Michigan
State of Michigan Classic
Wolverines Claim Ninth State of Michigan Classic Crown
2/3/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. -- The fourth-ranked University of Michigan women's gymnastics team captured its ninth State of Michigan Classic title with a season-high 196.375 score Friday night (Feb. 3) at Rose Arena. U-M defeated No. 24 Michigan State (193.525), host Central Michigan (192.425), Western Michigan (192.300) and Eastern Michigan (191.800).
The Wolverines' team score would rank fourth highest in the nation among scores posted through last week, and it is Michigan's first team score of 196.000 or better in the 2006 season.
In her first all-around competition, freshman Tatjana Thuener-Rego (Miami, Fla./American School) had career highs on all four events, finishing second in the all-around with a score of 39.375. Senior Jenny Deiley (Dayton, Minn./Elk River), the reigning Big Ten Conference Gymnast of the Week, posted her highest all-around score of the season with a 39.400 to win the all-around crown, while junior Lindsey Bruck (Marietta, N.Y./Marcellus) tallied a 39.175 in the all-around.
The host Chippewas earned the best rotation order of the meet by virtue of being the hosts with a first-rotation bye followed by standard Olympic order. Michigan was given a third-rotation bye as determined by descending alphabetical order and started with the toughest rotation of the meet, beginning on balance beam and progressing to floor exercise, bye, vault and ending on uneven bars, its strongest event.
Michigan posted its lowest beam score of the season in the first rotation with a 48.550, well below its 48.825 season average but enough to remain ahead of the next best team, Michigan State (48.550), which started on bars. Junior Carol McNamara (Hastings, Minn./Hastings) led off with what proved to be the highest Wolverine score on the apparatus, scoring a 9.750 on a solid routine. Thuener-Rego came closest to matching McNamara's score with a 9.725 in the fourth routine.
The Wolverines opened up the meet in the second rotation on floor with five scores of 9.850 or higher, including back-to-back-to-back 9.925s from Deiley, Thuener-Rego and senior Becca Clauson (St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham). Michigan's 49.500 total bettered the nation's best coming into the week and marked the highest Wolverine total since March 4, 2005, when U-M totaled 49.550. Sophomore Nellie Kippley (St. Cloud, Minn./Tech) led off with a solid 9.850, but fifth-year senior Lauren Mirkovich (Burlingame, Calif./Notre Dame) recorded a fall in the next routine to put the pressure on the third performer, Bruck. Bruck stuck for a season-best 9.875 followed by an explosion by Michigan's final three performers. Deiley nailed a season-high 9.925 routine, followed by Thuener-Rego's career-best 9.925 and Clauson's 9.925 that matched her career high.
Michigan sat out on a bye in the third rotation and returned to the competition on vault in the fourth rotation, posting a 48.950 thanks to 9.875 scores from Deiley and Thuener-Rego. Deiley was the first Wolverine to top 9.725 when she stuck for a season-best 9.875 score in the four hole, followed by Katie Lieberman's (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) 9.825 and Thuener-Rego's career-best 9.875.
U-M nailed down its ninth State of Michigan Classic title in the final rotation by posting its highest bars score of the season with 49.375. Deiley and Mirkovich nailed back-to-back 9.900 routines in the four and five spots and freshman Becky Bernard (Stow, Ohio/Stowe-Monroe) returned to the lineup with a 9.850 in just her second collegiate meet. Bruck also added a season-high 9.875, and Thuener-Rego nailed her fourth career-high of the night with a 9.850 in the No. 2 spot.
Michigan returns to Crisler Arena next Saturday (Feb. 11) to take on current No. 2 Utah at 7:30 p.m. MGoBlue.com will offer a live video feed of the meet for all University of Michigan and Utah All-Access subscribers.
Final Results
| Team Scores | Vault | Bars | Beam | Floor | Total |
| 1. MICHIGAN | 48.950 | 49.375 | 48.550 | 49.500 | 196.375 |
| 2. Michigan State | 48.650 | 48.525 | 47.725 | 48.625 | 193.525 |
| 3. Central Michigan | 48.275 | 47.650 | 47.375 | 49.125 | 192.425 |
| 4. Western Michigan | 47.975 | 48.250 | 47.475 | 48.600 | 192.300 |
| 5. Eastern Michigan | 47.800 | 48.200 | 47.650 | 48.150 | 191.800 |
Event-By-Event U-M Individual Scores
VAULT Lauren Mirkovich 9.650 Carol McNamara 9.625 Lindsey Bruck 9.725 Jenny Deiley 9.875 (t1) Katie Lieberman 9.825 Tatjan Thuener-Rego 9.875 (t1) UNEVEN BARS Nellie Kippley 9.200 Tatjana Thuener-Rego 9.850 Lindsey Bruck 9.875 (3) Jenny Deiley 9.900 (t1) Lauren Mirkovich 9.900 (t1) Becky Bernard 9.850 BALANCE BEAM Carol McNamara 9.750 Jenny Deiley 9.700 Nellie Kippley 9.675 Tatjana Thuener-Rego 9.725 Becca Clauson 9.200 Lindsey Bruck 9.700 FLOOR EXERCISE Nellie Kippley 9.850 Lauren Mirkovich 9.250 Lindsey Bruck 9.875 Jenny Deiley 9.925 (t1) Tatjana Thuener-Rego 9.925 (t1) Becca Clauson 9.925 (t1) ALL-AROUND Jenny Deiley 39.400 (1) Tatjana Thuener-Rego 39.375 (2) Lindsey Bruck 39.175 ( ) denotes place in Top 3
N O T E S
Freshman Tatjana Thuener-Rego had a career night in her first all-around performance, recording career highs on all events and the all-around. Thuener-Rego shared the floor title with a 9.925, earning her second floor title in a row.
Senior Lauren Mirkovich posted her fourth straight score of 9.900 on bars and won her third bars title in four meets. Mirkovich has 10 bars titles in her career.
Senior Jenny Deiley picked up her 15th career vault title, sixth career bars title and ninth career all-around title.
Michigan won its ninth State of Michigan Classic title and the fifth in six tries. Michigan had never previously won a Classic held in Mount Pleasant, losing to Michigan State in 1996 and 2001.
Contact: Richard Retyi (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
