Michigan
Michigan State
Wolverines Defeat Spartans in Regular-Season Finale
3/18/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- University of Michigan women's gymnastics head coach Bev Plocki earned her 300th career victory and fifth-year senior Elise Ray (Columbia, Md./Wilde Lake) won her 10th uneven bars title in the last 11 meets as the Wolverines earned a convincing 196.500-195.075 victory over Michigan State, Friday night (March 18) at Jenison Field House.
U-M commanded the meet from the outset, posting its second-best score of the season on the uneven bars and the third-best season scores on vault and floor exercise to improve to 16-2 and 7-0 in the Big Ten. The victory also clinches the Pontiac Challenge Cup for U-M, giving the Wolverines a 4-2 margin of victory in the winter session.
Ray won bars and balance beam and posted a season high in the all-around competition with a 39.625, tying for first place on U-M's all-time list with her 36th all-around score of 39.000 or better. Junior Jenny Deiley (Dayton, Minn./Elk River) won the vault and tied for first on floor while finishing fourth in the all-around. Sophomore Lindsey Bruck (Marietta, N.Y./Marcellus) took second in the all-around with 39.400 points, tying for first on floor and tying for third on bars and beam.
The Wolverines began their first rotation with the second-best bars score of the season, racking up 49.375 points to lead the home Spartans by a comfortable margin of 0.700. Ray picked up her 10th bars title of the season by tying a season-best 9.950, while Deiley scored a 9.900 and Bruck and senior Lauren Mirkovich (Burlingame, Calif./Notre Dame) posted matching 9.850s.
Michigan increased its lead after the second rotation with the third-best showing on vault this season, earning 49.250 points to pull ahead by a full point. Deiley won her seventh vault title of the season with a 9.875, followed by Ray, Mirkovich and senior Shanna Duggan's (Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario/St. Basil) trio of 9.850s, which tied for second.
U-M pulled away in the third rotation with its third-best floor score of the season, earning a team score of 49.325 and all but clinching victory. Bruck, Deiley and Duggan each scored 9.875 to lead the Wolverines, while Ray, freshman Nellie Kippley (St. Cloud, Minn./Tech) and junior Becca Clauson (St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall) recorded matching 9.850s.
Two falls on beam lowered would could have been a strong overall score, but Ray carried the event with a 9.975, tying her career best. Clauson took second with a 9.900 and Bruck tied for third with a 9.875.
Michigan travels to Iowa City, Iowa, for the Big Ten Championships, Saturday (March 26) at 6 p.m. CST
Final Results
| Team Scores | Vault | Bars | Beam | Floor | Total |
| 1. MICHIGAN | 49.250 | 49.375 | 48.550 | 49.325 | 196.500 |
| 2. Michigan State | 48.675 | 48.950 | 48.500 | 48.950 | 195.075 |
Event-By-Event U-M Individual Scores
VAULT Lauren Mirkovich 9.850 (t2) Lindsey Bruck 9.800 Shanna Duggan 9.850 (t2) Katie Lieberman 9.825 (t5) Elise Ray 9.850 (t2) Jenny Deiley 9.875 (1) UNEVEN BARS Nellie Kippley 9.800 Katie Lieberman 9.825 (t5) Lindsey Bruck 9.850 (t3) Jenny Deiley 9.900 (2) Lauren Mirkovich 9.850 (t3) Elise Ray 9.950 (1) BALANCE BEAM Kara Rosella 9.675 Shanna Duggan 8.775 Jenny Deiley 9.125 Becca Clauson 9.900 (2) Lindsey Bruck 9.875 (t3) Elise Ray 9.975 (1) FLOOR EXERCISE Nellie Kippley 9.850 Shanna Duggan 9.875 (t1) Lindsey Bruck 9.875 (t1) Becca Clauson 9.850 Jenny Deiley 9.875 (t1) Elise Ray 9.850 All Around Elise Ray 39.625 (1) Lindsey Bruck 39.400 (2) Jenny Deiley 38.775 (4) ( ) denotes place in Top 5
N O T E S
Fifth-year senior Elise Ray won her 13th uneven bars title in the last 14 meets, dating back to the 2004 Big Ten Championships. She also posted her 20th score of 9.900 or better in the last 21 bars routines -- a streak spanning 418 days. Ray has 27 bars titles in her career.
Head coach Bev Plocki earned her 300th career victory, improving to 300-86 in her 16th season at the helm. Plocki is 146-24 in the conference.
Ray tied for first place all-time at Michigan with her 36th all-around score of 39.000+. Ray ties Sarah Cain on the all-time list.
Michigan improved to 16-2 and 7-0 in the Big Ten to conclude the regular season. U-M has had seven season of undefeated gymnastics in the Big Ten in Plocki's tenure, including an 11-0 mark in 2002.
The win clinches the winter portion of the Pontiac Challenge Cup, with the women's gymnastics win giving U-M a 4-2 edge in the final winter standings. Michigan has never relinquished the Cup in five sessions of competition.
Contact: Richard Retyi (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
