4B — April 8, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SportsMonday

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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.

