Wolverines Ranked No. 7 in Preseason Coaches Poll
12/1/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan women's gymnastics team is ranked No. 7 in the 2005 GymInfo Preseason Coaches Poll, released Wednesday (Dec. 1). Michigan is the top-ranked Big Ten team in the coaches poll, ahead of No. 17 Iowa, No. 19 Penn State and Minnesota, Michigan State, Illinois and Ohio State, which all received votes.
Two-time defending national champion UCLA topped the preseason poll, followed by Georgia, Stanford, Alabama and Utah rounding out the top five. Michigan will face three of the top five teams, traveling to No. 5 Utah on Jan. 28 before hosting No. 1 UCLA the following week on Feb. 4. The Wolverines are at No. 2 Georgia on March 11.
The Wolverines finished the 2004 campaign ranked eighth in the nation after winning their 13th Big Ten Conference title and advancing to their 12th straight NCAA Championships with a second-place result at the NCAA Northeast Regional Championships. Elise Ray (Columbia, Md./Wilde Lake) eanred her third national title with a championship finish on the uneven bars, while Lindsey Bruck (Marietta, N.Y./Marcellus) earned NCAA All-America first team honors on the balance beam. Jenny Deiley (Dayton, Minn./Elk River) also earned NCAA All-America second team accolades on vault.
Michigan returns nine letterwinners and six All-Americans in 2005, looking to set a Big Ten record with its seventh straight conference title and advance to the NCAA Championships for the 13th consecutive year.
The Maize and Blue host the team's intrasquad meet on Sunday, Dec. 12, at 2 p.m. in Crisler Arena before beginning the regular season against preseason No. 10 Nebraska on Friday, Jan. 7.
GymInfo 2005 Preseason Coaches Poll
Rank, Team Points 1. UCLA (15) 608 2. Georgia (3) 565 3. Stanford (4) 554 4. Alabama (1) 531 5. Utah (2) 530 6. Florida (1) 510 7. MICHIGAN 479 8. Louisiana State 444 9. Arizona State 387 10. Nebraska 386 11. Oklahoma 352 12. Oregon State 280 13. Arizona 264 14. Iowa State 256 15. North Carolina 240 16. Auburn 221 17. Iowa 196 18. Brigham Young 178 19. Penn State 173 20. Denver 160 21. Washington 117 22. Missouri 105 23. West Virginia 92 24. Arkansas 90 25. California 86 First-place votes in parentheses
Contact: Richard Retyi (734) 763-4423
