Michigan Headed to Nebraska for NCAA Regional Meet
3/28/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 8-ranked University of Michigan women's gymnastics team will travel to Lincoln, Neb., for the NCAA South Central Regional, Saturday (April 9) at 7 p.m. CST at the Bob Devaney Sports Center on the campus of the University of Nebraska.
The Wolverines will face Big 12 champion and No. 6 Nebraska, Pacific-10 runner-up and No. 18 Arizona, No. 19 Missouri, Arizona State and Illinois. The regional competition will also include five all-around competitors and four individual event specialists from teams that failed to advance to the regional.
"We are very excited to be heading to Nebraska," said head coach Bev Plocki. "We know they put on a great regional and we know it will be a first-class event. We defeated Nebraska in the season opener, but they have come a long way since then. We just faced Illinois in the Big Ten Championships and they are much improved this season. Nebraska is the team to beat, but Arizona, Missouri and Arizona State are quality programs as well."
The top two teams from the South Central Regional and the top two all-around competitors not on one of the advancing teams receive automatic berths to the national championships April 21-23 at Auburn University in Auburn, Ala.
Michigan's rotation begins on the balance beam, advances to a bye, then continues to the floor exercise, then on to vault, followed by a final bye and then the uneven bars.
No. 6 Nebraska is led by 2005 Big 12 all-around champion and 2003 NCAA all-around champion Richelle Simpson. The Huskers posted a 196.650 to win their seventh Big 12 title in the past nine seasons. Nebraska also features the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, Emily Parsons. No. 18 Arizona posted a 195.925 at the Pac-10 Championships, finishing runner-up to UCLA.
No. 8 Michigan wrapped up its seventh straight Big Ten Conference title and its 13th in 14 seasons. Fifth-year Elise Ray (Columbia, Md./Wilde Lake) earned the all-around crown, junior Becca Clauson (St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall) won a share of the floor exercise title and junior Jenny Deiley (Dayton, Minn./Elk River) and freshman Katie Lieberman (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) shared the Big Ten vault title. Ray was also named Big Ten Gymnast of the Year, while Lieberman was voted the Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
Tickets are available by calling the Nebraska Athletic Ticket Office at 1-800-8BIGRED.
NCAA South Central Region
Lincoln, Neb., Saturday (April 9), 7 p.m. CST
Host: University of Nebraska, Lincoln
Teams
1. No. 6 Nebraska
2. No. 8 MICHIGAN
3. No. 18 Arizona
4. No. 19 Missouri
5. Arizona State
6. Illinois
All-Around Competitors
1. Tara Boldt, Southeast Missouri State
2. Jennifer O'Neil, Illinois-Chicago
3. Jackie Jaworowicz, Illinois-Chicago
4. Kristina Campos, Northern Illinois
5. Katie Bloom, Southeast Missouri State
Alternate -- Alyson Cacciatore, Illinois-Chicago
Individual Event Specialists
Vault -- Veronique Meunier, Illinois-Chicago
Alternate -- Brittany Abney, Texas Woman's University
Uneven Bars -- Ashlee Williams, Northern Illinois
Alternate -- Courtney Arno, Texas Woman's University
Balance Beam -- Jessie Jaworowicz, Illinois-Chicago
Alternate -- Rachael Zelinski, Illinois-Chicago
Floor Exercise -- Rachel Goddard, Texas Woman's University
Alternate -- Rachael Zelinski, Illinois-Chicago
NCAA Release
Contact: Richard Retyi (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
