Michigan
Arkansas, #22 West Virginia
Wolverines Win Season Opener Over Ranked Opponents
1/11/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics
Complete Results | Photo Gallery
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 9 University of Michigan women's gymnastics team began its season with a bang in the home opener, riding the momentum of performances by fifth/senior Lindsey Bruck(Marietta, N.Y./Marcellus) and sophomore Sarah Curtis(Reno, Nev./Reno) to cruise to a 196.075 victory over No 14 Arkansas (195.250) and No. 22 West Virginia (190.300) Friday night (Jan. 11) at Crisler Arena.
Curtis and Bruck finished one-two in the all-around competition, with Curtis posting a career-best 39.425 and winning the vault (9.850) and floor exercise titles (9.900), while Bruck finished with a 39.250, taking the balance beam crown (9.875).Both athletes suffered season-ending injuries in the opening meets of the 2007 season and returned to form for the first time in a year. Curtis had career highs in all events, capturing her first individual vault, floor and all-around titles, while Bruck won the 11th beam crown of her career.
Michigan also used strong individual performances from junior Becky Bernard(Stow, Ohio/Stow-Munroe Falls) and freshman Trish Wilson(Naperville, Ill./Nequa Valley), who shared the uneven bars title with matching 9.900s. The win was the seventh bars title for Bernard and the first for Wilson, who becomes the first freshman since Bernard to win an individual event title in her first collegiate meet.
Michigan began the meet strong with a 48.950 team score on vault, led by Curtis' 9.850 and senior Katie Lieberman's(Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) runner-up 9.825. The Wolverines followed vault with their most impressive event of the night, scoring an eye-popping 49.375 on bars, which is already higher than any bars score the team managed in the entire 2007 season. Michigan took the top six scores in the event with Wilson and Bernard leading the way with their 9.900s, while junior Tatjana Thuener-Rego(Miami, Fla./American School) had a third-place 9.875. Curtis finished fourth with 9.850, tying sophomore Maureen Moody(East Lansing, Mich./East Lansing) for fourth spot. Bruck finished the Michigan sweep of the top six scores with a 9.825.
The Wolverines advanced to beam where they managed a 48.750 team score, pushed forward by Bruck's title-winning 9.875, while Curtis took third with a 9.825. U-M nailed down the meet in the final rotation on floor, hitting 49.000 and taking the top three spots on the podium. Curtis won the event with a 9.900 and Bruck finished runner-up with a 9.850, while junior Huneth Lor(Aurora, Ill./Waubonsie Valley) powered to third with a 9.825.
Michigan will hit the road for its first Big Ten Conference meet of the year, taking on Penn State in State College, Pa., on Saturday (Jan. 19) at 7p.m. The meet will be televised on the Big Ten Network and will air on Saturday, Jan. 26 at 3 p.m.
Team Standings
| Team Scores | Vault | Bars | Beam | Floor | Total |
| 1. MICHIGAN | 48.950 | 49.375 | 48.750 | 49.000 | 196.075 |
| 2. Arkansas | 48.850 | 48.850 | 48.775 | 48.775 | 195.250 |
| 3. West Virginia | 48.500 | 47.325 | 46.475 | 48.000 | 190.300 |
Event-By-Event U-M Individual Scores
VAULT Kari Pearce 9.775 (t5) Lindsey Bruck 9.700 Sarah Curtis 9.850 (1) Tatjana Thuener-Rego 9.750 Katie Lieberman 9.825 (t2) Kylee Botterman 9.750 UNEVEN BARS Sarah Curtis 9.850 (t4) Maureen Moody 9.850 (t4) Lindsey Bruck 9.825 (t6) Tatjana Thuener-Rego 9.875 (3) Trish Wilson 9.900 (t1) Becky Bernard 9.900 (t1) BALANCE BEAM Kylee Botterman 9.575 Huneth Lor 9.700 Megan Moore 9.575 Sarah Curtis 9.825 (3) Becky Bernard 9.775 (4) Lindsey Bruck 9.875 (1) FLOOR EXERCISE Kari Pearce 9.725 Huneth Lor 9.825 (3) Katie Lieberman 9.225 Lindsey Bruck 9.850 (2) Nellie Kippley 9.700 Sarah Curtis 9.900 (1) ALL-AROUND Sarah Curtis 39.425 (1) Lindsey Bruck 39.250 (2) ( ) denotes place in the Top 5
Q U O T E S
Michigan Head Coach Bev Plocki
On how the team performed... "Our expectations were to hit 24 routines and have a clean meet and come out with a great start. That's exactly what we did. The kids have a lot of energy and confidence and it was a great first meet to get under our belts. The crowd was awesome and they definitely impact the athletes. The energy was awesome and during the two minute touch warm-up when they're out there dancing and going crazy it's a lot of fun. The athletes thrive off of it. I thought our bars were unbelievably good tonight. I was so impressed with our landings and dismounts. We were hitting our handstands and bars could not have gone any better. It was outstanding. Floor was good and we kept the energy level up and, really, in every event I was happy with all of our performances."
On Michigan's athletes returning from injury... "I am so proud and so thrilled for all of our athletes that were injured last year and who have come back. For Lindsey (Bruck) to get hurt and not be able to finish the first meet last year, it was heartbreaking. She came off the floor tonight and I said, you finished the meet, and we both laughed. I hope she has a phenomenal season. Sarah (Curtis) went out in the third meet of the season so she only competed in two meets last year. To see them both come back off of very serious injuries last year and come out in the very first meet and go one and two in the all-around it's pretty darn impressive."
Michigan Sophomore Sarah Curtis
On her performance... "I think floor was my best performance because it was so exciting to go out there after we had a couple of problems on floor and be able to get that last routine in there to get our score total be high and seal up the meet."
On what Michigan can improve on... "We can improve on landings. We did well on bars but we need to improve on beam. On vault we had a few steps where we could have made up a few more tenths. Also, being laid back and aggressive on beam will help."
On her all-around title... "It's great to win the all-around but I wasn't thinking about it, just how many routines can we put up there and how high can we get our score to start the season off, and I'm glad it came together."
N O T E S
Freshmen Kylee Botterman, Kari Pearce and Trish Wilson all competed in their first collegiate meets. Botterman competed on vault (9.750) and beam (9.575), while Pearce saw action on vault (9.775) and floor (9.725). Wilson won her first collegiate event, taking a 9.900 on bars.
Senior Megan Moore performed her first collegiate routine, scoring a 9.575 on beam.
Junior Huneth Lor tied a career high on floor with a 9.825.
Sophomore Maureen Moody equaled a career best on bars with a 9.850.
Contact: Richard Retyi (734) 763-4423
Players Mentioned
