Ray Receives Third Big Ten Gymnast of the Week Award

PARK RIDGE, Ill. -- University of Michigan sophomore Elise Ray (Columbia, Md./Wilde Lake HS) has been named the Big Ten Conference Athlete of the Week for women's gymnastics for the third time this season, sharing this week's honor with Penn State's Katie Rowland. Ray tied the U-M all-around record with a career-high 39.825 and led the then-No. 4 Wolverines to the second-highest team score in the program's history (197.775) and a first-place finish against then-No. 13 Denver and Washington on Saturday (March 9).

Ray

Ray captured four of five event titles for the second time in her career. She won vault (9.950), uneven bars (9.950), balance beam (9.975) and the all-around (39.825). She also finished third on the floor exercise with a score of 9.950. She earned marks of 9.950 or higher in all four events for the first time in her career and placed among the top five in all four events and the all-around for the second time this season and the fourth time in her career.

Ray is ranked second in the nation on the uneven bars and balance beam, eighth on the vault and 10th in the all-around in the latest GymInfo national rankings (March 11). She has won six bars and six beam titles in just 11 meets this season and has placed first or second on uneven bars in 10 of the 11 meets. She has placed first or second on vault in all seven meets she has competed since missing three meets with an injury.

With her all-around total of 39.825, Ray moved into a tie for fourth with Beth Amelkovich (1996-99) on the U-M career list for most all-around scores of 39.000 or higher with 16. Ray's total came in just the 18th meet in which she competed in the all-around.

Ray has totaled 20 titles in 42 events (48 percent) this season and has placed among the top three 30 times (71 percent). Her most successful event in collegiate competition has been the balance beam, on which she has won 11 event titles in less than two seasons. Overall, she has totaled 37 first-place finishes in 105 events (35 percent) at U-M.

This is the third time this season and fourth time in her career that Ray, the 2001 NCAA all-around co-champion and captain of the 2000 U.S. Olympic women's gymnastics team, has been named the conference Gymnast of the Week.

This is the sixth time this season a Michigan gymnast has won the weekly conference award. Sophomore Calli Ryals (Elyria, Ohio/Midview HS) became the first U-M athlete to be named the Big Ten Gymnast of the Week three consecutive times when she was selected for the honor on Jan. 23, Jan. 30 and Feb. 6.

Fifth-ranked Michigan (16-2, 4-0 Big Ten) wraps up the regular season with the Shanico Inn-vitational on Saturday (March 16) in Corvallis, Ore. The meet, scheduled for 7 p.m. PST at Gill Coliseum, is hosted by Oregon State University and includes Michigan State and Seattle Pacific.

Contact: Jason Gerdom (734) 763-4423

University of Michigan Athletics

Players Mentioned

Elise Ray

Calli Ryals

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