Michigan
Big Ten Championships
Wolverines Win Eighth Big Ten Title in Nine Years
3/31/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- The University of Michigan women's gymnastics team won the sweetest Big Ten title among its collection of 15, using a full team effort to capture the program's 14th crown in the last 16 years with a season-high 196.575 Saturday night (March 31) at Rec Hall.
Despite competing most of the season without a number of its top gymnasts, Michigan used a complete effort to lead wire to wire, holding off a charging Penn State squad to win the conference crown. Three top-six performances from sophomore Becky Bernard (Stow, Ohio/Stow-Munroe Falls), including a balance beam crown and a third-place finish on floor exercise, a floor title for junior Katie Lieberman (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) and a runner-up all-around finish from sophomore Huneth Lor (Aurora, Ill./Waubonsie Valley) highlighted the meet for U-M. Junior Nellie Kippley (St. Cloud, Minn./Tech) picked up a pair of runner-up honors on vault and beam, while sophomore Tatjana Thuener-Rego (Miami, Fla./American School) took runner-up accolades on bars and floor.
The Wolverines opened the meet with a strong showing on bars and continued to post near season-high scores event after event. Michigan State suffered a number of falls on beam midway through the meet to push it out of contention, which made it a head-to-head battle between the Wolverines and Nittany Lions. The meet came down to one final event with the Wolverines ahead 0.250 on vault and the Nittany Lions on bars. Michigan continued its strong performance despite Penn State's excellent showing on bars, holding off the Nittany Lions to win the Big Ten Championships.
Michigan started the meet on one of their strongest events -- bars -- with Lieberman kicking off the championship meet for the Maize and Blue. Lieberman scored 9.800 to break the ice, and first-time Big Ten Championships performers Lor and freshman Kelsey Knutson (Ames, Iowa/Ames) scored back-to-back 9.775s. Freshman Maureen Moody (East Lansing, Mich./East Lansing) went one better in her first conference championships, scoring a 9.800. Thuener-Rego, competing in the five spot, nailed a 9.900 routine to tie her career best, and Bernard ended the rotation with a sharp 9.875 to give the Wolverines a 49.150 -- U-M's fourth-best score of the year and its 10th straight bars score of 49.000 or better. Meanwhile, Big Ten title contender Michigan State struggled to its eighth-worst score on vault of the season (48.800), while favorite Penn State languished in a bye for the first rotation.
Michigan headed to the locker room for a bye in the second rotation and prepared to tackle the balance beam. Penn State came out of the bye and scored the fifth-best beam total of the season (49.000), shrugging off a fall in the first routine, while the Spartans added their fourth-best bars score of the year (49.000) to remain in strong contention with two events down.
Kippley led off the third rotation with a season-best 9.875 on beam, bettering every Nittany Lion score posted in the previous rotation. Lor followed with a 9.775 and Knutson went 9.700 before Bernard brought the crowd to its feet with a 9.900 to equal her career best. Senior Clare Flannery (Ossining, N.Y./School of the Holy Child) made three seasons of hard work pay off in her first Big Ten Championships, scoring 9.800 in the five spot and All-American Thuener-Rego anchored the rotation slip, sliding to a 9.525 to give Michigan a score of 49.050 -- the third best total of the year. With both Michigan State and Penn State on bye, no team came close to cracking 49.000 on vault, bars or floor, giving the three frontrunners more breathing room.
With five teams through two events, Michigan's halfway total stood a full 0.400 points ahead of MSU and 0.825 ahead of third-place Illinois. The Wolverines sat out their second bye, giving the Spartans beam and Penn State the floor. Michigan State suffered disaster on beam with three falls and a high score of 9.525, while Penn State overcame another fall on floor to post a 49.050 and take control of second place -- 0.150 behind the Wolverines. Ohio State's impressive 49.075 on bars pushed them closer to contention, but the meet evolved into a two horse race between the Wolverines and host Nittany Lions.
Michigan moved to its least consistent event, the floor exercise, in the fifth rotation. Lor led off once again, hitting for 9.775, followed by freshman Jaclyn Kramer's (West Hills, N.Y./Half Hollow Hills) 9.750. Defending Big Ten floor champion senior Carol McNamara (Hastings, Minn./Hastings) upped the ante with a 9.800, followed by Bernard's 9.850. Lieberman followed with the highest score of the night on floor through five teams with a 9.900 -- tying a career best -- and Thuener-Rego pushed Michigan's team score past Penn State's with a season-best 9.875. The Wolverines' 49.200 was the second best total of the year and put Michigan in front of the field with the highest scores in each event through five rotations.
In the team's final bye, Michigan sat out while Penn State scored 49.100 on vault to put the Nittany Lions 0.250 points behind the Wolverines with one event remaining. The two teams put themselves into position to battle it out in the final rotation as the next-nearest team, Illinois, finished at 195.250.
Michigan rotated to its final event on what has been U-M's most successful apparatus of the year -- the vault. With a slim but tenuous lead over Penn State, whch performed 20 yards away on bars, Michigan controlled its own destiny. McNamara landed a 9.800 vault against Lindsay Borkan's 9.875 in the leadoff Lion routine. Kippley nailed a 9.875 vault in the Wolverine two-hole and Moody scored 9.850, countered by Brandi Personett's 9.800 on bars. Thuener-Rego took a step on her, landing for a 9.700 in U-M's fourth vault, with PSU's Amie Olaes going 9.850 in the Nittany Lion three-spot but injuring her knee on the landing to bring a hush over the crowd.
Penn State's next performer fell in her first transition on bars, while U-M kept up the pressure with two-time defending Big Ten vault champion Lieberman's 9.825 in the five spot. Michigan finished the meet with Lor's 9.825 to leave two Nittany Lions left to perform.
Corrissa Pirkl brought the crowd to its feet with a 9.900; with PSU anchor Katie Perret needing a 10.0 to tie the meet, she stuck a beautiful 9.900 routine to fall just short of the victorious Wolverines.
Michigan rests for a week before hosting the NCAA Northeast Regional on Saturday (April 14) at 6 p.m. in Crisler Arena. On Monday (April 2) teams will be finalized for the regional championships.
Final Results
| Team | Vault | Bars | Beam | Floor | Total |
| Michigan | 49.175 | 49.150 | 49.050 | 49.200 | 196.575 |
| Penn State | 49.100 | 49.325 | 49.000 | 49.050 | 196.475 |
| Illinois | 48.575 | 49.300 | 48.775 | 48.600 | 195.250 |
| Ohio State | 48.575 | 49.075 | 47.925 | 48.450 | 194.025 |
| Minnesota | 48.575 | 48.600 | 47.300 | 48.750 | 193.225 |
| Iowa | 48.850 | 48.500 | 46.725 | 48.675 | 192.750 |
| Michigan State | 48.800 | 49.000 | 46.650 | 48.200 | 192.650 |
Event-By-Event U-M Individual Scores
VAULT Carol McNamara 9.800 Nellie Kippley 9.875 (t2) Maureen Moody 9.850 (t4)
Tatjana Thuener-Rego 9.700 Katie Lieberman 9.825
Huneth Lor 9.825 UNEVEN BARS Katie Lieberman 9.800 Huneth Lor 9.775 Kelsey Knutson 9.775 Maureen Moody 9.800 Tatjana Thuener-Rego 9.900 (t2) Becky Bernard 9.875 BALANCE BEAM Nellie Kippley 9.875 (2)
Huneth Lor 9.775 Kelsey Knutson 9.700 Becky Bernard 9.900 (1) Clare Flannery 9.800 Tatjana Thuener-Rego 9.525 FLOOR EXERCISE Huneth Lor 9.775 Jaclyn Kramer 9.750 Carol McNamara 9.800
Becky Bernard 9.850 (t3) Katie Lieberman 9.900 (1)
Tatjana Thuener-Rego 9.875 (2) ALL-AROUND Huneth Lor 39.150 (2)
Tatjana Thuener-Rego 39.000 (t4) ( ) denotes place in the Top 5
Big Ten Conference Award Winners
Gymnast of the Year: Kristen Coleman, Michigan State
Freshman of the Year: Brandi Personett, Penn State
Coach of the Year: Carey Fagan, Ohio State
N O T E S
Michigan won its 15th Big Ten Conference title and picked up its 14th conference crown in the last 16 seasons (U-M's eighth in the last nine seasons).
Junior Katie Lieberman picked up her third Big Ten Championships individual event title, winning the floor exercise with a 9.900. Lieberman won or shared the vault crown in each of her first seasons with the Wolverines.
Sophomore Tatjana Thuener-Rego tied a career high on bars with a 9.900.
Sophomore Becky Bernard won her first career Big Ten Championships crown, tying a career best on beam with a 9.900.
Senior Clare Flannery and sophomore Huneth Lor competed in their first Big Ten Championships. Flannery scored a 9.800 on balance beam, while Lor finished second in the all-around with a 39.000.
Contact: Richard Retyi (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
