Defending NCAA Champion Michigan Voted No. 1 in WCGA Preseason Poll
12/17/2021 12:23:00 PM | Women's Gymnastics
• 2022 U-M Women's Gymnastics Schedule | Ticket Information
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -- The reigning NCAA champion University of Michigan women's gymnastics team earned the No. 1 ranking in the Women's College Gymnastics Association (WCGA) preseason poll as announced Friday (Dec. 17).
The Wolverines come in as preseason No. 1 for the first time in program history and earned the top spot for the first time since Jan. 11, 2016. Michigan received 37 first place votes, while Florida came in at No. 2 with 16 first place votes and Oklahoma rounded out the top three with six first place votes. Minnesota and Iowa join U-M in the top 20 to start the 2022 season, coming in at Nos. 9 and 18, respectively.
Michigan head coach Bev Plocki enters her 33rd season at the helm of the program and has guided the Wolverines to one national championship, 24 Big Ten titles and six regular-season crowns. Plocki, a two-time national coach of the year, is joined by associate head coach Scott Sherman (26th season), assistant coach Maile'ana Kanewa-Hermelyn (third season), and volunteer assistant coach Lexi Funk (second season).
The Wolverines are poised to defend their national championship, returning their entire vault, uneven bars and floor exercise lineups, while losing only one routine on balance beam.
U-M was solid in its Dec. 9 exhibition tri-meet against Central Michigan and Western Michigan, finishing in first place with a score of 197.250 -- nearly three points ahead of second-place CMU (194.350). The Wolverines won all four event titles, with Natalie Wojcik capturing a pair of individual tiles (bars, beam).
The Wolverines finished the 2021 season as the top team in the nation on vault, ranked third on uneven bars, fourth on the balance beam and 12th on floor exercise. U-M also set program-record scores on bars (49.725) and beam (49.600), while posting the second-highest vault (49.800) and floor totals (49.650) in program history.
Michigan opens its 2022 season Thursday, Jan. 6 when it hosts No. 15 Georgia at 7 p.m. inside Crisler Center. Season tickets and single meet tickets are available now at MGoBlue.com/tickets.
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