Michigan
NCAA Team Prelims (Session I)
Ray Leads Wolverines Back to NCAA Super Six Finals
4/19/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics
All-Around Co-Champ Earns All-America Honors in Four Events
Site: Athens, Ga. (Stegeman Coliseum)
Event: #7 Michigan at NCAA Championships (Team Preliminaries)
U-M Team Finish: 2nd Place of 6 Teams (196.525) in Session I
Attendance: 2,037
Next U-M Meet: Friday, April 20 -- at NCAA Super Six Team Finals (Athens, Ga.), 7 p.m.
ATHENS, Ga. -- For the last few weeks, the unofficial theme song of the seventh-ranked University of Michigan women's gymnastics team has been "Survivor." And that's just what the team did at the NCAA Championships team preliminaries and all-around competition today (Thursday, April 19), surviving and advancing to the NCAA Super Six finals.
Led by NCAA all-around co-champion Elise Ray (Columbia, Md./Wilde Lake HS), the Wolverines posted the program's third-highest NCAA Championships team score (196.525) and finished second to No. 1 UCLA (197.625) in the afternoon session to advance to Friday's (7 p.m.) team finals in the University of Georgia's Stegeman Coliseum.
The Wolverines were the only first-session team other than the Bruins to break the 49-point mark on each event: vault, 49.100; uneven bars, 49.100; balance beam, 49.050; and floor exercise, 49.275. Michigan's scores on the balance beam and the floor exercise were both the third highest in its NCAA Championships history.
Leading the way for the Wolverines was freshman Ray, who distinguished herself from the crowd by finishing first in the session on the beam (9.925), tied for second on the uneven bars (9.900) and third on the floor (9.925). Her all-around score of 39.525 put her in a tie for first in the session with UCLA's Onnie Willis, and the pair shared the NCAA title after no one in the evening session could better that mark.
Elise Ray (left) and UCLA's Onnie Willis
Ray becomes only the second women's gymnast in school history to win an NCAA individual title, joining three-time champion Beth Wymer (1992-95), who won the uneven bars crown her last three seasons.
The preliminary sessions also determine All-Americans and the competitors for Saturday's (April 21) Individual Event Finals. For the event finals, the top four competitors from each event in each preliminary session will compete to determine the best in the nation on the vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise. For All-America honors, the top four from each event earn first-team honors, while the gymnasts finishing fifth through eighth earn second-team honors.
For the Wolverines, four gymnasts earned seven All-America selections. Ray led the way with four selections to the first team (all-around, uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise). Sophomore Janessa Grieco (Mahopac, N.Y./Carmel HS) and senior Karina Senior (Markham, Ontario/Milliken HS) also earned first-team honors by finishing tied for fourth on the vault (9.875). Senior Bridget Knaeble (New Hope, Minn./Totino-Grace HS) earned second-team honors by finishing seventh in the all-around (39.225).
All three All-America first-team selections also earned a chance to compete in the Individual Event Finals on Saturday (April 21). Grieco and Senior will participate in the vault championship, while Ray will look for title on the uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise.
In addition to the Bruins and the Wolverines, No. 4 Alabama (196.375) earned a spot in the six-team finals by placing third in the afternoon session. Georgia (197.100), Utah (196.525) and Nebraska (196.200) qualified from the evening session.
Final Results (Session I)
| Team Scores | Vault | Bars | Beam | Floor | Total |
| 1. UCLA* | 49.200 | 49.525 | 49.375 | 49.525 | 197.625 |
| 2. MICHIGAN* | 49.100 | 49.100 | 49.050 | 49.275 | 196.525 |
| 3. Alabama* | 49.000 | 48.975 | 49.175 | 49.225 | 196.375 |
| 4. Florida | 48.950 | 48.700 | 48.975 | 49.200 | 195.825 |
| 5. Oklahoma | 48.100 | 48.525 | 48.425 | 48.825 | 193.875 |
| 6. Oregon State | 48.725 | 48.075 | 48.775 | 48.200 | 193.775 |
* Advance to NCAA Super Six to determine the national champion
Event-By-Event U-M Individual Scores
ALL-AROUND Elise Ray 39.525 (T1) Bridget Knaeble 39.225 VAULT Bridget Knaeble 9.775 Karina Senior 9.875 (T4) Melissa Peterson 9.425 Elise Ray 9.775 Janessa Grieco 9.875 (T4) Christine Michaud 9.800 UNEVEN BARS Christine Mantilia 9.750 Calli Ryals 9.800 Amy Kuczera 9.625 Karina Senior 9.800 Bridget Knaeble 9.850 Elise Ray 9.900 (T2) BALANCE BEAM Janessa Grieco 9.775 Calli Ryals 9.700 Melissa Peterson 9.800 Bridget Knaeble 9.775 Shannon MacKenzie 9.775 Elise Ray 9.925 (1) FLOOR EXERCISE Jodie Rosenberg 9.825 Janessa Grieco 9.850 Calli Ryals 9.800 Karina Senior 9.850 Bridget Knaeble 9.825 Elise Ray 9.925 (3) ( ) denotes place in the Top 5
N O T E S
• Elise Ray entered the record books with her balance beam, floor exercise and all-around scores. She tied Beth Wymer (1994 Super Six) for the highest score on the balance beam (9.925) in U-M NCAA Championships history. Her all-around score (39.525) is the second highest, while her mark on the floor exercise (9.925) tied Nikki Peters (1999 preliminaries) for the third highest.
• Janessa Grieco, Bridget Knaeble and Karina Senior have each earned All-America honors in past seasons. Grieco made the first team on vault last season, while Senior was first team on the balance beam in 1999 and second team on the floor exercise last year. Knaeble was on the first team for floor exercise in 1999 and second team on the uneven bars in 1998 and 2000.
• The Wolverines are looking for the first national championship in the program's history and the first by a U-M women's team. This is the team's seventh chance at the championship, all in the last eight years. In that stretch, Michigan has finished second twice (1995 and 1999).
Q U O T E S
Head Coach Bev Plocki
On the meet and advancing to the Super Six ... "We didn't have to count any falls, but there were little mistakes throughout the meet. The main thing is that we lived to see another day. The mistakes are all things we can work on correcting for tomorrow. I really feel like we'll be right there when it's all said and done."
On the scoring ... "The judges were conservative today, but the judges have to do that to separate the teams. This way, they have more room to reward the gymnasts who are doing really great gymnastics."
On the beam ... "We hit six-for-six on the beam, and that was big. It should really help our confidence. We still have some mistakes to fix, though."
On Elise Ray's performance ... "I'm real excited about it. Her vault could be cleaner, but she has only performed that once before."
On the fans in the sparse crowd ... "Our fans definitely won the award for the most sprit today. We have great fans, and they just proved why today."
Senior Bridget Knaeble
On the mental approach to the meet ... "We just tried not to make it different than the last time we were here (Feb. 10 dual), but obviously, there is more on the line. We knew what we had to do today, and we know what we have to do tomorrow."
On the beam routines ... "Hitting all six routines definitely gives us confidence going into tomorrow's meet. It felt good to be able to get through [the rotation], but we have to clean up some of the small things."
Contact: Jason Gerdom (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
