Michigan
Michigan State
Michigan Uses Balancing Act to Beat Michigan State
1/20/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Cliff Keen Arena)
Score: #6 Michigan 196.750, #21 Michigan State 192.850
Records: Michigan (5-2, 2-0 Big Ten), MSU (4-4, 0-1 Big Ten)
Attendance: 858
Next U-M Meet: Friday, Jan. 28 -- vs. Kentucky (Cliff Keen Arena), 7 p.m.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The sixth-ranked University of Michigan women's gymnastics team delivered its best performance of the season with a 196.750-192.850 home-opening win over instate rival and No. 21 Michigan State on Thursday (Jan. 20) in Cliff Keen Arena.
Michigan used the third-best team balance beam score (49.300) in school history on its way to its fifth victory over a top 25 team this season. Michigan's balance beam domination was keyed by a career-best 9.925 from sophomore Shannon MacKenzie (Midland, Mich./Midland HS) and Sarah Cain's (Grand Island, Neb./Grand Island HS) 9.900 on her way to top all-around honors (39.500).
Michigan opened the meet in Olympic rotation on the vault and promptly registered a team season-best 48.900. Junior Christine Michaud (Mill Valley, Calif./The Branson School) paced the Michigan vaulters with a mark of 9.825, which gave her a first-place finish on the vault. Freshman Janessa Grieco (Mahopac, N.Y./Carmel HS) delivered a career-best 9.800 to finished tied for second with Cain. Michigan State began the meet on the uneven bars and came through with a 48.100 to finish the first rotation 0.800 behind the Wolverines.
The Wolverines, who struggled to a 48.550 on the uneven bars at Minnesota, proved that was an aberration as they took the took the top four places on the event. Cain's Michigan season-high 9.900 was tops in the meet and led a U-M contingent that scored a team season-best 49.225 on the uneven bars. Cain was followed by Bridget Knaeble (New Hope, Minn./Totino-Grace HS) and freshman Tara Tagliarino (Tampa, Fla./H.B. Plant HS), who tied for second (9.875). Sophomore Amy Kuczera (Bloomingdale, Ill./Lake Park HS) rounded out the Michigan foursome with a 9.800 for fourth place. Michigan's strong showing on the bars put even more distance between itself and Michigan State as the Wolverines held a 98.125-96.350 lead after the first two rotations.
Amazingly, the Maize and Blue was saving its best for last as the Wolverines marched to the balance beam for the third rotation. On its way to a team score of 49.300, Michigan placed athletes in the top five individual places in the meet on the beam. In addition to MacKenzie, who placed first with her career-best 9.925, Michigan's beam lineup also got a boost from Cain (9.900). Following Michigan's veteran All-Americans were a pair of freshmen in Grieco, with a career-best 9.875, and Cami Singer (Monument, Colo./Lewis Palmer HS) (9.825). Karina Senior (Markham, Ontario/Milliken Mills) finished off Michigan's domination on the beam with a score of 9.775 to place fifth. On the floor exercise Michigan State gave its best performance of the meet with a mark of 48.275, but it was not enough to keep Michigan from pulling away.
With a comfortable lead heading into the final rotation, Michigan again dazzled the Keen Arena crowd with a season-best floor exercise performance. Paced by a pair of 9.900's from Senior and Cain, who tied for first, Michigan gave its best effort on any one event this season with a score of 49.325. Sophomore Jodie Rosenberg (West Bloomfield, Mich./West Bloomfield HS) chipped in with a career-high score of 9.875 to place third, while freshman Grieco placed among the top five in her third event of the night with a 9.850 to place fourth.
Michigan's next meet is Friday, Jan. 28 (7 p.m.) vs. Kentucky at Cliff Keen Arena.
Final Results
TEAM SCORES Vault Bars Beam Floor Total 1. Michigan 48.900 49.225 49.300 49.325 196.750 2. Michigan State 48.100 48.250 48.225 48.275 192.850
Event-By-Event U-M Individual Scores
ALL-AROUND Sarah Cain 39.500 (1) VAULT Bridget Knaeble 9.775 (4) Janessa Grieco 9.800 (T2) Karina Senior 9.675 Sarah-Elizabeth Langford 9.700 Christine Michaud 9.825 (1) Sarah Cain 9.800 (T2) UNEVEN BARS Kate Nellans 9.775 Amy Kuczera 9.800 (T4) Cami Singer 9.650 Tara Tagliarino 9.875 (T2) Bridget Knaeble 9.875 (T2) Sarah Cain 9.900 (1) BALANCE BEAM Janessa Grieco 9.875 (3) Cami Singer 9.825 (4) Shannon MacKenzie 9.925 (1) Karina Senior 9.775 (5) Kate Nellans 9.200 Sarah Cain 9.900 (2) FLOOR EXERCISE Jodie Rosenberg 9.875 (3) Melissa Peterson 9.800 Bridget Knaeble 9.650 Janessa Grieco 9.850 (4) Karina Senior 9.900 (T1) Sarah Cain 9.900 (T1) ( ) denotes place in the Top 5
NOTES
• Michigan set team season highs in all four events, with a 48.900 on the vault, 49.225 on the bars, 49.300 on the balance beam and 49.325 on the floor exercise.
• Michigan's balance beam score of 49.300 is the third highest total in school history and best since the Wolverines notched a 49.375 in 1998, also vs. Michigan State.
• Michigan's final team score of 196.750 is the highest by any team in the nation leading into this weekend's action. The previous high was 196.300 by UCLA this past weekend.
• Michigan's win over Michigan State was its fifth of the season, with all coming over teams ranked among the top 25 in the nation.
Players Mentioned
