Wolverines Ranked No. 5 in Preseason Coaches Poll
12/5/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan women's gymnastics team is ranked No. 5 in the 2006 GymInfo Preseason Coaches Poll (Dec. 5). Michigan is the top-ranked Big Ten team in the coaches poll, ahead of No. 12 Penn State, No. 24 Minnesota and four teams -- Illinois, Iowa, Michigan State and Ohio State -- among others who received votes.
Defending national champion Georgia topped the preseason poll, followed by Utah, UCLA and Alabama. Michigan will face three of the top 10 teams, traveling to No. 8 Nebraska in its Jan. 14 season opener before hosting No. 2 Utah on Feb. 11 and welcoming No. 1 Georgia to town on March 11.
The Wolverines finished the 2005 campaign with a fifth-place performance at nationals after winning their 14th Big Ten Conference title and advancing to their 13th straight NCAA Championships with the program's seventh regional crown.
Michigan returns nine letterwinners and five All-Americans in 2006. The Maize and Blue host the team's intrasquad meet on Saturday (Dec. 10) at 4 p.m. in Crisler Arena before beginning the regular season at preseason No. 8 Nebraska on Saturday, Jan. 14.
GymInfo 2006 Preseason Coaches Poll
(First-place votes in parentheses)
Rank, Team Points 1. Georgia (15) 603 2. Utah (5) 586 3. UCLA (3) 579 4. Alabama (2) 532 5. MICHIGAN 492 6. Florida 470 7. LSU 443 8. Nebraska 424 9. Stanford 417 10. Oklahoma 383 11. Iowa State 359 12. Penn State 341 13. Oregon State 331 14. Arizona State 293 15. Auburn 213 16. Missouri 208 17. Arizona 188 18. Washington 185 19. BYU 180 20. Arkansas 171 21. Denver 144 22. North Carolina 99 23. Kentucky 88 24. Minnesota 76 25. New Hampshire 50
Contact: Richard Retyi (734) 763-4423
