The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SportsMonday
January 11, 2016 — 3B
ROBERT DUNNE/Daily
Freshman Olivia Karas fell on both the beam and the uneven bars, but she scored a meet-high 9.950 on the floor exercise in the Wolverines win over No. 7 Georgia.
‘M’ tops Georgia, stays undefeated
By LANEY BYLER
Daily Sports Writer
With
only
a
0.150-point
difference
headed
into
the
last event Saturday, the No. 7
Michigan women’s gymnastics
team knew it had to pull a strong
performance on the floor to
secure a win at its home opener
against No. 9 Georgia. To do that,
the Wolverines had to set aside
miscues from earlier in the meet
— and they did just that.
Four Wolverines scored a 9.900
or above on the floor exercise,
propelling Michigan to its final
score of 196.925, trumping the
Bulldogs’ 195.200. Among these
gymnasts were senior Briley
Casanova and freshman Olivia
Karas, both of whom achieved
career-high scores on the floor, a
9.900 and 9.950, respectively.
Karas started strong on the
vault, earning the highest score of
a 9.900, and took first in the event.
After making mistakes on the bars
and beam, she made a tremendous
comeback on the floor event to tie
for first with a score of 9.95 with
junior Nicole Artz.
“That’s what happened tonight,
we had mistakes,” said Michigan
coach Bev Plocki. “But the other
five were able to come through
and do what we needed to do for
the team. That’s part of learning
the college way. I think this was a
great learning experience for her.”
Artz’s contributions in all areas
of the meet propelled Michigan
to the win as she matched her
previous career high on the floor
with a 9.950, tying with Karas.
Artz also walked away with three
more
achievements,
including
being the all-around champion
with a score of 39.450, and tied
junior Talia Chiarelli for first in
the balance beam exercise with a
score of 9.875. Artz also tied for
first with Georgia’s Sydney Snead
on the uneven bars with a score of
9.900.
“Nicole is a kid on our team who
works hard every day,” Plocki said.
“She never takes shortcuts, and she
works just as hard in the classroom.
She’s a tremendous student and a
tremendous athlete. She leads by
example. She works hard, but she
doesn’t take herself too seriously.
I think that’s what endears her to
everybody and makes them want
to follow her as a leader.”
Chiarelli also spent some time
on the podium, earning a third-
place finish on the floor with a 9.925
and a second place finish on the
vault with a 9.875. Her consistency
and strong performances helped
Michigan maintain its lead over
Georgia and keep a hold on its
undefeated season.
“I don’t really think about
personal too much,” Chiarelli
said. “As a team, we just wanted
to have another great meet.
We came off of a great meet in
Cancun (Mexico) last week, so we
just wanted to stay consistent and
keep the energy up and fix a few of
the smaller things.”
Despite
initially
trailing
Georgia after the first event, the
Wolverines made a solid return
while on rotations for the bars
and beam, establishing a small
lead they would maintain for the
rest of the meet. Despite the win,
Michigan had small mistakes and
bobbles, particularly on beam,
that need attention — not a single
Wolverine scored a 9.900 or
higher during that event.
“This was a great result with
a win against a tremendous
program, but we also came away
with a lot of things we need to
work on,” Plocki said. “I think
they know that, they understand
that, and we’re ready to go back in
the gym Monday and get to work.”
Individuals shine
in Wolverine win
By AVI SHOLKOFF
Daily Sports Writer
In a meet against the No. 9
team in the country, the Michigan
women’s gymnastics team needed
to be especially sharp at Crisler
Center on Saturday to earn an
impressive win.
Led by five athletes who either
tied or set new career highs in the
meet, the fifth-ranked Wolverines
narrowly defeated No. 9 Georgia,
196.925-195.200.
After missing all of last season
due to injury, sophomore Lauren
Marinez surpassed her personal
record on the beam with a 9.775,
beating her score of 9.750, which
she set just last weekend.
Senior
Briley
Casanova
scored a 9.900 on the floor event,
her highest since her freshman
year, which came as a surprise
even to her.
Michigan practiced few special
dance moves, though Casanova
explained the importance of a
drill she and her teammates call
“shoot ’em downs.”
“(It’s a drill in which) we
just try make eye contact with
everyone on our team on the
floor whenever we do a dance
through,” Casanova said. “We
really emphasized that.”
Freshman Emma McLean also
tied a career high. She received
a 9.850 in the floor event, living
up to the promise she’s showed
as a newcomer. Last weekend at
the meet in Cancun, Mexico, she
scored a 9.775.
Sophomore
Nichelle
Christopherson, who performed
in just four routines last season,
significantly improved from her
showing on the uneven bars in
the previous meet. There, she
scored a 9.100 after being added
to the rotation at the last minute.
Saturday, she scored a 9.825,
tying her best score ever, which
she set last January.
Junior Talia Chiarelli, who
finished in the top three for each
event in which she competed,
explained
what
individual
successes can mean for the team.
“It’s awesome,” Chiarelli said.
“It’s even more awesome to do
that in one of the first meets of
the season.”
Another freshman who has
excited both her teammates and
coaches is Olivia Karas. Karas
set a new best in the floor event
in her young career, scoring a
meet-high 9.950. However, she
also struggled at times during the
meet, falling on both the beam
and the uneven bars.
“(Karas) is absolutely capable
of making a name for herself
in
college
gymnastics,”
said
Michigan
coach
Bev
Plocki.
“When she learns how to control
her nerves and emotions and go
out there and really perform, that’s
when she’s going to be at her best.”
Karas scored a meet-low 8.850
on the uneven bars due to falling
in the middle of her routine.
Luckily for her, her teammates
stepped up, with junior Nicole
Artz and sophomore Brianna
Brown scoring in the top three.
Plocki attributed the players’
individual successes to the facility
at Crisler and to the coaching staff.
“That’s what we want to do,
to develop these young ladies,”
Plocki said. “It’s nice from a
coaching perspective to see the
fruits of your labor come out and
show season best scores.”
Despite many players setting or
tying career-high scores, Plocki
stressed the importance of the
entire team’s success in addition
to that of the individual athletes.
“If we had a lot of people who
had a lot of great individual
accolades, but the team lost, it
would be a disappointing night no
matter what any individual did,”
Plocki said. “The team result is
the reason we do this.”
Michigan uses non-scoring
meet as early-season gauge
By TOR THORNE
For the Daily
The Michigan men’s track
and field team returned to action
for the first time this year at
the Hillsdale Winter Opener on
Saturday in Hillsdale, Mich. With
just 11 Wolverines competing in
the day’s events, the unscored
meet provided little information
about the team as a whole. But
Michigan coach Jerry Clayton
said the meet still held value.
“This weekend was basically
about the individuals who wanted
to try to see where they’re at at
this point,” Clayton said.
The Wolverines found the
majority of their success Saturday
in field events, taking first place in
shot put and the top three spots in
the weight throw.
For senior shot putter Derek
Sievers, whose 18.42 meter throw
earned him first place in the event
and an early season personal
best, this meet will serve as an
important
stepping
stone
to
improve upon for the remainder
of the season.
“It’s always easier to compete
in practice the next week when
you’ve had a good performance,”
Sievers said. “Because you just
keep the momentum going.”
Michigan redshirt freshman
Joseph Ellis took first place in
the weight throw with a throw
of 18.96 meters, earning his first
event title as a member of the
Wolverines.
Redshirt
sophomore
Grant
Cartwright and fifth-year senior
Brad Bolton added second- and
third-place finishes with throws
of 18.52 meters and 17.00 meters,
respectively.
Clayton
was
also
pleased
with the performance of the
pole vault group, which had two
members finish in the top five.
Junior Michael Hovater took
fourth place, trailed directly by
redshirt freshman Kevin Haughn
in fifth. True freshman Nicholas
Burkhalter finished in 11th place
with a height of 4.35 meters.
Sophomore Charlie DeJonge
was the only athlete to represent
the
Wolverines
in
multiple
events Saturday, finishing the
60-meter hurdles in 8.73 seconds
to take fourth place. DeJonge
also competed in the shot put,
finishing 13th, but setting a new
personal best of 11.45 meters.
In high jump, senior Stephen
Sykes cleared 1.90 meters and
finished third overall. Meanwhile,
redshirt
sophomore
Kevin
Stephens Jr. finished fourth in the
long jump with a distance of 6.53
meters.
While Saturday’s meet was an
important test for its competitors,
Clayton emphasized the even
greater importance that each
athlete’s performance would have
on his coaching moving forward.
“(The race) gives me ideas of
what I need to do training-wise
to make adjustments so that we
can get through this month of
January and come out really
ready to roll in February when we
get to the championship phase,”
Clayton said. “The bigger test will
be when we have 90 percent of the
team open up next weekend.”
FILE PHOTO/Daily
Senior Derek Sievers took first place in the shot put at the Hillsdale Winter Open with a throw of 18.42 meters.
Wolverines shake off rust
at Hillsdale Winter meet
By MATTHEW KENNEDY
For the Daily
Balance — that’s what Michigan
women’s track and field coach
James Henry is trying to achieve
this season. With 16 top-three
finishes in 11 different events, the
14th-ranked Wolverines appear
to be on their way to achieving
Henry’s goal.
“It’s hard for me to talk about
one or two athletes and say, ‘She’s
the person that just did it,’ ’’ Henry
said. “I’m pleased to know that we
don’t have such a program where
one athlete ‘just does it.’ ”
Michigan opened its season
Saturday at the Hillsdale Winter
Opener,
a
non-scoring
meet
featuring a variety of Division
II teams. Setting official times
for the first time this season, the
Wolverines created a benchmark
to improve upon for the rest of the
season.
Michigan
wasn’t
focusing
on beating any times going into
the meet, though. Rather, the
Wolverines’ focus was beating
the competition and shaking off
the early-season rust that many of
the student-athletes had. In doing
so, Michigan was able to take
home first place in eight different
events.
Though some of the track and
field team members have already
competed this year as part of
the cross country team, most of
the Michigan runners have been
waiting since September to finally
race.
As balanced as Michigan’s
roster was, there were a few
standout performances for the
Wolverines.
Sophomore
Claire
Kieffer-Wright, who also is a
member of the Michigan volleyball
team, won the high jump with a
final cleared height of 1.74 meters,
while junior All-American Erin
Finn won the 3,000-meter run by
more than 30 seconds with a final
time of 9:13.41.
In addition, redshirt senior
All-American
Shannon
Osika
turned in a strong performance
in the 1600-meter, winning the
event with a time of 4:42.10. Osika
was also part of an experienced
Michigan 4x400 relay team, which
also
included
redshirt
senior
Laura Addison, redshirt junior
Gina McNamara, and redshirt
senior Danielle Pfeifer. The group
narrowly edged out Hillsdale for
another Wolverine victory.
The most important result of
the meet, though, was something
that didn’t happen.
“The kids came out unscathed,”
Henry said. “We got solid marks
and we’re all healthy.”
Now that Michigan knows its
starting point, the team is aware
of where it can finish.
“Being in a position to win a
championship and finishing in
the top three,” Henry said. “That’s
our team goal, and if things go
to our favor, we’re hoping to be
in the position to improve upon
those two goals.”
ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
Junior Erin Finn (front) won the 3,000-meter run by more than 30 seconds at the Hillsdale Winter Opener on Saturday.
WOMEN’S GYMNASTICS