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. 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