8 - The Michigan Daily - SPORTSMonday - Monday, April 10, 1995 Wymer ends By Michael Joshua Daily Sports Writer Saturday, Michigan saw the last home performance of one of the greatest gymnasts in school and NCAA history. Senior All-American and co-captain Beth Wymer competed for the last time in Ann Arbor. "I am going to be sad to leave this university and no longer be a gymnast," Wymer said. "It's been my entire life for over 18 years. It's kind of tough, it's like I am going through a mid- life crisis. Now what do I do?" However, before Wymer has time to contemplate her life after gymnastics, one more meet remains where she will be able to showcase her talents - the NCAA Championships. Wymer is the two-time defending national champion on the uneven bars, as well as a six-time All-American. Her other achievements include being a participant in the 1993 World University Games and being named the Big Ten Gymnast of the Year in 1992 and 1994. She either holds, or is tied for, the top score in all events in Michigan history, having received a perfect score on the bars, vault and the floor. At the Regional meet Saturday, she topped her own school-record in the balance beam with a score of 9.95. However, the Regional meet was not one of her better meets. She had some difficulty on the bars and stepped out of bounds on the floorexercise, while attaining scores of 9.8 and 9.65. On the balance beam, Wymer shared the title with Alabama's Stephanie Woods and finished second overall in the all-around competition. home career 0 Most people would have been ecstatic with this overall performance. Yet one must take into account Beth Wymer's standards. "For me, personally, I didn't do as well as I could have," Wymer said. "I had a rough day but that happens. Hopefully, when Nationals come around and it's the final determining meet, this was just the qualifier, hopefully I will be on and I am ready to be on. "In two weeks, we're going to have everything cleaned up and we're going to be ripping and raring to go for the Nationals." Despite all her individual accomplishments, Wymer al- ways stresses the importance of being on a team and the achievements of the Wolverines as a whole. She seems to shy away from questions which focus only on her own success. "It takes a team to win a championship," she said. "Beth always tries to do whatever she can to help the team," coach Bev Plocki said. The NCAAs will be the last chance for gymnastic spec- tators to see the power and grace of Elizabeth Wymer. The only other place that Wymer could perform again would be the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. However, at this moment, that is not very likely. "I don't know if I have had enough gymnastics, but my body has," the 22 year-old Wymer said. "I'll definitely be sad to leave. It's been the best time of my entire life by far, and? I'll probably never have experiences like this ever again." "I'm definitely going to find something that I have to perfect and become aperfectionist at." tR MARK FRIEDMAN/Daily The Michigan women's gymnastics team finished second in Saturday's NCAA Central Regional. Alabama was the only team with a better score. The Crimson Tide have now won the regional in 10 of the last 11 years. hi dw I AN AN AN AN AN AN GYMNASTICS NOTEBOOK' Marshall joins elite group By Michael Joshua Daily Sports Writer Therehave been only three athletes in Michigan history to have recorded a perfect score in their careers. All three arepartofthisyear'ssquad. They include senior Beth Wymer, who has received a10 on the bars, vault and the floor exercise, junior Wendy Marshall (vault) and freshman Heather Kabnick (vault). Marshall won the vault title for the second straight year with aperfect score. She shared this year's title with Ala- bamajunior Kim Kelly and Louisiana StatejuniorJennifer Wood. Wymer barely missed getting a 10 on the balance beam Saturday, receiv- ing a career best 9.95. UNSTOPPABLE: The Alabama women's gymnastics team continued its domination of the NCAA Central Regional, capturing it for the eighth consecutive time this weekend atCrisler Arena. In fact, Alabama has won the regional 10 of the past eleven years. The Crimson Tide finished second to Louisiana State in 1986. TOP PERFORMERS: Michigan placed four in the top six of the all-around competition. Co-captain Wymer (39.35), Marshall (39.25), Kabnick (39.2.25) and sophomore Andrea McDonald (38.925) finished second, third, fourth and sixth, respectively. LSU's Wood won the title with a score of 39.475. Though Michigan did not win the meet, coach Bev Plocki was quite pleased with how the individuals did overall. "They did a great job." Plocki said. "We didn't have our best meet, but we did not have a bad meet. I'm not disappointed by any stretch of - ---- --- m Are you upsetp because yourytesr nge g da.tes .much. older men? You could be ona national talk show. Call Juliet orJiA collecta (212) 582-1722 ext. 21 or23 or (212) 246-6813 ''7 HIGH QUALITY LOW PRICFS the imagination." Up FOR GRABS: The consensus around the Central region seems to be that a number of teams competing at Nationals are capable of winning the title. "I think anyone in the top five has a chance to win the national title," Wood said. "We believe we are on the hunt for anything that is out there." The team which is able to stay fo- cused and get perfect or near perfect performances from all members could be the determining factor. "Everybody is so close that if one person makes a mistake, that gives somebody else room to step up," Ala- bama senior Chasity Junkin said. SELECTION PROCESS: Alabama, Michigan and LSU all qualified for the NCAA Championships to be held April 21-23 in Athens, GA. The 12 teams which make up the field are determined by the winners of the five separate regions receiving automatic bids. Seven at-large bids are given to the teams with the next highest regional scores. Georgia, the winner of the South- eastregional with a score of 197.575, is the No. I seed. Alabama has the second seed, Utah (196.625 and Midwest Re- gional champions) is the third seed and UCLA (195.9 and West) is the fourth seed. Penn State alsoqualified. 5 1002 PONTIAC TR. 994-1367 Set your ' Ft on SPRING! MARK FRIEDMAN/Daily Michigan's Wendy Marshall celebrates her perfect score on the vault. Marshall won the event and finished third in the all-around competition. Ao d' for your eyeglasses and eye exams GYMNASTICS Continued from page 1 Utah and UCLA. But the Wolverines have the poten- tial for even better scores than the one they posted. In fact, after a 196.500 in the Big Ten Championships, Michigan's score disappointed many. "I think that we did well, but we 320 S. State - Lower Level 662-1945 = Decker Drugs i .. ......... .......... ............. . ............. $239* for24moCome see the NEW $459**for 30 mos.: 1995 AcuraItegra IS dr; 1996 25T 1995 Acura Legend L Sedan could've done better," Plocki said. "We were not our sharpest. We had a couple of breaks and we had said coming into this meet that the teams are so closely matched that it was going to come down to who hit the most routines." During the first rotation Michigan jumped out to an early lead and had a score of 48.525. However, after sitting out with a bye during the first rotation, Ala- bama later took the lead with a 49.525 in the vault. For the next four hours, Ala- bama continued to edge out the com- petition in every event - and it turned out to be enough for the vic- tory. "We knew if we went on and hit then we could come out on top," Alabama senior Chasity Junkin said. "I think there are some areas we need to work on, like bars and floor, but other than that we knew we could do it." Apparently, the floor exercise was a problem for many of the squads. Michigan certainly had its share of troubles on the floor. "We had twoout of boundsdeduc- tions and that floor just didn't seem to be big enough for a lot of people to- night," Plocki said. "You have to give it to Alabama. I don't think they counted any breaks. They did a great job, and they're known for coming through in the championship meets - hit- - ' " -° e s s ' z .. 5 spd., air cond., antilock, AM/FM cassette, power windows, mirrors, dual air bags, power sunroof, power locks, cruise. Special Financing with proof of degree or commitment of graduation (Graduate NEW '95 Hyundai starting at $8079 after rebate Auto., air cond., leather, AM/FM cassette, power windows, power mirrors, power seat, power locks, cruise control, dual airbags, ABS, power sunroof. All standard. 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