4B — April 8, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SportsMonday
PLANET IN PERIL
Averting Climate Catastrophe
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ENVIRONMENTAL LAW AND
POLICY PROGRAM CONFERENCE
For a complete conference schedule, visit
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April 11-12, 2019
Jeffries Hall 1225
University of Michigan Law School
EVERYONE IN THE KNOW,
KNOWS THE
IS THE PLACE
FOR SUMMER CLASSES.
Washtenaw Community College offers a wide range of Spring/
Summer semester classes to help you catch up, stay on track,
or get ahead to ensure timely graduation.
Class schedules are available at WCCNET.EDU/SCHEDULE
Registration for Spring/Summer and Fall classes is now open.
After the first rotation of
the NCAA Regionals, the No. 7
Michigan women’s gymnastics
team was in first place and had
just notched its highest score
of the season on vault.
But its next event, bars,
proved to be a bigger challenge
than anticipated.
Many
of
the
gymnasts
seemed to struggle with their
handstands, nearly falling out
of the handstand the wrong
way. Neither freshmen Abby
Heiskell nor Maddie Mariani
could break past a 9.800, and
the team already looked shaky.
So when freshman Abby
Brenner bent on her handstand
and swung the wrong way, she
was forced to let go of the bar,
collect herself and resume.
While the fall didn’t end up
counting towards Michigan’s
score — the lowest score is
dropped — it put more pressure
on the gymnasts to follow
knowing every mistake counts.
Brenner ended up scoring
a 9.250, a score that would
have been detrimental to the
Wolverines had it counted.
The Wolverines needed a
clean routine to shake off the
nerves, and that’s what senior
Olivia Karas provided. While
she didn’t hit all her lines, she
landed with a clean stick —
good for a 9.900.
Rounding out the event was
freshman Natalie Wojcik and
sophomore Lauren Farley, and
while both routines were clean,
there seemed to be some nerves
coming from the Wolverines,
and their scores reflected that.
The gymnasts scored a 9.825
and 9.800, respectively, both
scores relatively low for them.
Michigan
finished
the
rotation with a 49.050, its
lowest score of the weekend.
While
the
score
wasn’t
disastrous for the Wolverines,
they ended the day in second
place. They advanced to the
regional finals, which meant
they would start Saturday’s
competition on bars.
“There are so many things
that factor into higher or
lowing scoring,” said Michigan
coach Bev Plocki. “Different
judging panels can be tighter
or looser, and sometimes it’s
not even about what your
performance
is.
We
didn’t
get hung up on (Friday) at all.
We were excited about this
rotation.
“… I’m certainly not going
to say that we deliberately
finished second, but I knew
that it was a possibility to
finish second and we still made
that decision because it was all
about (Saturday).”
In practice leading up to
the event, Plocki and the
team made a point to practice
sticking landings — specifically
on vault. But that’s not to
say it can’t transfer to other
rotations. They proved the
practice had paid off during
Friday’s vault rotation where
nearly every gymnast stuck her
landing. Then it was time to
transfer that to bars.
“It’s
definitely
nerve-
wracking when you’ve had
some mistakes and you have
to start there,” Karas said on
Saturday. “I think we handled
it really well. I think we left
yesterday in yesterday, and
we looked at today with a new
mindset. I couldn’t be more
excited. I think this team did
great.”
It
was
clear
from
the
beginning that the Wolverines
were off to a better start than
the day before. Each routine
looked
cleaner
and
more
confident, and it reflected in
the scores. All gymnasts either
matched or improved their
score from the day before,
including Brenner, whose score
jumped by 0.575.
Not all the routines were
perfect, and the dismounts will
need to be perfected to assure
those stuck landings if the team
wants a chance at the national
title, but just making those
small corrections can make
a big difference. Michigan
finished with 49.200, just 0.150
better than the day before.
In a competition where only
the top two teams advance,
Michigan just barely edged out
Alabama for second place. The
Wolverines managed a 197.275,
while the Crimson Tide missed
out with a 197.225.
Had the Wolverines’ bars
performance been similar to
Friday’s, they may not have
punched their ticket to Fort
Worth, Texas. So the focus for
Michigan will be making the
small changes and practicing
as usual, because the final
result can come down to mere
tenths of a point.
PAIGE VOEFFRAY
Daily Sports Editor
Lauren Farley jumped up and
down, threw her hands in the
air and cheered: “We’re going
to Texas. We’re going to Texas!”
Mere
moments
earlier
the No. 7 Michigan women’s
gymnastics team had punched
its
ticket
to
the
NCAA
Championships.
“It’s honestly the best thing
I could have asked for,” said
senior Olivia Karas. “There’s no
better feeling.”
The competition to advance
to the final round kicked off
Friday
afternoon,
and
the
Wolverines faced No. 22 Ohio
State, No. 24 Penn State and
No. 10 Alabama. Walking into
Crisler Center, they had one
goal — advance to Saturday.
Opening the meet on vault,
Michigan did what it’s been
aiming to do all
season — stick
landings.
Big
Ten Freshman of
the Year Natalie
Wojcik led the
charge
earning
a 9.925 for her
nearly
perfect
Yurchenko
one-
and-a-half.
The
scores added up
to a season high
of 49.425.
“We’ve been working so
hard on improving our lands on
vault,” said Michigan coach Bev
Plocki on Friday. “We saw it pay
off today and I hope that will
give us more confidence going
into tomorrow.”
Despite
a
strong
first
rotation, the team looked stiff
on the bars. Its handstands
weren’t 90 degrees, and the
landings weren’t stuck.
On
floor,
traditionally
a
high-scoring
event
for
the
Wolverines, they only received
one score above a 9.900. Karas
— ranked twenty third on floor
nationally — did not compete.
Wojcik won the event for the
day with a 9.925. Plocki made
the decision to scratch the sixth
gymnast because Michigan had
clinched the second qualifying
spot already.
Overall, the Wolverines had
a solid performance, but Plocki
saw room for improvement.
“We
made,
not
major
mistakes,
but
we made some,
some things that
we’re going to
have to clean up
for
tomorrow,”
Plocki said.
Saturday
night
featured
No. 10 Alabama,
No. 2 UCLA, No.
14 Nebraska and
the Wolverines.
With such fierce competition,
Michigan couldn’t afford to
make the same mistakes on
bars where it opened the meet.
Routine after routine, the
Wolverines stepped up and got
the job done.
Their
score
had improved
by
.150
from
Friday
afternoon, but
they sat in third
place
after
the
opening
rotation.
With ground
to
make
up
heading
to
the balance beam, Michigan
needed to hit its routines.
Freshman Maddie Mariani tied
her season-high score of 9.850.
Wojcik anchored the rotation
and tied her season-high score
of 9.950. These
scores carried
the Wolverines
to
score
of
49.425 for the
rotation, good
for
second
place
and
a
.075 lead over
Alabama.
“I got them
together after
beam,” Plocki
said.
“And
I
told them, ‘This is what great
teams love. You thrive on the
competition when it is like a
half a tenth and you’re dueling
it out routine for routine. We
have to be that team that is
hungry and is going to thrive on
that adrenaline and not choke
under the pressure.’ ”
Michigan
spent the third
rotation
on
floor.
Karas
was
back
in
the
lineup
in
her usual spot
as anchor and
hit
a
routine
filled
with
personality and
sass. She earned
one
of
three
9.000s helping the Wolverines
to
a
49.450
and
further
extending their lead over the
Crimson Tide.
Closing the meet on vault
meant the Wolverines would
finish earlier than the other
three teams. Their rotation
wasn’t as strong as it was on
Friday — stuck landings were
nowhere to be found. Still, they
earned a 49.200 and a final
score of 197.275.
Alabama sat in third place
and finished the meet on beam.
By the time Michigan finished
vault, the Crimson Tide were
only halfway through their
lineup. So they did the only
thing they could do — wait.
“When we finished vault
before and they were still
doing beam routines I told
every single one of them I was
proud of them,” Plocki said. “It
wouldn’t
have
mattered
the
outcome.”
Needing
a
perfect
10
to
tie,
the
Crimson
Tide’s
last
gymnast
mounted
the
beam
and
performed
a
nearly
flawless
routine.
Her
score flashed —
a 9.950. The Wolverines went
wild.
“We’re going to Texas”
Propelled by improvement on bars, Michigan moves on to NCAA Championships with second-place finish in regionals
MOLLY SHEA
Daily Sports Writer
KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
Senior Olivia Karas scored a 9.900 on bars to help Michigan finish second in NCAA Regionals on Saturday.
KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
Lauren Farley threw her hands up in celebration after Michigan clinched a spot in the NCAA Championships.
We’ve been
working
so hard on
improving ...
I didn’t watch
any of the
routines. I was
too nervous.
You have to be
that team that
is hungry and is
going to thrive.