Michigan
Nebraska
Wolverines Opens Season With Tie at No. 6 Nebraska
1/13/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics
LINCOLN, Neb. -- The University of Michigan women's gymnastics team recorded just its second tie in program history, equaling No. 6 Nebraska 195.675-195.675 Friday night (Jan. 13) at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.
Michigan trailed by 0.275 at the midway point, but a fall on the balance beam for the Huskers helped U-M rally to pull ahead by 0.175 points heading into the final rotation. Despite a strong showing on balance beam -- including a 9.900 for junior Lindsey Bruck (Marietta, N.Y./Marcellus), a 9.850 for senior Becca Clauson (St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham) and a 9.800 from junior Carol McNamara (Hastings, Minn./Hastings) -- Nebraska made up the difference and gave Michigan its first tie since 1984.
Freshman Becky Bernard (Stow, Ohio/Stow-Monroe Falls) became the first Wolverine freshman since 2002 to win an event in her collegiate debut, taking the uneven bars crown with a 9.950. Bruck took third in the all-around with a 39.175 for her 11th straight regular-season score of 39.000 or better.
Other notable finishers included sophomore Katie Lieberman (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) earning a third-place score on vault (9.825), fifth-year senior Lauren Mirkovich (Burlingame, Calif./Notre Dame) tying for second on the uneven bars (9.900), and senior Jenny Deiley (Dayton, Minn./Elk River) and sophomore Nellie Kippley (St. Cloud, Minn./Tech) tying for third on the floor exercise (9.825).
Michigan got off to a solid start on bars thanks to strong finishes from Mirkovich and Bernard. Mirkovich hit for a 9.900 routine in the five spot, followed by Bernard's 9.950 debut in the anchor spot. The Wolverines struggled on vault with Lieberman sticking the lone routine above 9.800, allowing Nebraska to take a 0.275 lead. Deiley and Kippley each earned a score of 9.825 in the third rotation on floor, putting the Wolverines back in the lead, up 0.175 heading into the final six routines.
Freshman Huneth Lor (Aurora, Ill./Waubonsie Valley) led off with a 9.625 on beam, followed by McNamara's 9.800. Kippley struggled to a 9.275 with the Wolverines' third routine, followed by Deiley's 9.750. With Michigan's top two beam specialists remaining, Clauson executed an impressive 9.850 routine and Bruck earned a clutch 9.900 performance that earned the Wolverines a season-opening tie.
Michigan travels to State College, Pa., on Saturday, Jan. 21, to take on Penn State, Cornell and West Virginia.
Team Standings
| Team Scores | Vault | Bars | Beam | Floor | Total |
| 1. MICHIGAN | 48.625 | 49.225 | 48.925 | 48.900 | 195.675 |
| 1. Nebraska | 49.050 | 49.075 | 48.450 | 49.100 | 195.675 |
Event-By-Event U-M Individual Scores
VAULT: Lauren Mirkovich 9.650, Carol McNamara 9.700, Lindsey Bruck 9.725, Jenny Deiley 9.725, Katie Lieberman 9.825 (3), Tatjana Thuener-Rego 9.525
UNEVEN BARS: Nellie Kippley 9.750, Tatjana Thuener-Rego 9.825, Lindsey Bruck 9.800, Jenny Deiley 9.725, Lauren Mirkovich 9.900 (t2), Becky Bernard 9.950 (1)
BALANCE BEAM: Huneth Lor 9.625, Carol McNamara 9.800 (5), Nellie Kippley 9.275, Jenny Deiley 9.750, Becca Clauson 9.850 (4), Lindsey Bruck 9.900 (2)
FLOOR EXERCISE: Huneth Lor 9.625, Carol McNamara 9.750, Jenny Deiley 9.825 (t3), Nellie Kippley 9.825 (t3), Lindsey Bruck 9.750, Becca Clauson 9.750
ALL-AROUND: Lindsey Bruck 39.175 (3), Jenny Deiley 39.025 (5)
( ) denotes place in the Top 5
N O T E S
• The tie with Nebraska is just the second in program history and the first since the 1984 season. The first tie occurred at the 1984 Big Ten Championships when U-M tied for fourth with Illinois with each team scoring 169.60.
• Freshman Becky Bernard became the first freshman since Jenny Deiley in 2002 to win an individual event title in her first college meet. Bernard captured the bars title with a 9.950, while Deiley pulled a rare feat -- winning vault (9.925), bars (9.850), beam (9.900) and the all-around (39.475) -- in her first college meet against Northern Illinois.
• Michigan was ranked No. 5 and Nebraska was No. 8 in the GymInfo preseason coaches poll. In the year's first ranking based on score (Jan. 9), Nebraska was No. 6 while the Wolverines were not listed because they had yet to compete.
Contact: Richard Retyi (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
