Michigan
NCAA Super Six Team Finals
Michigan Posts Fifth-Place Finish at NCAA Super Six
4/22/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics
AUBURN, Ala. -- The University of Michigan women's gymnastics team took fifth place with a 196.575 Friday (April 22) at the NCAA Championships Super Six Team Finals, finishing ahead of sixth-place Nebraska (196.425) but behind national champion Georgia (197.825) in U-M's ninth trip to the Super Six in 12 years.
Fifth-year senior Elise Ray (Columbia, Md./Wilde Lake) led the Wolverines with a 39.550 score in the all-around competition, putting up scores of 9.875 on vault, uneven bars and balance beam and a 9.925 on the floor exercise. Junior Jenny Deiley (Dayton, Minn./Elk River) put up strong scores on bars (9.850) and floor (9.875), while sophomore Lindsey Bruck (Marietta, N.Y./Marcellus) added a 9.850 on floor and a 9.825 on vault.
Michigan started on bars and racked up 49.225 points to put them in second place behind UCLA (49.300), which started on its best event -- the floor exercise. Freshman Nellie Kippley (St. Cloud, Minn./Tech) got her first taste of the Super Six in the leadoff spot, scoring a career-best 9.850 and coming through despite the pressure-packed atmosphere with a near-flawless routine and stuck landing. Freshman Katie Lieberman (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) hit for 9.800 after a slight step on her landing, and Bruck followed with her own 9.800 after a step on her landing. Deiley tallied Michigan's second 9.850 after a solid routine, followed by senior Lauren Mirkovich's (Burlingame, Calif./Notre Dame) own 9.850 despite an equally impressive routine that earned her a berth in Saturday's individual event finals. Ray anchored the event with a 9.875 -- U-M's top score of the event -- to lead the Wolverines to their fifth-best season score of the year on the event.
In the second rotation on beam, sophomore Carol McNamara (Hastings, Minn./Hastings) led off with a 9.700, followed by junior Becca Clauson's (St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall) 9.750 performance. Deiley upped the ante with a 9.800, but Bruck managed only a 9.775, leaving the Wolverines with just two competitors remaining in the second rotation. Ray nailed a 9.875 performance in the five spot, but senior Shanna Duggan (Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario/St. Basil) struggled with a 9.650 to give Michigan its second-straight team score of 48.900.
Michigan sat out the third rotation on a bye holding second place behind UCLA with 98.125 points to the Bruins' 98.950. Georgia leapfrogged the competition, moving into second place with 98.875, while Utah climbed to third with 98.650. Alabama (98.175) and Nebraska (98.150) slipped ahead of the Wolverines by 0.050 and 0.025 points respectively, leaving Michigan with ground to gain in the second half of the meet.
The Wolverines entered the fourth rotation on floor looking to better the 49.225 they put up in the preliminaries. Kippley nailed her second-straight 9.850 routine in two days, while Duggan and Bruck also hit back-to-back 9.850s to put Michigan on the right track. Deiley ripped off a stunning 9.875 routine, bettered only by Clauson's electric 9.900 and the final floor routine of Ray's storied career, a 9.925, giving U-M 49.400 on floor, tying for the year's second best team score.
Needing magic in the fifth rotation on vault, Mirkovich started things off with a 9.725 and Bruck took a slight hop on a 9.825. Duggan followed with a 9.800 and individual event qualifier Lieberman scored 9.825. In the final vault of her career, Ray stuck a 9.875 vault and Deiley wrapped up Michigan's ninth Super Six with a 9.725.
Four Wolverines will compete in the NCAA individual event finals on Saturday (April 23), including Ray (bars and beam), Mirkovich (bars), Deiley (vault) and Lieberman (vault). Competition begins at 7 p.m. CDT.
Final Results
| Team | Vault | Bars | Beam | Floor | Total |
| 1. Georgia | 49.575 | 49.375 | 49.350 | 49.525 | 197.825 |
| 2. Alabama | 49.625 | 49.325 | 48.850 | 49.600 | 197.400 |
| 3. Utah | 49.375 | 49,375 | 49.250 | 49.275 | 197.275 |
| 4. UCLA | 49.450 | 49.275 | 48.925 | 49.500 | 197.150 |
| 5. MICHIGAN | 49.050 | 49.225 | 48.900 | 49.400 | 196.575 |
| 6. Nebraska | 49.000 | 49.150 | 49.075 | 49.200 | 196.425 |
Event-By-Event U-M Individual Scores
VAULT Lauren Mirkovich 9.725 Lindsey Bruck 9.825 Shanna Duggan 9.800 Katie Lieberman 9.825 Elise Ray 9.875 Jenny Deiley 9.725 UNEVEN BARS Nellie Kippley 9.850 Katie Lieberman 9.800 Lindsey Bruck 9.800 Jenny Deiley 9.850 Lauren Mirkovich 9.850 Elise Ray 9.875 BALANCE BEAM Carol McNamara 9.700 Becca Clauson 9.750 Jenny Deiley 9.800 Lindsey Bruck 9.775 Elise Ray 9.875 (7) Shanna Duggan 9.650 FLOOR EXERCISE Nellie Kippley 9.850 Shanna Duggan 9.850 Lindsey Bruck 9.850 Jenny Deiley 9.875 Becca Clauson 9.900 Elise Ray 9.925 (t5) All Around Elise Ray 39.550 (t7) Jenny Deiley 39.250 Lindsey Bruck 39.250 ( ) denotes place in Top 8
Day 1 Results
N O T E S
Michigan qualified for its ninth Super Six in program history. The Wolverines' fifth-place finish was the program's seventh top-five finish and the seventh in the last 11 seasons.
U-M's 196.575 is the Wolverines' second highest Super Six score in program history and the best since 2001 when they scored 197.275 (the school record), finishing third in Athens, Ga.
Freshman Nellie Kippley had a career-best performance on bars with a 9.850.
Fifth-year senior Elise Ray, senior Lauren Mirkovich, junior Jenny Deiley and freshman Katie Lieberman will advance to the NCAA individual event finals Saturday (April 22).
Michigan's fifth-place finish over Nebraska marks the fourth time this season that U-M defeated the sixth-ranked Huskers. Nebraska and Michigan State share the distinction of being the only two programs to lose to the Wolverines four times this season.
Contact: Richard Retyi (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
