The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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faith in everyone else and yourself." After last year's national champi- onship, Michigan's entire team got tattooed. Mikulak received ink on his side, telling the story of a dream fulfilled: under a block "M," it read "Those Who Stay Will Be Champi- ons." The Wolverines doubled down on that success this year. Only this time around, the culmination came inside Crisler Center, before more fans than Mikulak has witnessed at a men's college gymnastics event. "You couldn't have a greater senior year," he said. "To win back-to-back, something nobody in the history of gymnastics has ever done, win the all-around title again, to win with the team … and to have all the home fans cheering for you gave all of us that much more confidence. People were coming out to see us put on a show. "That was the biggest, most special moment of all of our college gymnas- tics careers." There were a couple of memories, within the big-picture moment of nailing down the second national title in Crisler Center, that won't go away. Not now, not ever, according to one of Michigan's most accom- plished athletes of all time. The first came when the Wolver- ines began the initial event of the 2014 NCAA Championships at Crisler, the pommel horse. The an- nouncer intoned, by way of introduc- tion: "Nolan Novak, from the Uni- versity of Michigan…" "The whole crowd just erupts," Mi- kulak recalled, his voice tinged with wonder. "You could tell there was so much on the line." It's a risky event, one rife with mistakes. Michigan wasn't going to make many on this day. "We just knew," Mikulak said. "The crowd was behind us. Every- one watched him hit his set perfectly, then one after another, everyone hit their sets, better than they have all season. I was the last one to go, and we just looked at the team, and ev- eryone was ecstatic. That was the moment we knew, this was our day." Mikulak also finished Michigan's rotation on floor exercise, right at the end of the competition. He knew at that moment, barring some sort of unthinkable breakdown, the Wolver- ines were going to be back-to-back national champions. That sort of anxiety, energy and eu- phoria all swirled through his head, just prior to 60 seconds of ultimate athletic fulfillment. "There were a lot of nerves, and pressure, and I was just ready to fin- ish it," Mikulak recalled. "I hit the best floor set I did all year. I stuck the dismount, which was my last routine I could possibly do for Michigan as a team. "It was one of those moments where, as soon as I stuck it, everyone knew, I knew … I let out some huge roar. My body was pulsing. I was so ecstatic. The excitement and adrena- line rush of the accomplishment, of my entire NCAA career, made it one of the most incredible and memo- rable experiences of my life." Certainly, he assured, it was worth a trek across the country to go to school. His parents both attended Cal-Berke-