Michigan
NCAA Team Preliminaries and All-Around
Wolverines Breeze Into NCAA Super Six Team Finals
4/21/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics
AUBURN, Ala. -- The No. 8-ranked University of Michigan women's gymnastics team stayed at the front of the pack for the entire meet, finishing second in the first preliminary session of the NCAA Championships to advance to the Super Six for the ninth time in program history Thursday (April 21) at Auburn's Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum.
Fifth-year senior Elise Ray (Columbia, Md./Wilde Lake) led the way with a 39.400 all-around score while advancing to the individual event finals (top four plus ties) on the uneven bars and balance beam, while junior Jenny Deiley (Dayton, Minn./Elk River) scored 39.375 in the all-around and advanced to the event finals on vault. Freshman Katie Lieberman (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) earned a trip to the event finals with her 9.900 on vault, while senior Lauren Mirkovich (Burlingame, Calif./Notre Dame) earned a trip to the finals on bars.
Needing 49.525 points in the final rotation on vault to catch first-place Utah or 48.480 points to move past LSU for second place, Michigan scored 49.250 to earn a trip to the Super Six. Deiley, Lieberman and Mirkovich earn All-America first team honors for advancing to the event finals, while Ray earns a pair of All-America first team honors for her top-four performances on bars and beam. Sophomore Lindsey Bruck (Marietta, N.Y./Marcellus) and Deiley also earned All-America second team honors with a top-eight finishes on bars.
Michigan sat out the first rotation with a bye, while LSU jumped out to an early lead with a 49.200 on floor, narrowly ahead of Utah, which scored 49.175 on bars.
The Wolverines began their push for a national title on bars, where senior Mirkovich led U-M with a 9.900, followed by Bruck, Deiley and Ray's 9.850s to give Michigan 49.175 points to equal the feats of the top-ranked Utes. Freshman Nellie Kippley (St. Cloud, Minn./Tech) hit for 9.700 in U-M's first routine, while Lieberman scored a 9.725. Bruck and Deiley upped the ante with back-to-back 9.850s until NCAA South Central Regional uneven bars co-champion Mirkovich stuck a 9.900 routine. Ray wrapped up the rotation with a 9.875.
U-M tackled beam in the third rotation, scoring 48.900 points and struggling to put up just two scores 9.800 or better but remaining within striking distance of first-place Utah and ahead of third-place LSU by 0.025. Sophomore Carol McNamara (Hastings, Minn./Hastings) led off with a 9.700, followed by junior Becca Clauson's (St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall) 9.725. Deiley scored a 9.775, while Bruck hit for 9.800. Ray nailed a 9.900 routine as the second-to-last competitor, while senior Shanna Duggan (Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario/St. Basil) had an excellent first half to her routine but struggled to score a 9.650.
With the Wolverines, Utes and Tigers pulling away from the pack, Michigan rested in its final bye, watching Utah score 49.350 on floor and LSU record a 49.150 on bars. U-M resumed on floor in the fifth rotation, scoring a 49.225 to remain firmly in the top three. Kippley led off with an impressive 9.850, tying the second-best score of her career. Duggan added her own 9.850 -- her highest score on floor since March 18 -- followed by a 9.825 from Bruck. Deiley made it a set with another 9.850 and Clauson threw down a four-of-a-kind with Michigan's fourth 9.850 of the rotation. Ray anchored the rotation with an excellent routine but stepped out of bounds on her first pass to finish with a 9.775.
The Wolverines entered the final rotation on vault needing a 49.525 to catch first-place Utah, 48.480 points to move ahead of LSU into second place, and holding a 0.625-point lead over fourth-place Oklahoma. Mirkovich stuck a 9.750 to open things up, but Bruck faltered with a 9.175 to make things interesting. Duggan stuck a 9.850 vault and Big Ten co-vault champion Lieberman hit for 9.900 to get the Wolverines back on track. Ray stuck a 9.850 vault, and Deiley wrapped things up with another 9.900 to clinch second place for the Wolverines with 49.250 on vault, passing LSU and falling 0.275 points shy of Utah.
Michigan, Utah and Nebraska advance to the Super Six team finals where they will be joined by the top three finishers in tonight's second preliminary session. The Super Six is scheduled for a 7 p.m. CDT start Friday (April 22), while the Individual Event Finals will be contested Saturday (April 23) at 7 p.m. CDT.
Final Results
| Team | Vault | Bars | Beam | Floor | Total |
| 1. Utah | 49.250 | 49.175 | 49.075 | 49.350 | 196.850 |
| 2. MICHIGAN | 49.250 | 49.200 | 48.900 | 49.225 | 196.575 |
| 3. Nebraska | 48.700 | 49.100 | 48.875 | 49.200 | 195.875 |
| 4. LSU | 48.900 | 49.150 | 48.575 | 49.175 | 195.800 |
| 5. Penn State | 48.850 | 48.925 | 48.125 | 49.075 | 194.975 |
| 6. Oklahoma | 48.775 | 48.850 | 47.725 | 49.075 | 194.425 |
Event-By-Event U-M Individual Scores
VAULT Lauren Mirkovich 9.750 Lindsey Bruck 9.175 Shanna Duggan 9.850 Katie Lieberman 9.900 (t3) Elise Ray 9.850 Jenny Deiley 9.900 (t3) UNEVEN BARS Nellie Kippley 9.700 Katie Lieberman 9.725 Lindsey Bruck 9.850 (t8) Jenny Deiley 9.850 (t8) Lauren Mirkovich 9.900 (t2) Elise Ray 9.850 (t4) BALANCE BEAM Carol McNamara 9.700 Becca Clauson 9.725 Jenny Deiley 9.775 Lindsey Bruck 9.800 Elise Ray 9.900 (t2) Shanna Duggan 9.650 FLOOR EXERCISE Nellie Kippley 9.850 Shanna Duggan 9.850 Lindsey Bruck 9.825 Jenny Deiley 9.850 Becca Clauson 9.850 Elise Ray 9.775 All Around Elise Ray 39.400 (t6) Jenny Deiley 39.375 (t8) Lindsey Bruck 38.650 ( ) denotes place in Top 8
N O T E S
Elise Ray (bars, beam), Jenny Deiley (vault), Lauren Mirkovich (bars) and Katie Lieberman (vault) advance to the NCAA Individual Event Finals on Saturday. Each athlete also earns first team All-America honors.
Elise Ray earns the 13th All-America first team honor of her career, while garnering her first All-America second team honor (all-around), giving her 14 in all. Jenny Deiley picks up her sixth and seventh All-America honor - garnering first team honors on vault and second team honors in the all-around, while Lauren Mirkovich garners her second and Katie Lieberman her first. Sophomore Lindsey Bruck (bars) adds her second All-America honor with a second team accolade.
Elise Ray has a chance to win two more national titles to add to the three she already owns. Ray has already won national titles on bars, beam and the all-around.
Elise Ray tied for the 10th best all-around score in program history at the NCAA Championships with a 39.400.
Michigan tied for its fifth-best team score on bars with a 49.200 in the NCAA Preliminaries.
Ray's 9.850 on bars was just her third sub-9.900 score in the last 25 meets -- spanning 454 days.
Senior Lauren Mirkovich's 9.900 on bars was her third-straight score of 9.900 or better. Mirkovich shared NCAA South Central Regional uneven bars co-champion honors with Elise Ray two weeks ago in Lincoln, Neb.
Q U O T E S
Head Coach Bev Plocki
Opening statement ... "We are extremely excited to be moving on to the Super Six. I thought we did a great job on three of our events and we did a good job of staying on the beam in the other. Obviously, there is a lot for us to improve on in that event. This will be our ninth Super Six and it never gets old making it. It always feels like the first one when we make it. We're thrilled to be moving on."
On Michigan's vault routines ... "I wasn't worried after we took a fall on the first vault because it's such a fluke that it happened. We weren't adding up scores to see what we needed to qualify for tomorrow. We saw that Utah was pretty much out of reach, but it was very close with the next three teams. We concentrated on our vault routines and within ourselves. I thought we had the best vaults of the season, and I'm really proud of our girls for getting the job done."
Junior All-American Jenny Deiley
On the way Michigan ended on vault ... "I was not watching our team vault because I like to get into a deep mindset for my vault. However, I could hear the fans cheering and I knew it was going well."
Contact: Richard Retyi (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
