Notes: Michigan at Big Ten Championships
3/21/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics
INDIVIDUAL
Sophomore Kylee Botterman defended her Big Ten floor exercise title with a career-best 9.950, sharing the conference trophy with a pair of competitors. A Wolverine has won floor in seven straight seasons, with Botterman becoming Michigan's 19th floor champion and just the third to pull off the repeat, joining Beth Wymer (1994-95) and Sarah Cain (1999-2000). Botterman is also just the fourth multi-title winner in program history, joining Lisa Simes and Cain with two titles and trailing Wymer, who won three floor titles.
Sophomore Trish Wilson won her first individual Big Ten title, taking the uneven bars crown with a 9.950 to win the award outright. Wilson follows Sarah Curtis (2008) as the Big Ten bars champion. Wilson is the 14th Michigan athlete to win the bars title.
Sophomore Trish Wilson had a pair of career bests, putting up new highs on vault and bars. She nailed a career-best 9.900 on vault in her first crack at the event at a Big Ten Championships and scored a career-high 9.950 on bars in her first try at Big Tens. Wilson has only performed three vaults in her collegiate career, including today, and has done bars just six times this season.
Sophomore Kylee Botterman had a personal Big Ten Championships-best 9.875 on bars.
Senior Tatjana Thuener-Rego tied a season high with a 9.850 on vault, putting up her best score at Big Tens on the event. She also tied a season high on floor with a 9.900, putting up her highest Big Ten Championships score in three performances.
Senior Becky Bernard tied her highest bars score at Big Tens with a 9.850. She also tied a season high on beam with a 9.850.
Junior Maureen Moody nailed a career-high 9.900 bars performance.
Junior Jordan Sexton performed her first Big Ten Championships beam routine, scoring 9.850.
Junior Sarah Curtis had a season-high 9.900 on floor.
Junior Jaclyn Kramer went a season-high 9.850 in the Wolverines' final floor performance.
TEAM AND MISCELLANEOUS
Michigan's 17 Big Ten team titles are more than the rest of the Big Ten combined.
The Big Ten announced its major awards at the end of the championships, with Ohio State's Taylor Jones winning Freshman of the Year, Penn State's Brandi Personett earning Gymnast of the Year, and Penn State head coach Steve Shephard and Illinois head coach Bob Starkell sharing Coach of the Year honors.
Michigan's season-high 49.450 on floor was just 0.025 shy of tying for the fifth-highest floor exercise score in U-M postseason history.
U-M's season-high 49.425 on bars was just 0.025 shy of tying for the fourth-highest uneven bars score in school postseason history.
The Wolverines scored a season-best 49.225 on vault, eclipsing the previous high of 49.175 achieved in each of the last two meets of the regular season at Florida and Georgia.
Michigan has hoisted the Big Ten team trophy three times in Champaign (1995, 2003, 2009) while placing seventh in 1988 and third in 1991 (Minnesota took home the trophy both those years).
The Big Ten Championships is the first meet of the year in which four judges score each event.
Players Mentioned
