Michigan Women's Gymnasts Experience Program's Best Week

For a program with 10 NCAA Super Six appearances and 25 Big Ten Championships, it is hard to imagine that perhaps the best seven-day stretch in the history of the University of Michigan women's gymnastics program history came during the regular season.

It is hard to argue against what the 2020 Wolverines accomplished from Feb. 22-28, as it recorded the program's two best team scores.

As the team came off a good road victory over Iowa, there was an excitement amongst the group with the next meet going to be on podium at the Elevate the Satge meet at Huntington Center in Toledo, Ohio. However, sophomore standout Natalie Wojcik had taken a fall during her bars mount at Iowa and was unsure about her status for the meet. She had competed all four events after the fall, but woke up feeling the effects the next day.

Wojcik did not practice for five days before being cleared by doctors to compete. The team was ready to go into the meet and compete as a family.

"We had talked during the week about competing for each other," said head coach Bev Plocki. "We are a close-knit family, they are a group of sisters. Sometimes it is easy to have complacency unless you are fighting for your family and for your sisters."

The team has been close all season long but decided to really lock in together. The day before the Elevate the Stage meet, the family took a hit as sophomore Maddie Mariani went down in practice with an injury. All of a sudden, the team would need to fill two lineup spots with someone else.

The day of the meet, spirits were high. From the time the team got on to the bus, to the hour-long ride from Ann Arbor to Toledo and into the locker room before warmups, the team was loose and having fun. The key ingredient to the team's success has always been fun.

Michigan was competing for a regular-season Big Ten Championship. They were tied with Minnesota at 5-0. The way the random draw played out, Michigan would start on floor exercise and end on a bye, while Minnesota would follow them on each event.

"We wanted to set a standard that would be difficult for anyone else to live up to," said Plocki. "It was about us strengthening our family unit and preparing for whatever would come."

Koulos

Freshman Nicoletta Koulos was the first competitor. It was her first time competing on podium in college, on a grander stage, and she stepped up and hit her routine for a season-high 9.850. She made a statement with the opening act.

"I don't know if she knows how big of a role she played in that meet, actually," said sophomore Abby Brenner. "She came out with that 9.850, and it set the tone for the entire night."

The team fed off Koulos' routine and ended the rotation with four straight scores of 9.900 or higher, led by a season-high from freshman Sierra Brooks. The team started the meet with a bang, scoring a season-best 49.525 in the rotation. Talk about setting the bar high for the other teams to follow.

The big start on floor gave the team a confidence boost. Michigan already was one of the top vault teams in the country, but the momentum made them even stronger. The first three competitors to go all did an amazing job. Sophomore Abby Heiskell led off with a near perfect score for her 9.950 start value Yurchenko full. She stuck the vault for a career-high 9.925.

"I felt like I was finally hitting my stride again," said Heiskell. "It took me longer than I thought it would to rebuild the strength and power I used to have before hurting my Achilles. Then with getting mono and halving a calf injury, it was reassuring to go up and hit like I do in the gym. It feels great to be myself again."

Koulos then came through big again with her first career 9.900 on her full. Those two set the scene for U-M's four Yurchenko 1.5 vaults.

Next up was Brenner, who had won on vault two of the previous three meets. She came through yet again, matching her career high with a 9.950. Vault had been something she really focused on over the offseason and preseason.

"This summer, I went back to the basics working on the small things," said Brenner. "I have been taking each routine in the moment and wanting to show them what I've got."

Brenner would tie for the vault title with Wojcik, who later matched her 9.950. This came one year after her perfect 10.0 on vault at the same meet, in the same venue. The team finished with a 49.600 vault score, tying the fifth best in program history.

The uneven bars was the first chance to see how the team would fare without Mariani. It came down to warmups for the coaches to decide between senior Maggie O'Hara and junior Lauren Farley. Just before the team marched in, O'Hara learned she would get the nod. She made the most of her opportunity, sticking her dismount for a career-high 9.875. The team erupted with excitement.

"We all agree that was one of the most exciting routines from the night, and it is really hard to pick one," said senior Lexi Funk. "I was really excited to see Maggie hit such an awesome routine. She has been working so hard in the gym and we all see her doing routines like that every day in practice, but as soon as she stuck her dismount we blew up. We just wanted to jump up there and hug her."

Only one gymnast went over a 9.900 on bars, and it was Wojcik with her event-winning score of 9.950 to match a career high. The team finished with a 49.400, setting up for a chance at the top team score in program history. The team needed a 49.325 on beam to eclipse the 197.850 set at the 2000 Big Ten Championships.

The closest any team had come to that record score was 197.825 in 2014 against UCLA and Utah at home, 2015 at the Big Ten Championships at home and 2017 against Southern Utah at home. This 2020 team was within arms reach of a record that stood for 20 years.

The first three gymnasts to go earned two 9.800s and a 9.825. That meant the last three in the lineup each would have to average a 9.900. That was a tall task with the Wolverines only having six 9.900 scores in the first six meets combined.

Funk showed her senior maturity and did her part with a 9.900, her third of the season. Next up, Wojcik, the 2019 NCAA champion on beam, recorded a career-high 9.975. It gave her a career-high 39.775 all-around score, the seventh best in school history. It topped her previous career best of 39.750 set last year at Elevate the Stage.

"I have a lot of fun competing up on podium," said Wojcik. "It is fun to be in front of a big crowd under the bright lights. A lot of our family and fans were able to come out, so we had high energy throughout the whole meet."

Even with that near perfect score, if Heiskell, who had a career high of 9.475, scored less than a 9.800, the team would fall .025 short of the program record.

Heiskell was brilliant in the final routine of the night, scoring a 9.925, to establish a new program record and clinch the Big Ten regular-season title. The 197.950 was out of reach regardless of what Minnesota did in its final rotation.

"After the competition, I talked to the team about how good they really are and carrying that confidence forward," said Plocki. "No matter where the competition is or who we are facing, they need to believe to their core that they could beat any team on any given night."

2020 Big Ten Regular-Season Champs

Six days later, the Wolverines were put to the test. The team was back at Crisler Center for a home meet against New Hampshire. It was the start of spring break, the opponent was ranked No. 33 and the team was not competing on podium -- a setup for a possible letdown.

Instead, they rose to the challenge. Wojcik was outstanding once again with a 9.950 on both bars and floor to win those events and tie career highs. She finished with a 39.675 to win the all-around, edging out Brooks, who earned a career-high 39.650 after scoring a 9.900 or better in all four events. Brooks has been a standout as a freshman this season.

"Sierra has been an incredible addition to this team," said Wojcik. "She has been an incredible athlete and a great person. You can always count on her to come in to the gym and get the job done and be a positive role model, even as a freshman."

Freshman Gabby Wilson has been good all season long as well, but against New Hampshire she was really good. She won vault with a career-high 9.925 and also had a 9.900 on floor. She is rounding into form as the team approaches the postseason.

"Gabby reminds me a lot of Abby Brenner last year," said Heiskell. "I don't think people realize how much of an impact she has on our team. She is a force to be reckoned with. She is a ball of energy and one of the most powerful gymnasts I have ever met. Her floor routine gives me chills every time I watch it."

Heiskell added a 9.900 on vault, O'Hara matched her career high on beam with a 9.875 and Funk had another 9.900 on beam. As a team, they matched the huge 49.525 on floor from the Elevate the Stage meet and had a 49.475 on both vault and bars. It all led to a 197.900, which just seven days earlier would have been a program record, but instead they had to settle for the No. 2 score in the record books.

The team proved that the Elevate the Stage meet was not a one-time thing. They showed that they are ready to compete with the top teams in the nation. On Friday, they will get their chance as they travel to Oklahoma to take on the top-ranked Sooners in Norman at 7:30 p.m. CST.