'M' tumblers finish fourth at CAAs; Wymer wins on bars Wednesday, May 4, 1994 - The Michigan Daily - 17 By Melanie Schuman DAILY SPORTS WRITER It's been said before that modesty breeds champions. Apparently the Michigan women's gymnastics team Oas turned this spoken cliche into hard fact, finishing fourth at the NCAA Championships in Salt Lake City in late April. At the beginning of the 1994cam- paign, the Wolverines aimed for a position in the Super Six finale at the National Championships. After breaking numerous school records, including composite score (195.35) and national ranking (3), Michigan *ealized that its goal of a sparkling finish was quite reachable. At the National Championship meet Thursday, April21, in Utah, the Wolverines advanced to the Super Six competition and a shot at regain- ing one of this season's final top-five rankings. Challenging Utah, Alabama (the No. I seed) and Georgia was a task WIichigan was glad to do as the under- dog, and the squad negated anyone's doubt that it could overcome the pe- rennial top three. "I heard some people saying that Michigan should not be in the top six and we wanted to prove them wrong,. said junior Beth Wymer, w hose 9.95 earned her a second consecutive un- even bars national title. "We showed that we belong here and are as taL- ented as anyone in the country." Michigan coach Bev Plocki, who was named NCAA Co-National Coach of the Year, was a pivotal link to the first-ever Super Six berth and fourth-place finish. Her accomplish- ments, as much as the gymnasts', are what helped the Wolverines achieve this success. "I have a great feeling of pride for our girls and our program," Plocki said. "When I came herefive years ago,I felt we had the possibility to achieve, but it was going to take a lot of hard work by everyoneinvolved. I wouldlove totake all the credit for everything that has happened, but it has been a combina- tion effort from our coaching staif, athletes and administration." During Friday's final, the Wol- verines notched a solid composite score of 195.150, peaking on the bal- ance beam. Led by junior Kelly Carfora's 39.050 all-around score, Michigan's support for one another supplementeditsperfonnance in front of a pro-Utah crowd. "We may have finished fourth in gymnastics but we aredefinitely first as a team, 'junior Debbie Hermtn said. "In a crowd of 12,0x0Ipeople cheering for Utah,Iatways heard my teammates cheering me during a routine." In Saturday's final. Wymer tied Utah's Sandy Woosley and Georgia's Lori Strong for the bars title, after scoring a disappointing 9.325 in the team competition the previous night. "Beth always competes with a high level of intensity," Plocki said. "She was very nervous this weekend which isn't really characteristic of her. I was hoping she would be able to leas e here with a title and she came through." Wymer came in second on the apparatus Plocki accredits as her best - the balance beam. Her 9.90 was .075 shy of Kentucky's Jenny Hanson's winning mark. Along with sophomore Wendy Marshall, whose weekend was highlighted by a team- high 9.9 on the vault, Wymer was named season MVP. Wymer also earned spots on the first-team All-American for bars and beam and on the second-team for vault and all-around. Marshall was named to the second-team for vault and all-around. Michigan's Beth Wymer won a national championship on the uneven bars. 1 Softball drops to fourth after *losing three of four vs. Iowa By Melanie Schuman pitches. Jackson allowed the second run the season in relief of winner Kelly DAILY SOFTBALL WRITER to score when she threw a wild pitch past Holmes (11-10). After finally breaking into the top Harrison. After a shaky start to the confer- 25, the Michigan softball team lost In the bottom of the same inning, ence duel, Jackson demonstrated why three of last weekend's four games the Iowa offense attempted to negate she maintains a .758 winning per- against Big Ten rival Iowa. the defense's errors, but posted only centage in Sunday's makeup games. As a result of Friday's split and one run. The Wolverines later with- The day off (rainout on Saturday) *Sunday's losses, the defending con- stood a Hawkeye rally in the seventh allowed her time to recuperate and ference champion Wolverines' (10-6 when their opponent put two runners stabilize her game plan. Over the Big Ten, 24-22 overall) now stand in scoring position with two outs. courseofthetwolowavictories,Jack- just two games above .500. Mean- Kovach earned her second save on See SOFrBALL, Page 19 while, the Hawkeyes move into sec- ond place in the conference, and Michigan drops to 4th. JuniorKelly Kovach (11-12) took the mound for Michigan in game one of Friday's doubleheader. Not only was her pitching good enough to pos- *sibly win the game, she was the hot- test Wolverine at the plate, going 2- for-3 with one double and the sole avg 7.5 pt increase avg 6 pt increase Michigan RBI. Yet with a 1-1 tie going into the top of the seventh in- ning, shortstop Jessica Lang recorded two of her three errors, allowing the Hawkeyes to notch two runs and post aVg 72 pt increase avg 214 pt Increase a 3-1 victory. Test prep s a ig investment. InthesecondgameofFriday'stwinbill, We have the only THE Michigan found more success both at the INDEPENDENTLY VERIFIED PRINCETON plate andinthe field,nottomentionalittle national grad test score REVIEW help from Iowa. In the top of the fourth, Improvements. w w nm; Michiganscoredback-to-backmnswhen No other company can back up their Stacee Harrison couldn't block one of Hawkeye ace Karen Jason's (25-8) scores like we can. 63,. 6 Hwyeaea Th. Prkwaoton aR.wiewis atlillated with noith The Eduwaidiwa i L LI Student Position: Oversee the Student Academic Multicultural Initiatives (SAMI) database. Process proposals, approval/rejection letters, and expense report letters. Assist with reconciling statement of accounts. Assist with the preparation of financial reports. Assist the budget analyst with special projects and year-end activities. Other duties as assigned. Knowledge of some business ard financial management. At- tentive to details. Good interpersonal skills. Excellent oral and written communication skills. Some experience with the use of Macintosh computers, preferably with Excel and Filemaker Pro. Business school student with one to two years business, accounting or budgeting background. The application may be picked up at the Office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives front desk between the hours of 8:00am - 5:00pm. If you have any specific questions, please refer them to Alida Walker at 936-1055. May 16 - August 31, 1994 (renewal possible) Part-time: IS hours per week; $7.05/hour The Office of Academic Multicultural initiatives 1042 Fleming Administration Building Deadline to apply is May 13, 1994 rr r i i w r r a w i i