419.689, behind defending champion Stanford.
Judah won the NCAA individual title on floor exercise as well as second place on vault, totaling four All-America honors.
Six Wolverines earned a total of 11 All-America citations

Site: Columbus, Ohio (Covelli Center)
Event: NCAA Team and Individual Finals, Session III
Unified messaging result: 2nd out of 6 teams (419,689)
Next Unified Messaging event: Season ended

Columbus, Ohio — Graduate student Paul Jude won their fourth career NCAA individual title with a floor exercise victory Saturday, April 20 as the University of Michigan men's gymnastics team placed second with a team score of 419.689 during Day 2 of the 2024 NCAA Championships (April 20) in Ohio. State Covelli Center.

The second-place finish marks the third straight year the Wolverines have finished in the top three and are tied for the highest team ranking since winning the NCAA title in 2014. Judah's floor triumph marks the fourth time that a Wolverine won a national title in the event, as well as the first such victory since 1992 (Brian Hinkler). This also brings Michigan's all-time individual titles to 44.

UM totaled 11 All-America honors to bring the program's total to 263. Six Wolverines earned citations, along with graduate student Judah. Daring crewand second year student Fred Richard obtaining multiple distinctions. This year's All-America run gives the Wolverines a double-digit score in each of the last four seasons (10 in 2023, 11 in 2022, 13 in 2021).

In addition to Judah's game-winning performance, Michigan earned four other individual podium finishes. Richard finished second in the still rings (14.400) and all-around (83.999), while Judah finished second on vault (15.133). Senior Javier Alfonso landed third in still rings with a 14.333.

Stanford (425.324) ran away with the competition in the final two rotations after UM closed to within a point of the lead, while perennial power Oklahoma came in third (412.956).

How did it happen

Pommel horse

The Wolverines once again began their night on pommel horse, scoring a 68.532 and sitting in third place after a rotation. Richard anchored with a 14.200, while he was a freshman Kevin Chow achieved a 13.900 after a lead score of 13.866 from the second year student Zach Granados. Stanford led UM by 5.1 points after the first turnover.

Rings again

Two Wolverines reached the podium to finish with a team score of 70.065. Richard dropped anchor again, scoring a 14.400, while senior Alfonso finished third with a 14.333. The Maize and Blue fell to fourth place after the second rotation, behind first-place Stanford by 7.234 points.

Jump

A strong team performance catapulted UM into second place after the third rotation, with a total of 71.965 on the apparatus. Junior David Wolma (14.533) kicked off Michigan's vault, while sophomores Landen Blixt and Richard also contributed with matching scores of 14.333. Judah played for the Wolverines, finishing second in the event with a career-high score of 15.133. Michigan was only halfway behind Stanford, with a 2.034-point gap between first and second place.

Parallel bars

Michigan had a strong performance, scoring a 71.631 to finish just 0.334 points shy of its season-high total on the apparatus. Junior Logan McKeown kicked off the Wolverines' effort with a 14.333, while Bold and senior Evgeny Siminiuc scored 14.566 and 14.433, respectively, to finish with All-America honors. After the fourth rotation, only 0.568 points separated first-place Stanford and Michigan.

Horizontal bar

Two unfortunate falls by Judah and Richard derailed the Wolverines' high bar effort as the team finished with a season-low apparatus total of 66.664. Bold scored an impressive 13.866 to earn an All-America citation, while Siminiuc (13.466) and sophomore Robert Noll (13.366) helped support the team's score. The gap between Stanford and second-place UM widened to 5.969 points early in the final rotation.

Floor exercise: Michigan finished with a session-winning effort, finishing with a team total of 70.832. Judah had the best score of the night in this event, closing out the 2024 season with a career-best effort of 15.133. Blixt also earned an All-America citation for her work, finishing just outside the podium with a 14.433. Senior Lais Najjar also had a strong performance, earning 14,000 for the Wolverines.

The competition concludes UM's 2024 campaign, highlighted by a Big Ten postseason championship, as well as Richard being named Big Ten Gymnast of the Year, Big Ten Championship Gymnast and NCAA finalist . Additionally, head coach Yuan Xiao was named Big Ten Coach of the Year.