Depth Enables Wolverine to Capture 11th Big Ten Title

Saturday, March 23

Columbus, Ohio

6:00 PM

Michigan

Big Ten Championships

Depth Enables Wolverine to Capture 11th Big Ten Title

3/23/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The University of Michigan women's gymnastics team won its fourth consecutive Big Ten Conference championship -- the 10th in the last 11 years and 11th in the 20 years of the competition -- with a 196.475 Saturday (March 23) in front of 1,678 fans at St. John Arena. The Wolverines won the vault and floor exercise on the way to their third-highest road score of the year and a .700 margin of victory over second-place Minnesota (195.775).

Sophomore Elise Ray (Columbia, Md./Wilde Lake HS), the No. 2 all-around gymnast in the nation according to the latest GymInfo rankings (March 18), won the balance beam with a 9.950 for her performance. The win is the first Big Ten event title of her career. Ray has won eight beam titles this season and 13 in her career.

The Wolverines came close to more event titles with five second-place finishes. Chelsea Kroll (Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny HS) and Shannon MacKenzie (Midland, Mich./Midland HS) tied for second on the vault, Calli Ryals (Elyria, Ohio/Midview HS) was second on the uneven bars and tied Ray for second on the floor.

Freshman Kallie Steffes (Naperville, Ill./Central HS) started the Wolverines' evening with a 9.800 of the floor exercise. Senior co-captain Jodie Rosenberg (West Bloomfield, Mich./West Bloomfield HS) was second in the rotation and posted a 9.850. Kroll earned a 9.850 in just her second floor routine of the year. Ray kept the scores rising with a 9.900 as the fourth U-M competitor. Junior co-captain Janessa Grieco (Mahopac, N.Y./Carmel HS), in her first routine since suffering a knee injury prior to the Denver and Washington meet (March 9), earned a 9.200 after suffering a fall on her last tumbling pass and going out of bounds. Ryals finished the rotation with a 9.900 to get things back on track and give the Wolverines a 49.300 on the floor.

Following a bye, Michigan returned to the vault to post a 49.300, tying the third highest score of the season on the apparatus. Grieco and Steffes kicked off the rotation with back-to-back scores of 9.800 before Ryals tied her career high with a 9.875 in the third spot. MacKenzie continued her success on the vault by earning her fourth consecutive career-high 9.900. The Wolverines wrapped up the rotation with a 9.825 by Ray and a 9.900 by Kroll.

Michigan (25-3, 11-0 Big Ten) took its second bye before moving on to the uneven bars. Christine Mantilia (New Canaan, Conn./New Canaan HS) started the rotation with a 9.725. MacKenzie unveiled a new bars routine today after problems in the last two competitions. The move paid off as she earned a 9.725, her highest score on the uneven bars in the last five meets. Cami Singer (Monument, Colo./Lewis Palmer HS) and Amy Kuczera (Bloomingdale, Ill./Lake Park HS) each scored 9.800, which led into Ryals' 9.925, just one-quarter of a tenth shy of her career-high mark. Ray experienced the first fall of her career on the uneven bars as she switched to the low bar and lost her balance on a straddle-back handstand and received a 9.375.

Michigan moved to the balance beam in the sixth rotation. Grieco started the rotation and tied her season high with a 9.875. Singer fell and earned a 9.350 in the second spot, but Kuczera was able to recover with a 9.875, tying her career high. Despite a fall by Ryals, U-M righted the ship once again as Ray closed the rotation with a near-prefect 9.950.

The Wolverines take the next step in the postseason at the NCAA Regional Championships on April 6. Although U-M is in the Northeast Region, the squad could be sent to any six regional sites because it ranks among the top 18 teams in the nation. The regional pairings and locations will be announced by the NCAA on Monday (March 25).

Final Results

Team Scores	Vault	Bars	Beam	Floor	Total
1. MICHIGAN	49.300	48.975	48.900	49.300	196.475
2. Minnesota	48.775	49.125	48.800	49.075	195.775
3. Iowa	48.900	48.650	48.925	49.075	195.550
4. Ohio State	48.400	48.650	48.850	48.825	194.725
5. Michigan State	48.500	48.400	49.025	48.700	194.625
6. Illinois	48.300	48.050	47.750	48.725	192.825
7. Penn State	48.150	48.200	47.425	48.775	192.550

Event-By-Event U-M Individual Scores

ALL-AROUND Elise Ray 39.050 Calli Ryals 38.600 VAULT Janessa Grieco 9.800 Kallie Steffes 9.800 Calli Ryals 9.875 (5) Shannon MacKenzie 9.900 (t2) Elise Ray 9.825 Chelsea Kroll 9.900 (t2) UNEVEN BARS Christine Mantilia 9.725 Shannon MacKenzie 9.725 Cami Singer 9.800 Amy Kuczera 9.800 Calli Ryals 9.925 (2) Elise Ray 9.375 BALANCE BEAM Janessa Grieco 9.875 Cami Singer 9.350 Amy Kuczera 9.875 Shannon MacKenzie 9.850 Calli Ryals 8.900 Elise Ray 9.950 (1) FLOOR EXERCISE Kallie Steffes 9.800 Jodie Rosenberg 9.850 (t6) Chelsea Kroll 9.850 (t6) Elise Ray 9.900 (t2) Janessa Grieco 9.200 Calli Ryals 9.900 (t2) ( ) denotes place in the Top 6

N O T E S

Seven Michigan gymnasts -- Janessa Grieco (beam), Chelsea Kroll (vault, floor), Amy Kuczera (beam), Shannon MacKenzie (vault), Elise Ray (beam, floor), Jodie Rosenberg (floor) and Calli Ryals (vault, bars, floor) -- earned a total of 11 All-Big Ten honors by placing among the top six on an event.

Shannon MacKenzie was a finalist for Big Ten Gymnast of the Year. Minnesota's Mary Anne Kelley won the honor.

The contingent of Michigan fans made St. John Arena seem like a home venue for the Wolverines. In addition to the numerous family members in attendance, members of the 10.0 Club and the Super Fans gave the crowd a definite Michigan flavor.

Michigan increased its Big Ten winning streak to 38 consecutive victories over conference opponents by finishing first at the Big Ten Championships. The Wolverines also posted wins over conference opponents in five other meets this year -- at Minnesota (Jan. 19), at Ohio State (Jan. 26), vs. Michigan State at the State of Michigan Classic (Feb. 3), vs. Minnesota at the UCLA Invitational (March 3) and vs. Michigan State at the Shanico Inn-vitational (March 16). The last time a Big Ten school defeated U-M was Jan. 15, 1999, when Minnesota won 193.550-193.050 at Cliff Keen Arena.

The teams were led through the march-in and between each rotation by members of service professions. Representatives from the Air Force, Army, Fire Department, Marines, Navy and Police served as the team guides.

Michigan head coach Bev Plocki earned her 250th career victory with tonight's victory. Plocki now has 252 career wins in 13 years at the helm of the women's gymnastics program.

Michigan gymnasts have won or tied for 51 individual event titles. The Wolverines captured 48 of those titles in the last 12 years, an average of four individual event titles at each of the last 11 Big Ten Championships.

Q U O T E S

Head Coach Bev Plocki
On the meet ... "It's awesome to win another Big Ten championship. We did not perform the way we are capable of performing. We had a couple of unusual falls, but our depth came through tonight. Shannon MacKenzie and Chelsea Kroll have been absolutely awesome. Kallie Steffes did well and Jodie Rosenberg has been rock solid on the floor exercise. Chelsea is brand new to the floor and she came in and got the job done. It was our depth that allowed us to have some breaks and still win."

On the crowd ... "Our fans were outstanding. We even had a group of guys who are our Super Fans here tonight. We had close to 100 fans from the community here, which really shows our expanding fan base."

Contact: Jason Gerdom (734) 763-4423