Golf

• “X under par” or “x over par” rather than +x or -x

Gymnastics

• There are no positions in gymnastics; refer to gymnasts by their year only (“sophomore Natalie Wojcik”)
• You fall “off” the bars, beam, parallel bars, high bar and rings, whereas you fall “on” the vault, floor and pommel horse

• “Sat” can also be an appropriate term for a fall on a vault or a dismount (example: “She sat her vault and received just a 9.2,” “his routine was near-perfect until he sat his dismount”)

• For vaults: “x-twisting (type of vault)” or “(type of vault) (number of twists)” (example: full-twisting Yurchenko or Yurchenko full, one-and-a-half-twisting Tsukahara or Tsukahara 1.5)
• An overall gymnastics competition is called a meet. Dual meet, tri-meet or quad-meet refer to the number of teams in the meet. An event is called an “event” or an “apparatus” (example: Natalie Wojcik got a 9.9 on the beam, becoming the NCAA champion on the event; Anthony McCallum won his fourth apparatus title of the season with his vault title)
• You can use “routine” to refer to individual performances on bars, beam, high bar, parallel bars, pommel horse, rings and floor. Do *not* use “routine” to refer to vault. An individual vault is just called a vault (examples: “Lauren Farley had a near-perfect beam routine” vs. “Sierra Brooks had a near-perfect vault”)

• The apparatus names can also stand alone; no need to say “the bars event” or “the pommel horse apparatus” — just say “the bars” or “the pommel horse”

Swimming and diving

• Swimming and diving does not have positions as most people compete multiple events; refer to swimmers and divers by their year only (“sophomore Maggie MacNeil”)
• An overall competition is called a meet. Dual meet, tri meet or quad meet refer to the number of teams in the meet. Individual races are usually referred to by the name of the race (“She won the 200-yard backstroke”) but to refer to multiple, generally use the word “event” (“Michigan won every event on Sunday”)
• To indicate distance, use “X-yard (event)”

Wrestling

• Wrestling does not have positions. Refer to wrestlers by their year only (“sophomore Mason Parris”)
• An overall competition is called a match. A subset of the match in which two wrestlers go against each other is called a bout

• “In the final bout of the match, Mason Parris pinned his opponent, securing the win for Michigan”

• When referring to weight classes, only use a hyphen if the weight class is modifying another noun

• “At 125 pounds, Jack Medley won his bout by major decision” vs. “Michigan lost its 125-, 141- and 165-pound bouts, but still won the match”

• Bouts can be won by decision, major decision, near-fall and fall (also known as a pin); only near-fall has a hyphen unless used to modify a noun

• “Jackson Striggow won by major decision” vs. “Jackson Striggow’s major-decision win”

• “Meet” can be used in the context of dual meet or tri-meet (which refers to the number of teams competing) — dual meets are often shortened to just “duals” (NOT “duels”)

Track and field and cross country

• Refer to track athletes by their year only (“redshirt junior Jada Wimberly”)
• Running races should be referred to as “x meters” (“He came in third in the 200 meters”)
• Other track events should be punctuated like “x-meter (EVENT) (examples: “100-meter hurdles,” “3000-meter steeplechase”)
• For jumps and throws, use “x meters” when referring to distance. DO NOT use a hyphen unless the distance modifies another noun (examples: “Listkowitz threw for 20.29 meters” vs. “Listkowitz’s 20.29-meter throw was a new school record”)

Baseball and softball

• Pitchers should be referred to as “left-hander” or “right-hander”
• The sections of the outfield are left field, center field and right field. Two words and not hyphenated unless they modify another noun (example: “Blair hit the ball into left field” vs. “Blair hit the ball over the left-field fence”)
• Distinguish a player’s specific position in a given game, if possible (“left fielder” instead of outfielder; “second baseman” instead of infielder)
• If a player played more than one infield or outfield position during the time period the story covers, they can be referred to as “infielder” or “outfielder.” If they played multiple different positions, such as infield and outfield or catcher and first base, they are a “utility player”
• A player who bats and does not play the field is a “designated hitter” in baseball and a “designated player” in softball
• The place where a pitcher stands is “the mound” in baseball and “the circle” in softball
• “Groundout,” “flyout” and “strikeout” are one word
• The plural of RBI is RBI. That abbreviation can stand alone; you do NOT need “runs batted in” on first reference

Tennis

• A tennis competition is called a “match.” A subset of a competition in which two players or pairs compete is also called a match
• The player to win the match is the first to win two sets. A set is won by winning six games (and winning by at least two games over the opponent). Games are won by players gaining points

Volleyball

• A volleyball competition is called a “match.” Teams win a match by being the first to win two sets

Field hockey

• Field hockey positions are forwards, midfielders, backs and goalkeepers (a back is a defensive player, marked with a B on a roster)
• On penalty corners, the person who hits the ball to teammates is called the “inserter”

Water polo

• Positions in water polo are attacker, defender, goalkeeper and utility player

Rowing

• “First varsity eight,” “second varsity four,” etc. spelled out on first reference, can be abbreviated as “1V8,” “2V4” etc. on subsequent references