Michigan
Super Six Challenge
Michigan Fourth at Season-Opening Super Six Challenge
1/6/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- The third-ranked University of Michigan women's gymnastic team has now seen the competition it must face for a run at a national title, and the Wolverines know what they need to do. Saturday night (Jan. 6), Michigan opened the season at the Super Six Challenge and placed fourth at the high-powered, six-team event.
No. 2 Georgia and the host Crimson Tide, ranked fifth, shared the title, with No. 7 Stanford placing third. Also competing were No. 9 Penn State and No. 10 Florida. Alabama used the home advantage to its benefit as a crowd of 9,418 filled the Coleman Coliseum to watch their Tide perform extremely well and surprise the Bulldogs with a strong finish and co-championship.
An intestinal virus hit eight Michigan gymnasts through the week, leaving head coach Bev Plocki concerned about the performance of her team for the Super Six Challenge. She was happy with the fact U-M started on the floor exercise due to the health problems, but she felt the team could have started a little faster. The floor exercise brought in a 48.625 while the vault fared a little lower with 48.600.
The Wolverines were in fourth place after two rotations, trailing Georgia, Alabama and Florida. Senior Bridget Knaeble (New Hope, Minn./Totino-Grace HS) started her final season by capturing team honors in the floor exercise with a 9.850 in the first rotation for U-M. Senior Chrissy Michaud (Mill Valley, Calif./The Branson School) made the final vault for Michigan its best of the night, nailing a 9.800.
A strong showing by Knaeble on the uneven bars with a 9.875 coupled with a 9.825 by junior Amy Kuczera (Bloomingdale, Ill./Lake Park HS) helped give the Wolverines their best score in a rotation all night with a bars total of 48.875. But problems on the beam with two athletes falling in the final event of the evening limited U-M to score of 48.375, its lowest team total in any rotation.
Senior Karina Senior (Markham, Ontario/Milliken Mills HS) finished with an outstanding performance. Her 9.875 led the Wolverines on the beam, their final event of the night. It also was good for a four-way tie for the individual title.
U-M had a bye in the last rotation and maintained its fourth-place standing in front of Florida in the final standings.
The Wolverines will open their home schedule next week, hosting No. 12 Oregon State for a 7 p.m. meet on Friday (Jan. 12) in Cliff Keen Arena.
Final Results
| Team Scores | Vault | Bars | Beam | Floor | Total |
| 1. Georgia | 48.975 | 97.300 | 48.900 | 49.150 | 195.350 |
| 1. Alabama | 48.725 | 49.125 | 48.400 | 49.100 | 195.350 |
| 3. Stanford | 48.825 | 49.075 | 48.775 | 48.625 | 195.300 |
| 4. MICHIGAN | 48.600 | 48.875 | 48.375 | 48.625 | 194.475 |
| 5. Florida | 48.350 | 48.375 | 48.825 | 48.875 | 194.425 |
| 6. Penn State | 48.575 | 48.275 | 47.400 | 49.050 | 193.300 |
Event-By-Event U-M Individual Scores
ALL-AROUND Janessa Grieco 38.550 Bridget Knaeble 38.475 FLOOR EXERCISE Amy Kuczera 8.500 Jodie Rosenberg 9.775 Janessa Grieco 9.800 Karina Senior 9.825 Bridget Knaeble 9.850 Calli Ryals 9.375 VAULT Shannon MacKenzie 9.425 Bridget Knaeble 9.650 Calli Ryals 9.675 Karina Senior 9.700 Janessa Grieco 9.775 Chrissy Michaud 9.800 UNEVEN BARS Jodie Rosenberg 9.175 Janessa Grieco 9.725 Christine Mantilia 9.775 Amy Kuczera 9.825 Cami Singer 9.675 Bridget Knaeble 9.875 (T3) BALANCE BEAM Christine Mantilia 9.700 Missy Peterson 9.800 Bridget Knaeble 9.100 Karina Senior 9.850 (T1) Janessa Grieco 9.250 Shannon MacKenzie 9.775 ( ) denotes place in the Top 5
N O T E S
The Super Six Challenge will be televised tape-delayed by ESPN on Sunday, Jan. 21, at 3 p.m. EST.
Karina Senior's 9.850 gave her a tie for first place in the uneven bars with three other competitors.
Bridget Knaeble's 9.875 on the uneven bars allowed her to take home a tie for third place in that event.
Calli Ryals (Elyria, Ohio/Midview HS) and Christine Mantilia (New Canaan, Conn./New Canaan HS) made their collegiate debuts in the Super Six.
Olympian Elise Ray (Columbia, Md./Wilde Lake HS) missed the Super Six Challenge, and she will sit out next week's home opener against Oregon State before making her debut in two weeks in Ann Arbor.
This was the first meet with new rules used for the vault. In previous seasons, the competitors had two attempts at the vault and the higher score counted. This year, each competitor is limited to just one attempt.
Q U O T E S
Coach Beverly Plocki
On Michigan's rotation ... "I was hoping we could do better on the floor exercise, but that's where the fatigue factor from everyone being ill came into play. I'm just happy we didn't have to finish [the meet] with it. I don't know if anyone could have gotten through it."
On the problems with the beam ... "I can't blame the performance on the health of the young women. (Karina) Senior was the one who was sick and she finished with a great performance on the beam."
On the team's overall performance ... "I am happy to be through it without losing anyone for any length of time. I'm really proud of the kids and how they picked themselves up to hang in there and compete."
Senior Karina Senior
On sharing the beam title ... "I really didn't think I could do it. I felt real sick after the vault and I thought I was going to go back, lay down and I would be out of it. But Bev asked me if I thought I could do it, and I said I'd give it a shot and instead of throwing in the towel, I stayed focus and did pretty well."
Contact: Bruce Madej (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
