Michigan
NCAA Prelims and All-Around
Botterman Moves to NCAA Finals With All-America Performance
4/16/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics
Site: Lincoln, Neb. (Bob Devaney Sports Center)
Event: NCAA Championships (Preliminary Competition)
U-M Team Finish: No Team Scoring
Next U-M Event: Saturday, April 18 -- at NCAA Championships - Individual Event Finals (Lincoln, Neb.),6 p.m. CDT
LINCOLN, Neb. -- Sophomore Kylee Botterman (New Lenox, Ill./Lincoln-Way Central) of the University of Michigan women's gymnastics team shared a piece of second place on the floor exercise, earning All-America first team honors with a 9.875 and advancing to Saturday's Individual Event Finals at Nebraska's Bob Devaney Sports Center. Her 9.875 in the third rotation was tops through four rotations and held up despite strong performances from Utah and UCLA to close the meet.
Junior Sarah Curtis(Reno, Nev./Reno) competed on bars in her first event in the second rotation, scoring a 9.800 before hitting her stride on balance beam, nailing a season-best 9.875 routine that was good for third at the midway point. Curtis added a 9.800 score on the floor exercise and ended the meet with a season-high 9.850 vault, giving her a 39.325 all-around score. Her beam score held up to the All-America standard until the final seven performances of the meet when a strong Arkansas finish on the event and a strong performance from Southern Utah's Elise Wheeler pushed Curtis and three other athletes out of the top eight. Her all-around total was good for 12th place in the second session and 17th place overall.
Botterman will compete in the floor exercise at the NCAA Individual Event Championships on Saturday (April 18) at 6 p.m. CDT for a chance to earn an individual national title. Botterman competed on bars at the 2008 Individual Event Championships, making this her second Saturday appearance at nationals.
Curtis completes an ironwoman season, competing in the all-around in all 14 meets, winning four all-around titles to go along with three individual event crowns.
Senior Becky Bernard(Stow, Ohio/Stow-Munroe Falls) tied for 13th place on the uneven bars with a 9.825 score in the first session. Bernard performed her bars routine in the third rotation of the meet, initially tying for fourth, before Florida and Georgia bumped her out of All-America contention with stronger scores in the second half of the meet.
Bernard concludes her collegiate career as a three-time All-American on bars, earning first team honors in 2008 after picking up back-to-back second team honors as a freshman and sophomore. She won 14 bars titles in her career and 19 individual-event titles overall while earning Academic All-Big Ten distinction three times.
Event-By-Event U-M Individual Scores
Vault Results (Session 2) 1. Michelle Stout, Arkansas 9.975 2. Mandi Rodriguez, Oregon St. 9.950 Vanessa Zamarripa, UCLA 9.950 Kristina Baskett, Utah 9.950 5. Rachel Terry, Alabama 9.900 Casey Jo Magee, Arkansas 9.900 Jaime Pisani, Arkansas 9.900 Jami Lanz, Oregon State 9.900 Ariana Berlin, UCLA 9.900 Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs, UCLA 9.900 Nina Kim, Utah 9.900 15. SARAH CURTIS, MICHIGAN 9.850 Uneven Bars Results (Session 2) 1. Ashley Priess, Alabama 9.900 Ariana Berlin , UCLA 9.900 Kristina Baskett, Utah 9.900 4. Morgan Dennis, Alabama 9.875 Michell Stout, Arkansas 9.875 Elise Wheeler, S. Utah 9.875 7. Kylee Stone, Nebraska 9.850 Jaime Pisani, Arkansas 9.850 Jen Kesler, Oregon State 9.850 Vanessa Zamarripa, UCLA 9.850 Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs, UCLA 9.850 Nina Kim, Utah 9.850 Jamie Deetscreek, Utah 9.850 Daria Bijak, Utah 9.850 18. SARAH CURTIS, MICHIGAN 9.800 Balance Beam Results (Session 2) 1. Ricki Lebegern, Alabama 9.900 Ashley Priess, Alabama 9.900 Alex LaChance, Arkansas 9.900 Sarah Nagashima, Arkansas 9.900 Melissa Fernandez, Illinois 9.900 Vanessa Zamarripa, UCLA 9.900 Kristina Baskett, Utah 9.900 Elise Wheeler, S. Utah 9.900 9. SARAH CURTIS, MICHIGAN 9.875 Floor Exercise Results (Session 2) 1. Daria Bijak, Utah 9.900 2. KYLEE BOTTERMAN, MICHIGAN 9.875 Mandi Rodriguez, Oregon St 9.875 Vanessa Zamarripa, UCLA 9.875 Brittani McCullough, UCLA 9.875 6. Ricki Lebegern, Alabama 9.850 Ashley Priess, Alabama 9.850 Michelle Stout, Arkansas 9.850 Casey Jo Magee, Arkansas 9.850 Jaime Pisani, Arkansas 9.850 Sarah Schmidt, Illinois 9.850 Tasha Smith, Oregon State 9.850 Nicole Tom, UCLA 9.850 Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs, UCLA 9.850 Ariana Berlin, UCLA 9.850 Elise Wheeler, S. Utah 9.850 Kristina Baskett, Utah 9.850 24. SARAH CURTIS, MICHIGAN 9.800 All-Around Results (Both Sessions) 1. Courtney Kupets, Georgia 39.800 Kristina Baskett, Utah 39.600 Vanessa Zamarripa, UCLA 39.575 Michelle Stout, Arkansas 39.525 Ariana Berlin, UCLA 39.525 2. Tiffany Tolnay, Georgia 39.500 Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs, UCLA 39.475 3. Ricki Lebergen, Alabama 39.450 Ashley Priess, Alabama 39.450 Maranda Smith, Florida 39.450 17. SARAH CURTIS, MICHIGAN 39.325
N O T E S
Senior Becky Bernard has never scored below 9.825 at an NCAA Championships event, putting up a 9.825 score as a freshman in 2006 to earn All-America second team honors, then nailing matching 9.900 performances as a sophomore and junior. Bernard scored 9.8375 in her only appearance at the NCAA Individual Event Finals, taking 12th place.
Sophomore Kylee Botterman earns the third All-America honor of her career and her second first team accolade. Botterman is a first team All-American on bars and a second team All-American on vault. Michigan's last All-American on floor was Katie Lieberman, who earned All-America first team honors in 2007.
Contact: Richard Retyi (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
