American girls
The Michigan women's gymnastics team came
home from the NCAA Championships with
seven altAmerica nominations.
First team nominees En
Nikki Peters Floor, beam
Sarah Cain Uneven bars
Bridget Knaeble Floor
Karina Senior Beam
Second team nominees Event
Cain All-around, floor
Lisa Simen AtI-Around, beam
Shannon MacKenzie Beam
IUNNERS-UP
Continued from Page 16
team format for the Wolverines,
Peters supplied a heartfelt perfor-
mance.
"For the first time I actually
cried," she said. "It felt really good to
finish on a high note."
That high note was thanks to a
9.95 she received from the judges --
tting the ball in the Bulldogs' court
and forcing them to produce on their
final event, the floor exercise.
"It's not over until the Georgia
fight song plays and Karin Lichey is
ott the floor," Yoculan said.
Georgia's senior sensation was not
only the individual champion on the
floor last year, but she was also
ranked No. I this year.
Once Lichey successfully landed
r first tumble it becaie clear
which team would be taking home
the Sears National Championship
Trophy.
"I knew it was going to take a
problem on Georgia's part in order
for our bars to beat their floor
scores," Plocki said.
Although finishing as the NCAA
runner-up for the second time in four
years was an accomplishment, it still
disappointed a team who has worked
* hard all year to come so close.
What proved to lift Michigan's
spirits somewhat though was the
news that six of its own made either
tho irc nrcn.t~ni al~dai A
Tuesday, May 4, 1999 - The Michigan Daily -,15
Wolverines nearly tame talented 'Gym Dogs'
By Stephen A. Rom
Daily Sports Writer
SALT LAKE CITY - "Michigan
was awesome!"
That is what the Georgia gymnasts
said to their coach shortly after win-
ning a second-straight national
championship.
As team members made their way
to the post-meet
press conference GYMNASTICS,
via the narrowy
passageway lead- Commentary
ing from the Jon ----~~----~--~-~-
M. Huntsman center to the media
area, the acoustics must have magni-
fied their footsteps just loud enough
to remind them of those they had
heard the entire evening -
Wolverine footsteps.
This was quite an unfamiliar
sound to Georgia. Over the past two
seasons, the gritty 'Gym Dogs' have
accumulated 64 straight victories.
But of them all, perhaps none came
BASEBALL
Continued from Page 16
But an impressive four game sweep
of the Spartans (7-12 Big Ten, 24-20
overall) this weekend, proved that
Michigan (12-8, 25-20) is still a con-
tender for the Big Ten playoffs.
The series opened on Friday, the final
day of classes, at Michigan State's Kobs
Field. The Michigan State baseball
team looked as if they may have
indulged in a little pre-game celebrat-
itg, as they committed five errors en
route to losing, 9-2. Michigan starter
J.J. Putz (3-3) scattered 10 hits, while
allowing only two earned runs in the
complete game effort.
On Saturday, the two teams traveled
down to Ann Arbor for a double dip at
as well-earned as the one notched
against Michigan on April 23.
The third-ranked Wolverines put
forth a consummate effort in a meet
they had been looking forward to all
year. If they were going to go down,
it wouldn't be without a fight.
Thanks to their all-time post-sea-
son high score of 196.550, Michigan
wounded the fierce Gym Dogs -
who are composed of three former
U.S. National Team members, a 1996
Puerto Rico Olympic Team member
and a handful of All-Americans. But
just like the T-shirts worn by the
Georgia gymnasts had predicted, the
five-time national champions perse-
vered and ultimately feasted on their
competition -- including Michigan.
Their shirts read "A Wounded Dog
is a Hungry Dog."
"I had always said that I would
never be disappointed with my team
if they did the best they could and
just got beat by a better team,"
"The Fish." The Wolverines, behind a
career day from David Parrish, took
both games of the doubleheader, 12-3
in the opener and 9-8 in the nightcap. In
the opener, Bryce Ralston (6-1) allowed
just one earned run, struck out nine and
"was pretty much on cruise control the
whole game," Parrish said.
Parrish was also firing on all cylin-
ders. The California native went a com-
bited 7-8 on the day with three home
runs, five runs scored and eight RBI.
On Sunday, the Wolverines escaped
with an 8-7 victory to complete the
sweep. The game was highlighted by
the performance of senior co-captain
Mike Cervenak, who moved himself
into a tie for first place on Michigan's
career hit list with three hits on the day.
Michigan coach Bev Plocki said.
Unlike home favorite Utah, who
had been ousted from its own party
in the preliminary round of competi-
tion, Michigan's invitation to the
Super Six was impressively sealed
when senior Lisa Simes nailed a per-
feet dismount off the vault. This was
in the midst of a deafening roar from
the approximately 9,000 fans that
were applauding a Utah gymnast
who had just made her own convinc-
ing dismount from the uneven bars.
However, those same fans were as
silent as a church mouse when they
saw three Utes fall off the balance
beam - inspiring the headline
"Three Fallin"' in the local paper the
next day.
And who would be the team that
benefited from Utah's premature
departure? Just ask Val Kondos,
UCLA's head coach.
After the Bruins clinched their
spot earlier in the day - along with
the Sun Devils and the Crimson Tide
- she, was asked if it could be can-
sidered a lock that top-seeded
Michigan, Utah, and Georgia were
going to advance past their prelimi-
nary round of competition later that
evening.
"Absolutely not," she said. "It's
anybody's ballgame. I think
Nebraska is a great team. They defi-
nitely have a shot."
Besides making Kondos look like
Nostradamus, the Cornhuske'
appearance in the Super Six also
meant a feather in the cap of Region
III, from which Michigan and
Nebraska reached the final round. It
was the only region to have two
schools represented in the final
round of competition.
Watch Michigan, Nebraska, and
the rest of the finalists when CBS
airs the entire championships on
Saturday, May 8th at 2:00 p.m ,
Eastern.
I
the first
team. In
Scott Sh
post-seaso
the NCAA
award, a t
or second al - merican
addition, assistant coach
erman contributed to the Hufting for
in accolades by locking up
A assistant coach of the year C *0.0
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