Michigan Looks for its 24th Big Ten Championship

THIS WEEK
Saturday, March 24 -- at Big Ten Championships (Champaign, Ill.), 7 p.m. CDT
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The No. 7 University of Michigan women's gymnastics team will vie for its 24th Big Ten championship on Saturday (March 24) as it heads to Champaign, Illinois, to compete in the Big Ten Championships in State Farm Center during the evening session at 7 p.m. CT.

MEET INFO
• Michigan will be competing for its 24th Big Ten championship, the most of any school in the conference. The next most is five by Minnesota and Ohio State.
• Head coach Bev Plocki has the most championships by any coach in Big Ten history with 22. Larry Cox, former Ohio State head coach, is second with five.
• U-M has won the last four Big Ten Championships. It is the fourth time in school history that the Wolverines have won four in a row, as they won six straight from 1992-97, seven straight from 1999-2005) and five straight from 2007-11.
• Michigan also leads the conference with 91 individual champions, 54 more than Minnesota in second place. The 91 championships include 77 event titles and 14 all-around victories.
• Three current Michigan gymnasts have won individual Big Ten titles. Senior Brianna Brown won the uneven bars in 2016, junior Emma McLean won vault in 2017 and junior Olivia Karas, who will not compete this weekend, won floor exercise last year.
• The Wolverines will start the meet on a bye before competing on uneven bars for their first event in the second rotation. U-M will finish the meet on vault.
• This week's Regional Qualifying Score rankings have Michigan ranked No. 7 in the nation. Michigan has been ranked in the top 10 in 15 consecutive polls.
• With a 197.075, Michigan has the highest team RQS in the Big Ten. The Wolverines are followed by Nebraska (196.660) and Minnesota (196.160).
• U-M is the highest-ranked team in the Big Ten on all four events.
• Seven Wolverines earned All-Big Ten honors this week. The four first-team selections were Brown, sophomore Lexi Funk, McLean and senior Paige Zaziski. The three second-team selections included senior Lauren Marinez and freshmen Lauren Farley and Syd Townsend.
• Michigan wrapped up the regular season with a 15-2-1 record. The Wolverines went 8-1 in Big Ten meets to capture their fourth Big Ten regular season title in six years.

LAST TIME OUT
• Michigan secured its fourth Big Ten regular-season title in six years by winning the Big Five Meet at Rutgers with a score of 197.225.
• The team had its highest road score of the season and fourth 197.000 or higher. U-M matched the third-best balance-beam score in school history with a 49.475.
• Funk had a career day to lead the Wolverines. The sophomore set a new career high to win the all-around with a 39.450. She also tied for the win on floor with a 9.900. They were her first career wins. During the meet, she matched or set career highs on three events and the all-around, including a 9.825 on vault and a 9.925 on beam.
• McLean tied Funk for the win on floor with a 9.900.
• Brown won beam with a career-high 9.950, while both Funk and Marinez were right behind with a 9.925.
• Zaziski posted a 9.925 on bars to finish in second place, while Townsend was right behind her with a 9.900.