S
omething was off from the
start.
Before the No. 3 Michigan
women’s gymnastics team could
even get going, senior Gabby
Wilson fell on the second routine
of the team’s first rotation. With
an uncharacteristic fall on bars,
Wilson,
and
the
Wolverines’
hopes, were already on the ground.
And that’s just about where they
would stay — no matter how hard
the team fought.
Although
Michigan
(26-2
overall) led for the first two
routines and was tied going into
the final rotation, it had a subpar
meet at the worst possible time,
failing to qualify for the National
Semifinals for the first time since
2018 with a score of 197.750, while
No. 14 Denver and No. 6 LSU
advanced.
The Wolverines and Tigers
ended the meet tied, so it all
came down to a tiebreaker. All
six gymnasts were counted in
all four events. While Michigan
could usually move past an
uncharacteristic fall on an event,
the falls were the Wolverines’
kryptonite on Sunday.
“It’s heartbreaking,” Michigan
coach Bev Plocki said. “We have
had an amazing season. I think
we’re a team that could contend
to win a title, but I think it’s a
combination. I still feel like even
with the meet that we had, we
deserved to be one of the teams
that advanced. But when we open
the door and kind of put things
into a gray area and we put control
into someone else’s hands, that
does not always end well.”
And the Wolverines cracked
that door open from the beginning.
Although Michigan had one fall
on the bars with Wilson’s slip, they
still excelled and led after the first
event. Graduate students Abby
Heiskell and Natalie Wojcik and
senior Sierra Brooks led the charge
with 9.950s. They looked like their
usual stalwart selves and helped
Michigan gain a .225 point lead.
Despite the fall, the team already
reached its peak, securing the
fourth-best bars score in program
history with a 49.650. But, with the
tiebreaker the fall is the one thing
that would ultimately matter.
And that was all the history and
happiness the Wolverines could
muster.
The beam rotation started out
no better than the bars. Junior
Carly Bauman fell on the beam,
her second beam fall of the
weekend. Once again, the rest
of the routines would have to be
nearly flawless to make up for
the early misstep. Once again, as
Brooks has done so often through
this season and her career, she
led the charge with a 9.950 that
included a back handspring double
twist and a stuck dismount. But, no
matter how hard Brooks and her
teammates fought, the Pioneers
and the Tigers were clawing back,
and Michigan’s lead dwindled to
just .075 points.
Luckily for the Wolverines,
they had their strongest event
to resurrect their national title
hopes. Three gymnasts scored 9.9
and above, with Brooks once again
leading the way with a 9.925. But,
it didn’t seem to matter, as they
still underperformed. After three
rotations, Michigan was in hazy
territory. They were tied with LSU
for the lead, clinging on to hope
that they would be one of the top
two teams to advance.
Michigan has dictated so much
of how its meets went this season.
But this one was out of its hands. As
they finished on vault, the Tigers
still had gymnasts performing for
their lives on the floor. On vault,
one of the Wolverines’ strong suits,
they had an average performance
in a situation where they needed a
spectacular one. Freshman Kaylen
Morgan anchored the event with a
stuck landing and a time high 9.9.
But it didn’t matter. It was all up to
LSU and Denver.
And there’s one thing you
should never do in gymnastics:
leave the door open.
When LSU’s final floor routine
finished, there was a shock around
the arena. Michigan and the
Tigers were tied at 197.750. No one
seemed to know what was going
on. Except for the Wolverines. You
could see it on their faces.
All you could see were tears.
After
a
few
moments
of
deliberation among the judges,
where
they
counted
all
six
gymnasts’ scores for all events as
the tiebreaker, the outcome was
clear. With its falls on beam and
bars, Michigan’s sixth gymnast
couldn’t dig it out of a hole. Instead,
that sixth gymnast was its Achilles
heel. The one time the Wolverines
needed all six gymnasts, for a team
that is uncannily deep, was the one
time not all six gymnasts showed
up for every event. And thus, the
shocking, unthinkable outcome
was true:
For the first time since 2018,
Michigan would not be competing
for a National Championship.
“We win and we advance
together as a team,” Plocki said.
“… I think we deserve to advance,
but when we open the door and put
control in someone else’s hands
then it doesn’t always come out the
way that we wanted.”
The failure to advance is
shocking, heartbreaking even for
the Wolverines. But it wasn’t for
a lack of high scores and stuck
landings. The overall score was
respectable but a far cry from
Michigan’s standard.
“We have six up and five count
for a reason,” Plocki said. “… We
won bars. We won vault. We tried
to win floor. … There were a lot of
bright spots. It’s a little bit hard.
I haven’t been sitting here quite
honestly
thinking
about
that
because everybodies just really
disappointed and brokenhearted
about the outcome.”
At the end of the day, despite
the bright spots, the tears and
the heartbreak will be the lasting
memory. There was nothing going
into this meet that foreshadowed
what the final outcome would
be. There were no warning signs.
Everyone, especially Michigan,
thought this meet was just a
stepping stone to bigger things.
“Tonight it didn’t end well
for us,” Plocki said. “It’s a really
difficult pill to swallow. But we
have to take it as a look at what we
have control over, that we could
have changed or done better. And
that’s what we have to learn from
this experience.”
This type of heartbreak stings.
It’s one few experience and one no
one wants to. The only thing worse
than defeat may be a shocking,
unexpected upset while knocking
at the doors of greatness. And
that’s exactly what Michigan
experienced on Sunday in Denver.
A team full of national title
hopes saw its season and dream
end suddenly. A team, led by a
coach that felt like her team truly
deserved it, won’t get to see how
high it could truly climb.
But there was something off
from the beginning. And at the end,
instead of a trophy, all that was left
was tears in the Wolverines’ eyes.
GRACE BEAL/Daily
LILY ISRAEL
Daily Sports Editor
SPORTS
WEDNESDAY
In heartbreaking upset, Michigan fails to qualify for
Nationals after promising season
The Michigan Daily — Page 16
April 5, 2023
GRACE
FALL
FROM
LILA TURNER/Daily
GRACE BEAL/Daily
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