Michigan
Northern Illinois
Ryals Helps Michigan Dominate Huskies in Home Opener
1/13/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Calli Ryals (Elyria, Ohio/Midview HS) won her first career all-around title to help the University of Michigan women's gymnastics team defeat Northern Illinois 194.900-186.600 today (Sunday, Jan. 13) in its first home event of 2002. Ryals captured a career-high three event titles -- vault, bars and all-around -- on the way to a 38.925 in the all-around competition in front of 1,119 fans at Cliff Keen Arena.
The injury-plagued Wolverines competed far from ideal routines during the meet. In the vault and floor, only five gymnasts were in the lineup, adding pressure to the performances since all five would count toward the final score. Noticeably absent from those two routines was sophomore Elise Ray (Columbia, Md./Wilde Lake HS), who was in just the uneven bars and balance beam lineups after suffering a bruised right heel last week at the Maui Invitational (Jan. 4). This was the first time in 14 collegiate meets that Ray did not compete in the all-around.
Michigan started off the meet strongly, scoring 48.400 on the vault while Northern Illinois posted a 44.725 on the uneven bars. Junior Janessa Grieco (Mahopac, N.Y./Carmel HS) opened the meet with a 9.725, which Ryals and Kallie Steffes (Naperville, Ill./Central HS) matched later in the rotation. The score stood and the trio tied for the event title. It was the fourth career vault title for Grieco and the first for both Ryals and Steffes. Seniors Shannon MacKenzie (Midland, Mich./Midland HS) and Jodie Rosenberg (West Bloomfield, Mich./West Bloomfield HS) rounded out the rotation by posting scores of 9.575 and 9.650, respectively.
In the second rotation, Ryals scored a career-best 9.900 on the uneven bars to win her first career title in that event and help Michigan take a 97.550-91.475 lead after two rotations. Ray finished second with a 9.875 in her first event of the meet. Rosenberg, a floor specialist, put together an outstanding bars routine and scored 9.800, topping her previous career high of 9.275 by over half a point. Senior Amy Kuczera (Bloomingdale, Ill./Lake Park HS) scored 9.825 and Steffes posted a 9.750 to round out the Wolverines' scoring.
After five falls on the balance beam at the Maui Invitational, Michigan regrouped and scored a team total of 48.975 today on the beam. MacKenzie posted a 9.850 and won her fourth career beam title. Three of Michigan's gymnasts -- MacKenzie, 9.850; Ray, 9.825; and Melissa Peterson (Shawnee, Kan./Shawnee Mission West HS), 9.775 -- all recorded scores higher than the top beam score from last week.
The Wolverines closed the meet on the floor, where Grieco scored 9.900, just .025 shy of tying her career high, and won her first career floor title. Steffes posted a career-best 9.875, while Rosenberg tied her season high with a 9.850. Peterson and Ryals rounded out the scoring with marks of 9.650 and a 9.625, respectively.
Ryals captured her all-around title by edging out teammate Steffes, who posted a 38.675 in her second collegiate meet. Both marks were season highs, as the pair and Ray scored 38.600 at the Maui Invitational.
Michigan hits the road for a meet at No. 15 Minnesota on Saturday night (Jan. 19, 7 p.m. CST) at the Sports Pavilion in Minneapolis, Minn., before travelling to No. 18 Ohio State on Jan. 26.
Final Results
| Team Scores | Vault | Bars | Beam | Floor | Total |
| 1. MICHIGAN | 48.400 | 49.150 | 48.450 | 48.900 | 194.900 |
| 2. Northern Illinois | 46.750 | 44.725 | 47.325 | 47.800 | 186.600 |
Event-By-Event U-M Individual Scores
ALL-AROUND Calli Ryals 38.925 (1) Kallie Steffes 38.675 (2) VAULT Jessica Grieco 9.725 (t1) Shannon MacKenzie 9.575 (t5) Jodie Rosenberg 9.650 (4) Kallie Steffes 9.725 (t1) Calli Ryals 9.725 (t1) UNEVEN BARS Kallie Steffes 9.750 (5) Shannon MacKenzie 9.725 Jodie Rosenberg 9.800 (4) Calli Ryals 9.900 (1) Amy Kuczera 9.825 (3) Elise Ray 9.875 (2) BALANCE BEAM Janessa Grieco 9.100 Kallie Steffes 9.325 Melissa Peterson 9.775 (3) Shannon MacKenzie 9.850 (1) Calli Ryals 9.675 (5) Elise Ray 9.825 (2) FLOOR EXERCISE Melissa Peterson 9.650 (5) Jodie Rosenberg 9.850 (3) Kallie Steffes 9.875 (2) Janessa Grieco 9.900 (1) Calli Ryals 9.625 ( ) denotes place in the Top 5
Q U O T E S
Head Coach Bev Plocki
On Calli Ryals' performance ... "She did a great job. She had an almost perfect routine on the floor before she stubbed her toe on the last pass. She finished with two layouts, which are (skill level) A elements instead of a B element, so she could have scored even higher. Still, she has been absolutely outstanding. She has improved in every event, and we are really looking for her to be big down the road."
On the injuries ... "I am really concerned because I want all of the kids to come back in a time frame that is appropriate for them. They are all competitors who want to get back into the lineup, but we can't sacrifice them getting hurt again for just getting them back quickly."
Sophomore Calli Ryals
On winning the all-around ... "It was pretty exciting, especially after we didn't do so well in Maui. We were more solid today, and we had much more confidence."
Contact: Jason Gerdom (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
