Michigan Notes & Quotes: Big Ten Championships
3/29/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics
N O T E S
Michigan fifth-year senior Lindsey Bruck was voted the Big Ten Gymnast of the Year, while head coach Bev Plocki shared Big Ten Coach of the Year honors with Iowa's Larissa Libby.
Michigan won its 16th Big Ten title in program history and the 15th under head coach Bev Plocki. The Wolverines repeated as Big Ten champs and have won the title 15 of the last 17 seasons.
Michigan won Big Tens for the fourth time in Ann Arbor. The Wolverines won the 1982, 1993 and 2001 Big Ten Championships at home and finished sixth in 1990.
Freshman Kylee Botterman won the Big Ten floor exercise title, extending Michigan's streak of Big Ten floor winners to six years. Botterman is the first Wolverine freshman since 1998 (Bridget Knaeble) to win the floor honor.
Sophomore Sarah Curtis captured the Big Ten bars title, becoming the first Wolverine since Elise Ray in 2004 to win the conference's bars crown.
Senior Katie Lieberman tied her Big Tens best score on vault with a 9.900.
Freshman Kylee Botterman nailed a 9.900 routine on floor in her first Big Ten Championships, tying her career high. She also scored a 9.900 vault.
Sophomore Sarah Curtis tied a career high with a 9.950 on bars in her first Big Ten Championships and went 9.850 on beam.
Senior Megan Moore scored 9.775 on beam in her first Big Ten Championships.
Junior Huneth Lor scored a personal Big Tens best 9.800 on beam, bettering her 9.775 set at the 2007 Championships.
Sophomore Kelsey Knutson scored a personal Big Tens best 9.750 on beam, bettering her 9.700 score set at the 2007 Championships.
Junior Tatjana Thuener-Rego had a career-best 9.925 on bars.
Senior Katie Lieberman and freshman Kylee Botterman had the Big Ten vault title to themselves until Penn State's Brandi Personett scored a 9.950 in the final vault of the meet.
Q U O T E S
Michigan Head Coach Bev Plocki
On the meet... "This was a difficult rotation to start on beam and come out like this. You've got all your adrenaline built up, and beam is an event in which you need to have as little adrenaline as possible. It's great for us to go out and do well in this situation so if later in the season we draw this rotation we'll know we can do it and we'll know how to handle it. We kept getting better every event. This is a difficult meet because there are so many byes and so much sitting and waiting time. It's hard to keep the energy flowing. They did a fantastic job, and to end the way we did was awesome. We're looking forward to having the weekend off."
U-M Junior Tatjana Thuener-Rego
On the meet... "It's really exciting. We were pretty confident coming in, but it's always good to seal the deal and win. We were excited for bars and vault because they are our top two events. The first two events weren't great so we were excited to finish on our best events. We fed off each other's energy on bars. It was a great rotation, we were excited, and it was the best way we could have ended the meet. We're excited to find out where we go for regionals."
U-M Freshman Kylee Botterman
On the meet... "It was a lot of fun. My family was here to support both me and my sister (Illinois' Marijka Botterman) and it was awesome. This whole week was about team. I just went out and had fun. I was looking forward to bars all night and I had an unreal time. Starting on beam didn't affect us that much. It was nice to get it out of the way and go strong from there not having to worry about anything. I am looking very forward to a week off. I think everyone needs a little break to let our bodies heal up a little bit."
U-M Sophomore Sarah Curtis
On the meet... "The atmosphere was friendly and fun. We come in and socialize with some of our friends on other teams but stay focused the whole time. Our rotation was difficult at first with beam being a nerve-wracking event. We kept our confidence up and stuck with it, and as soon as we hit beam we cruised all the way through the rest of the events."
Players Mentioned
