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