100%

Scanned image of the page. Keyboard directions: use + to zoom in, - to zoom out, arrow keys to pan inside the viewer.

Page Options

Download this Issue

Share

Something wrong?

Something wrong with this page? Report problem.

Rights / Permissions

This collection, digitized in collaboration with the Michigan Daily and the Board for Student Publications, contains materials that are protected by copyright law. Access to these materials is provided for non-profit educational and research purposes. If you use an item from this collection, it is your responsibility to consider the work's copyright status and obtain any required permission.

January 20, 2021 - Image 11

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Michigan Daily

Disclaimer: Computer generated plain text may have errors. Read more about this.

MICHIGAN DOMINATES OHIO STATE IN SEASON-OPENING MEET

Both Michigan and Ohio State

experienced setbacks on the uneven

bars. The difference came in the way

the two squads responded.

For the Wolverines, junior Abby

Heiskell barely missed the bar on

her way down from an aerial off

the high bar and fell onto the mat.

Her teammates picked her up and

finished the bars with three straight

9.9-plus scores to close out the event,

punctuated by junior Natalie Wojcik’s

emphatic fist as she pumped it in

victory upon landing her own 9.925

routine.

Ohio State, meanwhile, couldn’t

muster
a
similar
response.
It

couldn’t match the firepower of the

Wolverines on either of the first

two events, or indeed in the entire

meet, as Michigan (1-0) surpassed

Ohio State (0-1), 197.225-196.000, on

Saturday.

“On any event, you have to be able to

recover from a mistake, and I thought

on both bars and beam the team did a

great job of not allowing one mistake

to affect their performance when

they came after,” Michigan coach

Bev Plocki said. “I would not expect

perfection on the first meet out so I’m

not upset that we had a mistake, but

we learned from it.”

Raina Malas’s early mistake on

the uneven bars didn’t spell doom

for the Buckeyes in and of itself, but

it did take away options on their path

to victory. Options that were few to

begin with.

At the halfway point in the meet,

Michigan held a 0.775 point lead over

its rival, thanks in large part to that

strong committee on bars. Junior

Abby Brenner had her highest-scoring

bar routine since 2019, notching a

9.900.

Fellow junior Maddie Mariani also

matched a career-best score with

9.900 on beam with a routine that

made her appear glued to the beam,

tying with junior Natalie Wojcik for

a team-high.

“(Mariani) was remarkable on

beam, and that’s what she’s capable

of,” Plocki said. “She’s becoming

more experienced in learning how to

handle her nerves under pressure and

do that routine like she does in front

of us every day in practice.”

The remaining options for Ohio

State to notch a comeback were

dashed by the anchors of Michigan’s

roster. Sophomores Gabby Wilson

and Sierra Brooks, coupled with

Wojcik, were on point throughout the

meet. As the only three gymnasts to

compete in all four events for either

team, seven of their 12 performances

surpassed the 9.900 mark, while only

once did the Buckeyes’ entire squad

have a routine reach it.

“That’s what it’s all about, it’s

having those athletes that are rock

solid and they can do it week in and

week-out,” Plocki said. “Regardless of

what happened before them, they can

go out there when the lights turn on

and perform.”

Sprinkled throughout the meet

were moments of exaltation. Wojcik’s

triumphant fist bump on bars was

accompanied by Brenner’s shout of

victory following her floor routine.

The energy built from the very first

run on vault and ended in a victorious

applause at the end of Wojcik’s

clinical floor routine.

At the end of the night, six of the

top seven routines on vault were by

Michigan athletes, leading to a 49.300

score. Five of the top six routines

on bars led to 49.400. Six of the top

eight routines on floor led to 49.450.

Only on beam did the Wolverines fall

behind the Buckeyes: Its 49.075 score

lost to 49.100.

Michigan’s meet on Saturday was

an exhibition in excellence. From its

start on vault, the team clad in blue

came out prepared and determined,

snatched a lead and never gave it back.

And though they didn’t lack mistakes,

the Wolverines overcame them in a

way its opponent couldn’t: Through

depth, through inspired routines and

through emphatic determination.

KENT SCHWARTZ
Managing Sports Editor

R A I S I N G
THE BAR

SPORTSWEDNESDAY
JANUARY 20, 2021
MICHIGANDAIL
Y
.COM

MADELINE HINKLEY/DAILY | DESIGN BY JACK SILBERMAN

Back to Top

© 2025 Regents of the University of Michigan