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