Michigan
NCAA Semifinal #1
Wojcik Wins NCAA Balance Beam Title; Michigan's Season Ends in Semis
4/19/2019 4:24:00 PM | Women's Gymnastics
» Freshman Natalie Wojcik won a national championship on balance beam with a 9.950.
» Michigan finished in third place in the first NCAA semifinal session.
» U-M was in the top two after the first two sessions of the meet.
Site: Fort Worth, Texas (Fort Worth Convention Center)
Event: NCAA Championships (Semifinal Session 1)
Scores: #2 UCLA 197.675, #3 LSU 197.5125, #6 Michigan 197.200, #5 Utah 196.725
Records: U-M (28-9-1), UCLA (28-1), LSU (26-4), Utah (21-8)
Next U-M Event: Season Completed
• Complete Results (PDF) | Combined Session Results (PDF) | Photo Gallery
FORT WORTH, Texas -- Freshman Natalie Wojcik won the balance beam national title and the University of Michigan women's gymnastics team finished in third place behind No. 2 UCLA and No. 3 LSU with a score of 197.200 in the first NCAA Championships semifinal on Friday (April 19). The Wolverines missed out on advancing to Saturday's (April 20) finals by .3125 points to end their season.
"I don't remember a time where I have been as proud of a team overall," said head coach Bev Plocki. "They lived our motto 'Can't break steel' today. This was an incredibly difficult session to be in, and at the halfway point we were in the top two."
Michigan was in second place, leading LSU by a narrow margin of .0125 points. The Tigers took over second place with a 49.450 on vault, and the Wolverines recorded their lowest score of the meet in the final rotation, a 49.1875 on vault.
"I wanted us to put it all out there and we did that," said Plocki. "We did everything that we could do and this group of young women is tough as nails. Their grit and determination is amazing. There is not an ounce of disappointment in my heart. There is nothing buy joy and pride for what this team did."
Wojcik won a national championship on balance beam with a 9.950, becoming just the second NCAA beam champion in program history along with Elise Ray (2002). It is the ninth national championship for Michigan and first since Joana Sampson won floor in 2013. Wojcik was crowned an All-American on both beam (1st team) and the all-around (2nd team).
"I was so excited," said Wojcik. "Afterwards I started jumping up and down and screaming and high-fiving everyone after. It was definitely a really good feeling."
The meet would be the last collegiate meet for seniors Olivia Karas and Emma McLean, who was injured in practice on Tuesday and was unable to compete. Karas gave it her all with an all-around score of 39.5375. She led the team with a 9.925 on floor exercise and uneven bars with a 9.900.
"Our motto for this weekend was 'all gas, no brakes,'" said Karas. "There was nothing to lose. Not advancing doesn't change the fact that we made it here, the first time there was only eight teams. I have no regrets and am so happy with everything we accomplished this season through a lot of adversity."
Karas earned All-America status on bars (1st team), beam (2nd team), floor (1st team) and in the all-around (2nd team) for her terrific meet.
The Wolverines hit on all 24 of their routines in the meet and had several great individual performances along with Karas.
The Wolverines got off to a fantastic start with several stuck dismounts during their bars rotation. Karas recorded her seventh 9.900 or better in her last eight meets to lead the team on the event. Freshman Maddie Mariani stuck her dismount for a 9.8625 to finish behind Karas. U-M finished with a 49.300 to hold second place after one rotation.
The team carried its early momentum over to beam, hitting all six routines for a rotation score of 49.3375. Wojcik closed off the rotation with a 9.950, one of her best performance of the season, as she hit the score for the third time. Karas had a 9.875 and juniors Lexi Funk and Maddy Osman each scored 9.850 to earn second team All-America honors.
Michigan's floor rotation produced a 49.375. Wojcik and Karas finished with two of the top scores of the session. Freshman Abby Brenner also contributed a 9.875.
The highlight on vault was sophomore Anne Maxim's career-high 9.8625. She bested her previous best (9.850) with the routine.
The Wolverines concluded the season with their 24th NCAA Championship appearance and will finish in the top eight for the first time since 2015.
Players Mentioned
