6B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - February 21, 2005 Ray succeeds in front of brother . By Katie Niemeyer Daily Sports Writer With her brother - an Army Ranger who spent time in Iraq - in town for the meet, senior Elise Ray exploded at the Coaches Care Chal- lenge at Crisler Arena on Friday, winning her first all-around title of the season (38.575) and cleanly sweeping the event titles. "That's what did it for me," Ray said. "I feel like I've been in a little bit of a rut lately, and they just pulled me right out - all the boys that came. They're like my family - I mean my brother and all his friends.... It was a really spe- cial night." Ray's brother and some of his fellow Army Rangers were honored for their service in Iraq during the meet. With her brother in attendance, Ray certainly did come back in full force after being plagued by a shoulder injury and a sore Achilles tendon that has been bothering her all season. She started out the night with a pair of 9.875s on the vault and bars. She upped her score to a 9.900 on beam and clinched the sweep with a 9.925 on floor. "(Friday) was just (Elise's) night," sophomore Lindsey Bruck said. "I was so proud of her. She had a smile on her face. And her brother was here, and it was great for him to see her." As phenomenal as it was, Ray's performance could not overshadow the team's success as a whole. At least four Wolverines earned a third- place finish or better in every event. And Ray (39.575), Bruck (39.325) and junior Jenny Deiley (39.300) went one-two-three in the all-around in No 2. Michigan's win over West Virginia (196.950-193.125). "All of us put together had a great meet tonight," Ray said. "I mean, we hit our team high ... And even so, we didn't have our perfect meet yet. So we're really excited about our team score." The Wolverines did not have to count a single score below a 9.800 during the meet, coming just five hundredths of a point short of achieving their season-long goal of a 197-combined team score. "We really needed this home performance to go into the latter part of the season," Michigan coach Bev Plocki said. "We're changing into an RQS system, and I hope that this will propel us to the No. 1 ranking, which I think will be incredible for our kids' confidence and every- thing else." Based on the RQS ranking system, every team's best six scores - including at least three from away meets - will be averaged after drop- ping the highest of the six. The teams will be ranked according to this average. Michigan should be announced as the No. 1 team in the nation today. Michigan started the meet off solidly on vault (49.225), where senior Shanna Duggan, fresh- man Katie Lieberman and Deiley tied for second behind Ray. The Wolverines continued their momentum on bars, where they scored a solid 49.050. But they really excelled on beam (49.275) and floor (49.400). "I thought our beam routines were spectacular just in general," Plocki said. "I thought that this was by far the best floor performance that we've had as a whole." Plocki said that she got goosebumps three times Friday - once because of the team's suc- cess, once during the recognition for the Army Rangers and once due to the funds raised for the Coach Carr Cancer Fund at the Silent Auction. The Wolverines came away from the meet Fri- day night feeling good - with a little bit more confidence but also with the knowledge that they still have a few things they can improve. "It'll be nice to get back into the gym and keep working on some stuff and fix some things," Bruck said. MIKE HULSEBUS/Daily Senior Elise Ray had a successful weekend, sweeping the vault, bars and beams in front of her brother. Tumblers fall short in meet's final moments By Sara Livingston Daily Sports Writer The Wolverines just couldn't escape the lion's bite Saturday night, as No. 5 Penn State hung on with a firm grasp to defeat the No. 4 Michigan men's gym- nastics team 222.6 to 219.575. When fifth-year senior captain Chris Gatti mounted the parallel bars, the Wol- verines were down .4 points and knew they needed to stick every one of their final six routines to even have a chance at beating the Nittany Lions. After Gatti dismounted to a disappointing score of 8.5 due to a mistaken-ridden routine, the Wolverines kept on cheering, hoping senior Dave Flannery could jumpstart the team's momentum with a solid routine. But Flannery fell short, and sophomore Andre Hernandez's 8.975 wasn't enough to lift the Wolverines. With just three more gymnasts left, the team rallied around junior Justin Laury, hoping he would overcome his aching limbs and have a perfect routine - something the team has come to expect from him. Despite the team's hopes, Laury's body got the best of him, and he faltered on the apparatus, scoring an 8.85. "Individually I came into the meet tired and beat up," Laury said. "From the moment I walked into the arena, I felt so tired, and I knew that it was going to be a difficult meet." Next up was junior Gerry Signorelli, who had been in a "physical slump," according to coach Kurt Gold- er. But Golder was optimistic that Signorelli would work his way out of it. Midway through his routine, Signorelli slipped and fell off the bars. Although he re-mounted, he finished with a score of 8.25. Senior captain Geoff Corrigan's first-place finish of 9.5 was just too late to save the Wolverines. "It's always important to close out the meet strong," Corrigan said. "As a team, we just weren't able to rally." Michigan's remaining hope to win the match was finally deflated when Penn State's Luis Vargas scored a 9.9 on his team's final high bar routine. That perfor- mance helped the Nittany Lions outscore Michigan, 38.450 to 35.825 on the last apparatus. "You have to have a couple guys in a row step up and have career best performances, and we didn't do that," Golder said. "That really gives you an emotional boost to build off of, and we never got that boost. "In practice we were looking pretty good, and I was hoping that would get the meet off to a real good start. And it didn't go that way." Despite the team's 3.025-point defeat, the Wol- verines view this loss as a step up from the one they suffered against Minnesota last weekend. Their team score - which is crucial during Big Ten and NCAA Championships - improved from a 215.925 to a 219.75, and they feel that this is the turning point in their season. "Every season has its ups and (downs), and that's just the way it works," Corrigan said. "We have to have a low point in the season to get back up, and I think we are working up from Minnesota. This is a big jump from as low as we were against Minnesota." The team attributes its abundance of missed rou- tines to its weakened lineup - freshmen Dan Rais is still out with a high ankle sprain - and worn down physical condition. But, Golder is aware this is no excuse for posting low scores and will be looking toward this week's practices to clean up the team's routines. "We are going to do some sequence-perfection work this week," Golder said. "We are going to take a break from doing routines, which don't focus enough on per- fection and quality. That way we can have a little more emphasis on perfection." With Michigan's final home meet next Saturday afternoon against Stanford - a team that beat the Wolverines in their home opener last year - the Wol- verines will be looking toward this meet to get back on track and start putting up the team scores necessary to win the Big Ten Championships. "Next week is a huge meet," Flannery said. "We .need to start building the momentum, and this is definitely the turning point in our season. We need to turn it around and get focused and concentrate and put up a score that is better than what we put up against Oklahoma to turn the season around." That score of 222.275 was a Michigan record. But, while the Wolverines want to improve their score in each game, they are more concerned with the big pic- ture - next month's Big Ten Championships. The team knows it has to patch up Saturday's lion's bite and get back on the winning track to ensure another Big Ten trophy. "I know our team is very confident, and we have a history of stepping it up in the end," Laury said. "We know from experience that this part of the season is just like practice and warm ups for the Big Tens, and it doesn't matter that much that we had two losses. "In the end, you look back, and who is really going to remember Michigan losing to Penn State? All any- one is going to remember is when the Big Ten (Cham- pionships) come around." TONY DING/Daily Geoff Corrigan's first-place finish in the parallel bars was not enough for a Michigan win. Tired of being a I Want to be a MiniSoccer Offc lsNeeded! Why officiate Mini-Soccer??? Very flexible scheduling We provide all training - first time officials welcome Uniforms provided and yours to keep! Earn $7.00 an hour Meet new friends Training clinics on Monday, February 21 St at 7:00 PM and Thursday, February 24th at 6:00 PM Both clinics are at the Intramural Sports Building. 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