Bev Plocki Reflects on Winning Record 23 Big Ten Titles
3/27/2018 11:40:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics, Features
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- University of Michigan women's gymnastics head coach Bev Plocki is in her 29th season and now has won 23 Big Ten Championships to tie former Indiana men's swimming head coach James "Doc" Counsilman for the most by any head coach in any sport in Big Ten history.
"It feels unreal," said Plocki. "I know that we have been really fortunate to have a lot of success, but to think about what that means in a conference like the Big Ten, with the success of so many sports on a national level, it is almost unbelievable."
Plocki's first championship came in 1992, her third season at Michigan, and she coached the Wolverines to a remarkable turnaround. U-M went 2-10 in the Big Ten her first year, 9-5 with a third place finish in year two and in her third season she led the Maize and Blue to an undefeated 11-0 season and first conference title. She remembers the first time her team hoisted the trophy as if it was yesterday.
"We were at Michigan State and it was the first year Penn State was in the Big Ten," she said. "Penn State had won the Atlantic 10 Conference every year of its existence and came in as the team that should have won on paper. Our teams have always been able to find that thing that motivates and drives them and that year we pulled off an upset over Penn State. It was incredible."
No team had ever scored more than a 190.000 at the Big Ten Championship prior to 1992 and Penn State went 190.900. Plocki's Maize and Blue squad did them one better with a 191.700. It was that team and that performance that set Michigan on its path to greatness, as they would win the next five to make it six in a row from 1992-97.
After a second-place finish in 1998, Plocki guided her team to a record seven straight titles from 1999-2005. The 2006 season was an anomaly, as the team finished fourth at Big Ten's but still went on to win the NCAA Regional and place seventh at nationals. Another streak followed from 2007-11 with five more titles. Over the course of 20 years, Michigan won 18 Big Ten Championships, an unfathomable feat.
Michigan is on yet another impressive streak as Plocki has guided them to five consecutive championships to reach a total of 23 in 29 seasons.
"Every single one of them has been really special and different than any of the others," said Plocki. "People have asked me if there is a formula and there really isn't. I came into a situation where I was fortunate to be able to create a culture and foundation for a program that we have been able to sustain for a very long time."
Bev Plocki's first Big Ten Championship Team from 1992 (left) and her latest conference champs.
Each championship is different because each year comes with a different roster and different obstacles. There are injuries, different schedules and environments to compete in, not to mention all the other things happening to student-athletes and coaches in their lives outside of the gym. No matter what, Plocki has been able to get her team to come together when it matters.
"There is always some different twist to every year," she said. "I would like to say there were a few years in there where it just came easy, but it feels like every year there is something different to overcome. Those are the things that make our teams grow closer together, when they really feel like they are pulling together and fighting for a common goal.
"This year's team is different, but still like many others in the fact that we have had some injuries we have had to overcome, everything we have gone through with my husband, all these things going on and it is like the saying, "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.' I feel like that has been a lot of what our success has been based around."
As the head coach of the U-M program for 29 seasons, Plocki has fostered a tremendous team culture where student-athletes who graduate continue to feel a part of the program for years to come. Student-athletes are recruited from around the country and are spread globally after they graduate, but one thing never changes -- they are Michigan Wolverines.
"It is amazing," said Plocki. "I received so many incredible text messages from our alumni coming into the weekend about what it meant to them to be part of this and how much pride they take in our success. The meet was over and my phone blew up with text messages from California, Florida, Colorado, all over the country, because they are glued to their TV. Every year when we are at this meet, it warms my heart that it creates an opportunity for them to relive the incredible memories they had of being part of this as well."
There has not been a class that Plocki has recruited at Michigan that did not win a Big Ten Championship. In fact, she has had 11 recruiting classes that earned rings in all four seasons they were in Ann Arbor. Â
All that success means a lot of championship T-shirts, hats and rings for Plocki. The T-shirts she has stored in a bag with plans to make into a quilt one day. The rings are displayed proudly along with her husband Jim's rings from Michigan in a showcase in their basement.
It is the memories of the championship moments that came after seasons of struggle and fight to overcome adversity that make the 23 championships so meaningful. That is what Plocki appreciates the most after becoming the head coach with the most Big Ten Championships in conference history.
