This Week in Michigan Women's Gymnastics #12
3/31/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics
March 31, 2015
THIS WEEK
Saturday, April 4 -- at NCAA Regional Championships (Columbus, Ohio), 6 p.m.
Championships Central/Live Video | | Tickets
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Two weeks after winning the Big Ten championship, the No. 6-ranked University of Michigan women's gymnastics team (21-2 overall, 9-0 Big Ten) looks to maintain its momentum at the NCAA Regional Championships, set to be held Saturday (April 4) in Columbus, Ohio. The competition will begin at 6 p.m. inside St. John Arena. The six-team field also includes No. 7 UCLA, No. 18 Arizona, No. 21 Central Michigan, Kentucky and Ohio State. The top two teams will qualify for the NCAA Championships, which are slated for April 17-19 in Fort Worth, Texas.
Regional tickets are available through the Ohio State Athletic Ticket Office or online through Ticketmaster. Tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for seniors (62+). To purchase, call 1 (614) 292-2624. The office is open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
NCAA REGIONALS HISTORY
Michigan has qualified to every NCAA Regional Championships since 1992, a streak of 24 consecutive appearances. U-M has qualified for the NCAA Championships in 20 of the last 23 years (not in 1992, 2009 or 2012).
The Wolverines have won 11 NCAA Regional championships, including three of the past four years: 1982 (Champaign, Ill.), 1997 (Ann Arbor), 1999 (Lincoln, Neb.), 2001 (Ann Arbor), 2003 (Ann Arbor), 2005 (Lincoln), 2006 (Ann Arbor), 2011 (Ann Arbor), 2013 (Morgantown, W. Va.) and 2014 (Athens, Ga.). This will be Michigan's first time competing at an NCAA Regional held in Columbus.
Michigan gymnasts have won or tied for 59 individual NCAA Regional titles: 19 on uneven bars, 12 in both the all-around and on floor exercise, 11 on vault and five on balance beam. The only gymnast on the roster that has won an NCAA Regional individual title is Nicole Artz, who won the all-around (39.325) and tied for first on balance beam (9.850) at last year's Regional in Athens, Ga.
NCAA Regional awards for Gymnast of the Year, Coach of the Year and Assistant Coach of the Year will be announced on Saturday.
PREVIEWING COLUMBUS
Michigan is the No. 1 seed at the Columbus Regional. The other seeded teams include No. 2 seed UCLA (No. 7 in the country) and No. 3 seed Arizona (No. 18 in the country). The only non-seeded team at the Regional that is ranked is Central Michigan (No. 21).
Despite having two of the most successful programs in college gymnastics, Michigan and UCLA have never before met in an NCAA Regional Championships. This will be the fourth time that Michigan and Arizona have been at the same Regional (last: 2009 in Fayetteville, Ark.). This is, however, the second year in a row that both Ohio State and Central Michigan joined Michigan at the same Regional, as all three teams competed at the Athens Regional last April.
Though Michigan has never been to Columbus for an NCAA Regional before, it competed at St. John Arena earlier this season. Back on Jan. 17, U-M won a tri-meet with Ohio State and West Virginia, scoring 196.975. [ Recap ]
The Wolverines will rotate with individual qualifier Alyssa Nocella (Bowling Green). Additionally, they will have a practice session at 1:15 p.m. on Friday (April 3) at St. John Arena.
ROTATION ORDER
| VT | Bye | UB | BB | Bye | FX | |
| 1 | Kentucky | UCLA | MICHIGAN | Arizona | CMU | Ohio State |
| 2 | Ohio State | Kentucky | UCLA | MICHIGAN | Arizona | CMU |
| 3 | CMU | Ohio State | Kentucky | UCLA | MICHIGAN | Arizona |
| 4 | Arizona | CMU | Ohio State | Kentucky | UCLA | MICHIGAN |
| 5 | MICHIGAN | Arizona | CMU | Ohio State | Kentucky | UCLA |
| 6 | UCLA | MICHIGAN | Arizona | CMU | Ohio State | Kentucky |
TEAM AVERAGES
| VT | UB | BB | FX | Team | |
| Michigan | 49.264 | 49.264 | 49.286 | 49.330 | 197.143 |
| UCLA | 49.325 | 49.066 | 49.184 | 49.193 | 196.768 |
| Arizona | 48.925 | 48.992 | 48.973 | 49.044 | 195.933 |
| Central Michigan | 48.871 | 48.808 | 48.377 | 49.054 | 195.110 |
| Kentucky | 48.855 | 48.861 | 48.773 | 48.980 | 195.468 |
| Ohio State | 48.963 | 48.660 | 48.608 | 48.938 | 195.169 |
BIG TEN CHAMPIONS!
The Wolverines posted their second-highest score in program history (197.825) to win the Big Ten Championships back on March 21 in front of the home crowd at Crisler Center. With an additional two regular-season titles, U-M now has won a total of 23 Big Ten titles in its history. [ Recap | Notes | Photos 
| Highlights 
]
• Nicole Artz won a trio of titles, taking first on balance beam (9.950), tying for first on uneven bars (9.950) and winning the all-around (39.650, a new career high). She is the first U-M gymnast to win the Big Ten all-around title since Lindsey Bruck in 2006. Additionally, senior Sachi Sugiyama and sophomore Talia Chiarelli tied for the floor exercise title (9.925). All four gymnasts were named to the All-Big Ten Championships Team, as was junior Briley Casanova.
• Freshman Brianna Brown was named Big Ten Co-Freshman of the Year (sharing the award with Penn State's Briannah Tsang), while Bev Plocki was named Big Ten Coach of the Year.
• Michigan has crowned at least one Big Ten individual champion in 25 consecutive seasons.
• The Wolverines recorded the second-highest team totals in postseason history on both uneven bars (49.525) and balance beam (49.450).
• Not one routine was scored below a 9.800. U-M had 11 scores of 9.900 or better.
NOTES
• Nicole Artz, Brianna Brown and Sachi Sugiyama were each named regular-season All-Americans by the National Association of Collegiate Gymnastics Coaches/Women last Friday (March 27). Each gymnast received two honors: Artz on balance beam (first team) and in the all-around (first team); Brown on uneven bars (first team) and in the all-around (second team); and Sugiyama in the all-around (first team) and on floor exercise (second team). [ Release ]
• Five gymnasts received All-Big Ten honors on March 17. Sachi Sugiyama, Nicole Artz, Talia Chiarelli and Brianna Brown each made the first team, while Brooke Parker was picked to the second team. This is the third consecutive year that Michigan has placed at least five gymnasts on the All-Big Ten teams. [ Release ]
• Additionally, Nicole Artz, Talia Chiarelli, Brooke Parker, Austin Sheppard, Sachi Sugiyama and Lindsay Williams were each named Academic All-Big Ten selections on March 25. [ Release ]
• Michigan has been performing at a consistent level all season, and its scores are proof. If the team's high score (197.825) and low score (196.600) are taken out, U-M is averaging 197.127 in its nine other competitions. The Wolverines have also performed well regardless of the venue, as there is less than a three-tenth difference between its averages at home (197.295) and on the road (197.016).
• Additionally, U-M is on pace to set several program bests for highest season-long scoring averages. It is averaging 197.143 this season, which would be a program best if the season ended today (old record is 196.998 from 2013). It is also averaging 49.286 on balance beam (old record is 49.105 from 2004). On the individual side, Nicole Artz is on pace to set program records for highest single-season scoring averages in both the all-around (39.493; old record is 39.458 from Elise Ray in 2004) and balance beam (9.905; old record is 9.855 from Elise Ray in 2004).
• Michigan scored 197.825 at the Big Ten Championships, its second-highest score in program history. It also went 197.825 last season against both UCLA and Utah (March 7, 2014). The program's highest score in history was 197.850, set at the 2000 Big Ten Championships.
• On March 19, Sachi Sugiyama was named one of the six national finalists for the 2015 AAI Award, given to the nation's top senior collegiate gymnast. She is having the best season of her four-year career, currently ranked eighth in the nation in the all-around (39.515 RQS). Sugiyama has won or tied for 12 individual event titles and finished first or second in the all-around in seven meets. Additionally, she has scored at least 39.500 in the all-around in five meets, culminating with a career-best score of 39.550, which she achieved twice this season (last: March 21 at Big Ten Championships). [ Video Feature ]
• Nicole Artz has established herself as one of the nation's strongest gymnasts. Including her three Big Ten individual titles and three NACGC/W Regular Season All-America honors, Artz appears in the national rankings three times: all-around (39.550 RQS, tied for fifth), balance beam (9.920 RQS, tied for third) and floor exercise (9.920 RQS, tied for 17th). Artz has won or tied for 15 individual titles this season and has finished first in the all-around six times.
• Brianna Brown, the Big Ten Co-Freshman of the Year, has come on strong in recent weeks, setting or tying career highs in the all-around (39.550), on vault (9.875) and on floor exercise (9.850) at the Big Ten Championships (March 21). Among freshmen, Brown is ranked first in the Big Ten and second in the NCAA in the all-around (39.430 RQS). She is also tied for fifth nationally on uneven bars (9.920 RQS). She is returning to her home state for this weekend's NCAA Regional Championship; Brown is from Cincinnati and trained at Cincinnati Gymnastics Academy.
• The Wolverines have scored at least 49.000 in all 44 rotations this year and have won or tied for 34 of 44 event titles.
• Michigan's two signees for the 2015-16 performed well at their respective State Championships meets last weekend. At the Illinois L10 State Meet, Olivia Karas won vault (9.850) and balance beam (9.600) and finished second in the all-around (37.350) in the Senior B Division. At the Michigan Level 7-10 Girls State Meet, Emma McLean won all-around (38.050), vault (9.825) and floor exercise (9.700) titles, and took second on uneven bars (9.375) in the Senior B Division. [ Signing Day Release ]
COACHES' CORNER
 | Bev Plocki Head Coach |
Q: There was no competition last week, so what was the focus of training?
A: We just tried to take advantage of exactly what you said, the fact that we didn't have a competition. We've had a great season, but our weakness is that we don't have a lot of depth. We've had the same athletes going week after week with no rest, so we were able to bring our numbers down and in some cases, shut some kids down that have been hurt and sore. We'll ramp things back up this week, but we absolutely tried to take advantage of that down time.
Q: After such a great meet at Big Tens, what sort of technical things were you working on?
A: We wanted to enjoy Big Tens, certainly, but a lot of what we worked on was just keeping focus. I don't need to tell this team that we have bigger goals and aspirations. They know. We know we have to have a good meet at Regionals in order to get to Nationals. Big Tens was really the first meet that we felt we put all four events together. We obviously want to continue to do that.
Q: Talk about that a little bit. The mindset from Big Tens to Regionals has to be a little different. At Big Tens, you know you have another meet, but now, it's do-or-die time.
A: It's different. You have to make sure you get fired up. At Big Tens, there's a lot on the line. At Regionals, you don't even get a trophy, but it's essential to your goals and aspirations. We know that we need to guard against a letdown. We have to find ways internally to get fired up for this meet. With this group, I don't think that will be difficult to do.
Q: You're going back to Columbus, which was a place you visited earlier this year. That has to help.
A: Absolutely. We're happy to be going back. We're familiar with the arena and the equipment from having competed there earlier this season. That's good for us. It was our second meet and we very nearly went 197.000. We had a good meet. We're comfortable with it.
Q: One of this team's biggest strengths has been its ability to take things one at a time. Do you do anything different now?
A: Everything we've done up to this point is practicing competing for what we're about to do. We've been successful in our approach, so why would you change that? These last couple of weeks, we've built a great deal of confidence within ourselves. We're going into these meets knowing that we don't have to do anything different. Let's just do what has made us successful and be confident in that. We have to go into this meet with Lloyd Carr's definition of confidence -- knowing the outcome before it begins. We need to go in and perform like we know exactly what the outcome is going to be. Then it's just a matter of taking care of business.
UP NEXT
Fri-Sun., April 17-19 -- at NCAA Championships (Fort Worth, Texas)
Communications Contact: Brad Rudner (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
