Weekly Release #10
3/11/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics
This Week: No. 4 Nebraska Visits on Senior Night
Friday, March 14 -- vs. No. 4 Nebraska (Crisler Arena), 7:30 p.m.
Coming Up: Regular Season Ends at Michigan State with Pittsburgh
Saturday, March 22 -- at Michigan State, vs. Pittsburgh (East Lansing, Mich.), 7 p.m.
Huskers in Town for Senior Night
The No. 9-ranked University of Michigan women's gymnastics team (9-5, 2-1 Big Ten) hosts No. 4 Nebraska at 7:30 p.m. Friday (March 14) at Crisler Arena in the final regular-season home meet. Michigan will honor its lone senior, co-captain Janessa Grieco (Mahopac, N.Y./Carmel HS), at the contest. The Wolverines posted their second-highest score of the season in a 197.250-196.775 loss to No. 1 UCLA last Friday (March 7), while the Huskers enter their second consecutive road meet after tallying their second-highest road score in program history in a 197.425-194.900 victory at Penn State last Saturday (March 8).
Stick Around for Trading Cards
Fans will be able pick up the third and final set of 2003 Michigan women's gymnastics trading cards at Friday's (March 14) meet against No. 4 Nebraska. The third set features sophomores Chelsea Kroll (Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny HS), Lauren Mirkovich (Burlingame, Calif./Notre Dame HS), Kara Rosella (Ann Arbor, Mich./Greenhills School) and Erica Rubin (Chatsworth, Calif./Harvard Westlake HS).
Get NCAA Regional Tickets Online Now!
Tickets for the NCAA Women's Gymnastics Northeast Region Championships, which Michigan hosts at 6 p.m. Saturday, April 12, are now on sale at MGoBlue.com. Either select "Tickets" from the choices on the front page or go to the women's gymnastics page and look for the graphic on the right side to purchase tickets online. U-M, which has won four regional titles in the last six years, has hosted three previous NCAA Regional Championships (1995, 1997 and 2001) and advanced to the NCAA National Championships each time.
A Look at Nebraska
No. 4 Nebraska (15-1) has lost just once this season, a second-place finish (197.325-196.700) to then-No. 2 Georgia at the Super Six Challenge (Jan. 11). All 15 of the Huskers' victories have come against teams ranked in the top 25 at the time of the competition. Nebraska's Regional Qualifying Score of 197.180 is the fourth-best in the country, while its RQS on the vault, 49.375, ranks it second to UCLA (49.525). Junior Richelle Simpson is ranked among the nation's top five in two events -- tied for fourth on the vault (9.935) and tied for third on the balance beam (9.945) -- and is fourth in the all-around (39.560). Junior Tami Harris is tied for third on the uneven bars (9.925). Nebraska is under the direction of head coach Dan Kendig, who is in his 10th year at the helm of the Huskers.
Nebraska on the Web... www.huskers.com
Got Results
Visit mgoblue.com for the fastest and most reliable results from all of Michigan's competitions this season. In addition to results and event recaps, weekly releases, news releases, photos and other information can be found at mgoblue.com.
Last Weekend Against No. 1 UCLA
Then-No. 10 Michigan posted its second highest score of the year, but it was not enough to outlast top-ranked UCLA on Friday (March 7) at Crisler Arena. The Wolverines fell to the Bruins 197.250-196.775 in front of the third largest regular-season home crowd in program history (2,807). Senior co-captain Janessa Grieco set a season high on the uneven bars (9.850) and tied her season high on the floor exercise with a second-place score of 9.925 to post a career high in the all-around (39.425) and keep U-M in a close battle with the Bruins. A pair of underclassmen also helped the Wolverine effort. Sophomore Lauren Mirkovich won U-M's only event title of the evening with a first-place 9.925 on the uneven bars, while freshman Jenny Deiley (Dayton, Minn./Elk River HS) posted the team's best all-around score with a 39.475 to finish fourth.
| Place, School | Vault | Bars | Beam | Floor | Total |
| 1. UCLA | 49.175 | 49.375 | 49.350 | 49.350 | 197.250 |
| 2. MICHIGAN | 49.025 | 49.275 | 49.175 | 49.300 | 196.775 |
In the Rankings
Michigan moved up one spot to No. 9, its highest ranking in seven weeks, in the latest GymInfo rankings (March 10) with a Regional Qualifying Score of 196.560. UCLA remained in the No. 1 spot for the fifth consecutive week with an RQS of 197.980.
What is a Regional Qualifying Score
The formula for computing a Regional Qualifying Score may seem hard to understand, but it is not terribly complicated. An RQS is computed by gathering the top six event, all-around or team scores -- three of which must be from away meets -- and tossing out the highest mark. The average of the five remaining scores is the Regional Qualifying Score.
Michigan's Six Scores for the RQS
197.025 at Denver (Feb. 22)
196.775 vs. UCLA (March 7)
196.750 at Utah (Feb. 28)
196.650 vs. Northern Illinois (Feb. 14)
196.525 at Alabama (Jan. 31)
196.100 vs. Ohio State (Jan. 11)
Total Before Dividing by Five
982.800
U-M's Regional Qualifying Score
196.560
First Time for Everything
Friday's contest (March 14) against No. 4 Nebraska will be the first time the two programs have met in a dual meet. The Wolverines and the Huskers have met just five times during the regular season over the past 24 years. U-M dropped the first three meetings (1979, 1988 and 1996) before posting a school-record 197.300 to defeat the Huskers (195.575) and Illinois State (189.800) on Feb. 9, 1997, at Crisler Arena. A second consecutive regular-season victory came when the Wolverines finished third (194.925) and Nebraska finished fourth (193.325) at the Super Six Challenge on Jan. 8, 2000, in Athens, Ga.
It's Official... Ray Will Not Compete in 2003
Junior Elise Ray (Columbia, Md./Wilde Lake HS) is scheduled to undergo season-ending surgery on her shoulder. Ray injured her shoulder in December and suffered a repeat of the injury in late January.
A Word About the Postseason
Michigan's first stop in the 2003 postseason is the Big Ten Conference Championships on Saturday, March 29, in Champaign, Ill. The Wolverines will face six other Big Ten programs -- Illinois, Iowa, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State and Penn State -- for a shot at the league title. The conference championships, like wins and losses in the regular season, do not affect participation in the NCAA Championships. The Regional Qualifying Score is the only thing which determines which teams will compete at a regional site for a chance to qualify for the NCAA National Championships. The top 18 teams in the nation, based on RQS, will be seeded and assigned to the six regional sites (three per site), while the three remaining team slots will be filled by the highest-ranking teams within the region which are not part of the top 18. From each regional site, the top two teams and the top two all-arounders who are not part of an advancing team will receive an automatic berth to the national championships.
Ryals on Track to Top Her School-Record Floor Average
Calli Ryals is averaging 9.922 in 10 floor exercise routines this season. She set the school record for season average on the floor exercise (minimum seven performances) last year with an average of 9.913 (16 performances). Ryals is the only performer in school history to average over 9.900 on the floor.
More About Ryals and the Floor Exercise
Calli Ryals is ranked second in the nation on the floor exercise with an RQS of 9.955 in the latest GymInfo rankings (March 10). UCLA's Jamie Dantzscher is No. 1 with an RQS of 9.985. Ryals has been extremely consistent on the floor this season. She has recorded U-M's top six scores with two marks of 9.975 and four marks of 9.950. She also has two scores of 9.925 and has only scored less than that twice, a 9.825 against No. 1 UCLA (March 7) and a 9.800 against then-No. 12 Minnesota (Jan. 17). Ryals has won or shared the floor exercise title in seven of 10 meets.
Right There Every Time
Senior Janessa Grieco has developed a reputation as one of the most consistent performers for the Wolverines. However, it is not the top of the award stand where she has made her mark, it is simply being on the award stand. Grieco has performed in 189 events, including the all-around, in her career. While she has won just 12 event titles (six percent), she has finished among the top five 111 times (59 percent).
Deiley on Fire
Freshman Jenny Deiley has competed in 50 events this season, winning 13 event titles (26 percent) and finishing among the top five 37 times (74 percent) in her first 10 collegiate meets. Her 13 event titles and 37 top-five finishes are both team highs. In her most consistent event, the all-around, Deiley has won four titles and finished no worse than fourth in the 10 meets this season.
Slim Pickin'
Michigan went through most of the fall practice season in great health. However, all that changed in December. Michigan was without five of its 12 scholarship athletes for the season opener against Ohio State (Jan. 11). U-M returned Kallie Steffes (Naperville, Ill./Central HS) on vault against Minnesota (Jan. 17), but she has not competed since. Christine Mantilia (New Canaan, Conn./New Canaan HS), torn anterior cruciate ligament, and Elise Ray, shoulder, are out with injuries.
Bring Them On
Michigan, which opened the season ranked sixth in the GymInfo preseason coaches poll, once again has one of the toughest schedules in the nation. Out of the Wolverines' 12 regular-season meets, eight include at least one team ranked among the top 25 in the GymInfo preseason poll. Seven of the eight contests with opponents ranked in the preseason are dual meets. Including the Big Ten Conference Championships, U-M will face 10 of the other 24 teams in the preseason top 25 at least once during the season.
Community Service Award
The women's gymnastics team repeated as winner of the U-M Community Service Award in 2002. The award is given to the U-M athletic team which performed the most community-related activities during the school year. In addition to signing autographs for up to two hours following each home meet, the team hit the road in 2002 as several members of the squad visited an elementary school in Detroit to demonstrate basic gymnastic skills and talk to the students about using athletics to gain opportunities in life. The team also captured the inaugural award for the 2000C01 school year.
Grieco and Ray Selected as Captains
Senior Janessa Grieco and junior Elise Ray will serve as co-captains for the 2003 Wolverine squad. Grieco was a co-captain in 2002 as a junior.
GymInfo Top 25 (3/10/03)
(by Regional Qualifying Score)
RANK, TEAM RQS 1. UCLA 197.980 2. Arizona State 197.305 3. Alabama 197.205 4. Nebraska 197.180 5. Georgia 197.070 6. Stanford 196.935 7. Utah 196.845 8. Florida 196.770 9. MICHIGAN 196.560 10. Oregon State 196.500 11. Auburn 196.100 12. Washington 196.060 13. Denver 196.035 14. Oklahoma 195.935 15. Louisiana State 195.915 16. Ohio State 195.840 17. California 195.780 18. Arizona 195.750 19. Minnesota 195.604 20. Iowa 195.505 21. Iowa State 195.490 22. Brigham Young 195.450 23. Penn State 195.260 24. Utah State 195.200 25. Central Michigan 195.130
Contact: Jason Gerdom (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
