Michigan
Cancun Classic
Sexton, Thuener-Rego Share Cancun Classic Floor Title
1/2/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics
Site: Cancun, Mexico (Hilton Resort and Beach)
Event: Cancun Classic
U-M Result: 3rd Place of 4 Teams (192.700)
Records: U-M (1-2)
Next U-M Meet: Friday, Jan. 9 -- at Michigan State with Illinois and Western Michigan (East Lansing, Mich.), 7 p.m.
CANCUN, MEXICO -- The University of Michigan women's gymnastics team, ranked No. 8 in the preseason poll, began the new year with a third-place finish in the afternoon session of the Cancun Classic on Friday (Jan. 2), scoring 192.700 against No. 7 Louisiana State (194.900), No. 19 Boise State (193.700) and fourth-place North Carolina (190.325) at the Hilton Resort and Beach.
A number of Wolverine individuals had solid outings, led by senior Tatjana Thuener-Rego(Miami, Fla./American School) and junior Jordan Sexton(Weddington, N.C./Weddington), who shared the floor exercise title. Junior Sarah Curtis(Reno, Nev./Reno) placed third on the balance beam and fourth in the all-around, and senior Becky Bernard(Stow, Ohio/Stow-Munroe Falls) took third on the uneven bars to round out U-M's podium athletes.
Drawing true Olympic order, the Wolverines began on vault, limping to a 47.950 team score after an injury during warm-ups prompted a last-minute lineup change.
Michigan moved to the uneven bars, where its early-season struggles continued with a pair of falls, giving the team a 48.200 score and putting U-M in third place at the midway point of the meet. Bernard's 9.850 in the anchor spot helped the Wolverines remain in the hunt. Michigan had to count a pair of falls on the balance beam, finishing with a 47.500 team score led by Curtis' 9.825 performance.
The Wolverines showed their true potential in the final rotation on floor, putting up the meet's highest team score of the event with a 48.800 as Thuener-Rego and Sexton scored matching 9.800s to tie for the title. Sexton's floor performance was just the second of her collegiate career and her first since suffering a season-enging injury at the end of a floor routine in her freshman season. Thuener-Rego picked up the sixth floor exercise title of her career and her first since 2007.
Michigan travels to East Lansing, Mich., to take on in-state and Big Ten rival Michigan State in a quad meet featuring Illinois and Western Michigan on Friday (Jan. 9) at 7 p.m. at Jenison Field House. The meet will be broadcast on tape delay by the Big Ten Network with the competition airing Friday (Jan. 16) at 8 p.m.
Team Standings
| Team Scores | Vault | Bars | Beam | Floor | Total |
| 1. Louisiana State | 49.200 | 48.500 | 48.625 | 48.575 | 194.900 |
| 2. Boise State | 48.375 | 48.700 | 48.175 | 48.450 | 193.700 |
| 3. MICHIGAN | 47.950 | 48.200 | 47.500 | 48.800 | 192.700 |
| 4. North Carolina | 47.950 | 48.300 | 47.925 | 46.150 | 190.325 |
Event-By-Event U-M Individual Scores
VAULT Huneth Lor 9.425 Jaclyn Kramer 9.500 Sarah Curtis 9.725 Tatjana Thuener-Rego 9.250 Kylee Botterman 9.725 Taylor Zondervan 9.575 UNEVEN BARS Kelsey Knutson 9.225 Huneth Lor 9.625 Maureen Moody 9.700 Sarah Curtis 9.275 Tatjana Thuener-Rego 9.750 Becky Bernard 9.850 (3) BALANCE BEAM Huneth Lor 9.750 Jordan Sexton 9.200 Tatjana Thuener-Rego 9.700 Kelsey Knutson 9.275 Sarah Curtis 9.825 (3) Jaclyn Kramer 9.125 FLOOR EXERCISE Jaclyn Kramer 9.700 Huneth Lor 9.725 Jordan Sexton 9.800 (t1) Sarah Curtis 9.775 Kylee Botterman 9.600 Tatjana Thuener-Rego 9.800 (t1) ALL-AROUND Sarah Curtis 38.600 (4)
Huneth Lor 38.525 (5) Tatjana Thuener-Rego 38.500
N O T E S
Michigan competed outside the United States for the first time since 1994 when the team competed at the Bahamas Sunshine Invitational.
Junior Jordan Sexton won the first floor exercise title of her collegiate career in just her second collegiate floor routine. Sexton competed on floor once in her freshman season but suffered a season-ending injury during the routine.
Senior Tatjana Thuener-Rego won the sixth floor exercise title of her career and the first since 2007. A two-time All-American, Thuener-Rego was saddled with injuries in 2008 and did not compete on floor. Her all-around performance at the Cancun Classic was also the first since her sophomore season.
Q U O T E S
Head Coach Bev Plocki
On the meet... "We practiced well yesterday and warmed up awesome today but just did not compete well. Trish (Wilson) got banged up in her last warm-up vault and we started in a hole. We made some stupid mistakes on bars and beam early. We had to view this as our intrasquad being as it's so early and we knew we probably wouldn't be counting this score at the end of the season. We know the mistakes we made were silly ones and hopefully this catapults us into where we need to be for the rest of the season."
On technical difficulties at the competition site... "There were floor boards breaking right and left yesterday and today. It wasn't dangerous or horrible and we didn't do poorly because of the equipment."
Contact: Richard Retyi (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
