Four Women's Gymnasts Earn All-Big Ten Honors
3/30/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- The University of Michigan women's gymnastics team earned four All-Big Ten Conference honors, including a pair of first team awards, at the Big Ten Women's Gymnastics Championships banquet on Friday night (March 30).
Sophomores Becky Bernard (Stow, Ohio/Stow-Munroe Falls) and Tatjana Thuener-Rego (Miami, Fla./The American School) each earned All-Big Ten first team honors. Thuener-Rego became the first Wolverine to earn All-Big Ten first team honors in her first two seasons since the conference began listing first and second team honorees in 2003. Bernard picked up her first All-Big Ten honor to become the fourth Wolverine underclassman to win first team since the conference began listing first and second team honorees, joining senior Lindsey Bruck (Marietta, N.Y./Marcellus), Jenny Deiley (2003-06) and Thuener-Rego.
Junior Katie Lieberman (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) and sophomore Huneth Lor (Aurora, Ill./Waubonsie Valley) earned All-Big Ten second team honors. Lieberman picked up her third-straight All-Big Ten second team accolade, while Lor earned the first All-Big Ten citation of her career.
Thuener-Rego and Bernard combined for five Big Ten Gymnast of the Week awards this season, with Thuener-Rego earning three and Bernard grabbing a pair. Thuener-Rego enters the Big Ten Championships Saturday (March 31) as the conference's second-best all-arounder, earning four all-around crowns in eight meets while adding 11 other individual event titles to her haul. Bernard has consistently been the conference's top performer on the uneven bars, ranking first in the conference on bars for the last three straight weeks. Bernard is the only conference athlete to earn Big Ten Gymnast of the Week as an event specialist in 2007, picking up five bars titles along with a pair of crowns on both balance beam and the floor exercise.
Lieberman became the eighth Wolverine in program history to earn three All-Big Ten Conference honors, taking second team accolades in each of her three years of competition. Lieberman holds the second best vault RQS in the conference (9.880) and has won four vault titles in the 2007 season. Lor is one of the success stories of the 2007 squad, going from performing in just four meets in 2006 to seeing action in every meet in the current season, competing in the all-around 10 times. Lor has picked up individual event crowns on vault and beam and posted the conference's highest all-around score the week of March 5, scoring a career-best 39.225 at Georgia on March 9.
For the second year in a row, junior co-captain Nellie Kippley (St. Paul, Minn./Tech) was chosen as Michigan's honoree for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award given to a student-athlete on each team who distinguishes herself through sportsmanship, ethical behavior and good citizenship outside of the competition setting.
This is the fifth year in which the All-Big Ten awards were determined by a vote of the seven head coaches prior to the Big Ten Championships. Previously, gymnasts earned a spot on the all-conference team by finishing among the top six on an event or the top three in the all-around at the league meet.
Michigan competes in the Big Ten Championships Saturday (March 31) in State College, Pa., in Rec Hall. The Wolverines are looking to improve on their fourth-place finish in 2006 and win U-M's 14th team title in the last 16 seasons. The meet begins at at 6 p.m.
2007 All-Big Ten Conference Honors
| FIRST TEAM Nicole Cowart, Illinois Katie Burke, Iowa Becky Bernard, Michigan Tatjana Thuener-Rego, Michigan Kristen Coleman, Michigan State Nicole Curler, Michigan State Richelle Robinson, Michigan State Kaylan Clevinger, Ohio State Maalika Moore-Thomas, Ohio State Brandi Personett, Penn State | SECOND TEAM Julie Crall, Illinois Cara Pomeroy, Illinois Kara Pinjuy, Iowa Katie Turcotte, Iowa Jennifer Simbhudas, Iowa Katie Lieberman, Michigan Hunth Lor, Michigan Carmelina Carabajal Minnesota Katie Perret, Penn State Stephanie Sullivan, Penn State |
Contact: Richard Retyi (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
