8A - Thursday, April 8, 2010
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Her world
By Stcphen I. Neshitt I Daily Sports Writcr
aureen Moody, an
uneven bars specialist
on the No. 6 Michigan
women's gymnastics team, often
goes head over heels while swing-
ing in the gym, but it was during
Thanksgiving break in 2008 when
her life was flipped upside down.
Her father, Kevin Moody, was
diagnosed with terminal metastat-
ic pancreatic cancer after going to
the hospital for a blood clot in his
leg.. Doctors told him he had six
months to live.
Kevin held on for eight months,
cherishing every last moment with
his family.
Her older brother, Nolan Moody,
was a senior pitcher for the Michi-
gan State Spartans at the time of
the diagnosis - an event that began
a roller-coaster ride for the two
athletes, home for the holidays.
Their father's medical diagnosis
began a roller-coaster ride for the
two athletes, home for the holidays.
"It was really tough - surprising
more than anything," Nolan said. "I
think that whole weekend was so
surreal, just going in for a blood clot
and leaving with terminal cancer, it
just catches you off-guard.
"Certainly the most difficult
break from school that any of us
could've had, but the good thing
was that we were able to be home
and together as a family. It was a
very difficult time for those eight
months, and it is at times today as
well."
Kevin, a former three-sport
athlete at Kalamazoo College who
practiced law in East Lansing,
resolved to devote his last months
to watching his kids play the sports
they loved. And alongside his wife
Nancy, he did just that, missing
only a handful of events.
The couple traveled across the
. country to watch both gymnastics
and baseball. Although his health
kept him from attending the event,
Kevin was watching on TV as Mau-
reen's Wolverines captured their
third consecutive Big Ten title last
March. She posted a career-high
9.900 on the bars.
He was sitting in the stands as his
son pitched Michigan State's first
no-hitter since 1993 against North-
western last April. When Nolan
stepped off the mound, he found his
father and the two embraced, tears
in their eyes.
Kevin's goal was simple: he
wanted tobe there for everything.
"My dad didn't want a lot of
attention on his illness," Maureen
said. "So the attention turned to
my brother and his baseball and
my gymnastics. My parents tried as
hard as they could to make it to my
meets and his games."
Battling against the odds, Kevin
survived through both sports' sea-
sons, even living to see his son sign
with the Detroit Tigers - Nolan's
first step toward achieving his
childhood dream.
Each meet or ballgame was a
testament to Kevin's fortitude and
dedication.
"I know watching Maureen is
one of my favorite things to do, and
it was one of his too," Nolan said.
"And watching me play baseball is
the same for him, Maureen and my
yet been signed and Nancy had
stopped working - the Moody
family was soaking in every last
moment together.
Nolan reported to Lakeland, Fla.
for his assignment for the Tigers
organization in mid-July, and that's
when his father's health took a turn
for the worst.
On July 19, 2009, Kevin passed
away at home. Although his death
was expected, it wasn't easy.
Maureen was devastated by her
1 think she knew all along that
she wanted to go back to gymnas-
tics .,, she would have to restart
and find a way to have that drive
again, and she's found it now."
mom. I think that having athletics
for those eight months was sort of
therapeutic for everybody."
Although she had spent the pre-
vious two summers in Ann Arbor,
Maureen decided to move back
home for the summer of 2009 to
stay with her family as her father's
life slowly ebbed away.
For a six-week period both kids
were home - when Nolan hadn't
father's passing. In the aftermath,
returning to gymnastics for her
senior year was hard to envision.
"I just didn't feel like myself,"
Maureen said. "I didn't feel ambi-
tious at all, and didn't think I could
muster the energy and enthusiasm
to come back for another year."
Her teammates and coaches
attended the funeral, and it took all
of their support to coax "Mo" back
into the gym.
But it was Nancy and Nolan
who played the biggest role in this
difficult time.
"After my dad died, it was tough
on everybody," Nolan said. "When
we talked (Maureen) said she
didn't have the drive, the emotion
or the energy that is required to do
big-time athletics, but as much as
I sympathized with that, I knew
that one of the best things that
helped me cope was getting back
to playing baseball and talking to
teammates that IShad in college.
"I told her that sports can be
a lot of things, and I think one of
them is a way to fill your mind
with something and move on and
have fun," Nolan added. "I think
she knew all along that she want-
ed to go back to gymnastics, but
she knew it was just going to be
extremely difficult because she
would have to restart and find a
way to have that drive again, and
she's found it now, I have no doubt
about that."
Even after taking the entire sum-
mer off from training, Maureen
picked up right where she left off
with the help of her team, regaining
her spot as one of the Wolverines'
strongest gymnasts on bars.
On Friday, March 12, before
the final home meet this season
- senior night - Maureen stood
beside her mother on the floor at
Crisler Arena as Michigan coach
Bev Plocki spoke of the senior's
accomplishments.
Both mother and daughter stood
strong as Plocki named off the
awards - two-time All-Big Ten,
two-time U-M Athletic Achieve-
mentAward andthe BigTen Sports-
manship Award - but when she
explained the void on Maureen's
other side, the gymnast broke down.
Maureen bowed her head and
tears fell down her face. Nancy
pulled her daughter into an
embrace and the coaches gathered
around her.
There she was, broken and hurt-
ing, but surrounded with love and
support.
"Bev had extremely nice things
to say, and I was truly touched by
it," Maureen said. "Standing out
there with just my mom was really
hard, of course, because it made me
think of my dad. But it was great to
look back at my four years and think
about how wonderful it's been. I
was just so thankful that I could
share that moment with my mom."
"She has shown courage and
dedication unlike I've experienced
in my coaching career," Plocki said
of Maureen in front of the Crisler
Arena crowd. "Maureen, I speak
for myself, the coaches and your
teammates as I say that you are an
inspiration for all of us, and we are
so proud of you."
As Plocki's final words trailed
off, the crowd of 5,042 rose to their
feet.
Maureen and the rest of the Wol-
verines dried their eyes and defeat-
ed No. 5 Georgia, 196.375-195.800.
Moody finished up her career at
home by posting a runner-up score
of 9.850.
FILE PHOTO/Daily
After winning this year's Big
Ten Championships in Columbus
on March 27, Maureen hopped up
onto the podium with her fellow
seniors and grabbed hold of the tro-
phy. They all stuck four fingers in
the air.
They had been there before, but
their fourth conference title in as
many years was something special
for Maureen in particular.
After a year of tragedy, doubt
and uncertainty, Maureen couldn't
have been more thrilled.
"We were just so excited," Mau-
reen said. "I think that this year, in
comparison with my other years,
we've been more focused and deter-
mined to win. All of the teams get
great support and school spirit, and
it's always a fierce competition that
is usually really close score-wise,
and it was alotoffun. I've never felt
that excited for a conference meet."
Both siblings are living out their
dreams, and though their paths took
a foul twist, they still stand strong.
only eight months after she con-
sidered leaving gymnastics, Mau-
reen is helping her team on the
national scene, as the Wolverines
enter the NCAA Regionals this Sat-
urday.
As Nolan looks on from Florida,
he knows his sister made the right
decision.
"I'm proud of her for taking on
that challenge and getting back
into it," Nolan said. "Michigan is
the school Maureen always wanted
to go to, I remember her talking
about it in middle school, so to get
to go there and be able to contrib-
ute to that team on bars and have
some really good scores for them is
great."
Recovery will be a long and pain-
ful road for the Moodys, but as they
have made strides to come to terms
with the hand they've been dealt,
the family has learned that when
tragedy strikes, the bond of a com-
mon passion - athletics - can hold $
things together.
The NCAA Championships will
be held on April 22.in Gainesville,
Fla., two hours away from Lake-
land, and you can bet Nolan, the
Spartan, will be there fully clad in
maize and blue to cheer on his sis-
ter.
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in record-setting 2010 season
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Educating and Inspiring since 1912
By EMILY BONCHI
DailySports Writer.
In a year of letdown seasons,
surprise comeback losses and bro-
ken hearts, Michigan sports are in
an unusual position.
The women's tennis team is
having a different type of year as
well - except it's breaking records
instead of hearts.
The Wolverines are currently
ranked No. 3 in the nation, the
highest ranking in program his-
tory. Prior to this year, the highest
rank the team had ever held was 16.
The Wolverines (5-0 Big Ten, 15-3
overall) haven't had a conference
start this strong since 1997, when
the team wentundefeated through
10 matches in Big Ten play.
With the way the team is play-
ing, the Wolverines are heading
in the direction of repeating the
program's 1996-1997 season, when
Michigan took first place in the Big
Ten and made it to the third round
of the NCAA Tournament.
"We have agroup thatreallygets
along well," Michigan coach Ronni
Bernstein said. "They believe in
each other and push each other
and work really hard. We feel like
we could play with anybody."
Michigan first made history
when it earned a berth to the ITA
National Team Indoor Champion-
ships last February, a tournament
hosted in Madison for 16 of the
country's top teams. It was the
first time in school history Michi-,
gan had ever been invited, and it
was a successful jump-off point
for what's been a thriving spring
season so far. r
"I think we were able to see a
lot of the top teams in the nation
(at the indoor championships),".
senior Tania Mahtani said. "We
saw in the tournament that we
were right at their level, which was
a great motivator for the rest of our
season."
Over the past two months, the
Wolverines have broken several
other program records. The team
had its first win over a top-10 team
back on Feb. 13 against then-No. 6
Miami. Michigan then set another
record by defeating its first top-
five rival on Feb. 26, beating then-
No. 5 Baylor.
After five consecutive road
games and seven consecutive
wins, the women's tennis team
faced its biggest obstacle yet last
weekend - then-No. 4 North-
western.
Northwestern - which fin-
ished No. 1 in 2008 and No. 2 in
2009 - had 81 consecutive wins
over Big Ten opponents coming
into the match against Michigan
last Saturday, while the Wolver-
ines were just breaking into the
top 10 for the first time ever. It was
also the only Big Ten team Michi-
gan coach Ronni Bernstein hadn't
beaten since she started coaching
at Michigan in 2007.
If history repeated itself, the
Wildcats would earn win number*
82.
But, Michigan made program
history once again - one-upping a
previous success for another time
this season - defeating North-
western for the first time since
1997. This was also Michigan's '
first conference match in which
both teams were ranked in the top
10.
Junior team captain Whitney
Taney has proved herself a leader
of the team, stepping up in several
matches this season. However,
she attributes their success to the
bond the players share.
"We all believe in each other on
every single court," Taney said.
"We believe as a team that we can
do it and that we can get the job
done."
Looking ahead, the Wolverines
have a few more firsts on the hori-
zon. They have never hosted the
first or second round of the NCAA
Tournament, but if they stay on
track, that could happen this year 0
as well.
The ultimate first for the wom-
en's tennis team, however, would
be the program's first national
championship.
"Winning a national champion-
ship would be the top goal," Bern-
stein said. "But we're just going to
continue one match at a time and
hopefully end up with some more
firsts."