NCAA Travels With Women's Gymnastics: Wednesday
4/23/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics
Follow the Wolverines at the NCAA Championships with daily news and notes. Wednesday, April 23, the team's first full day in Athens, Ga., included practice at Stegeman Coliseum and interviews with CBS.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
The day before NCAA Prelims is officially practice day, when teams get their first look at the competition floor and get their version of a shootaround. But it is also media day. Cameras are in place, stacks of monitors rest on tables and professional people with CBS credentials speedwalk around the arena asking for pronunciations and where parents might be sitting during competition.
Some gymnasts have to maintain their focus more than others. For freshmen, this is their first experience with a raised floor-exercise platform in a collegiate competition. It is also the first time that freshmen experience the hype that surrounds nationals, from banners and billboards to sharing space with some of the best gymnasts in the world. Other athletes who have been here before have other distractions to contend with. Pre-taped television interviews with head coaches and select gymnasts can distract from the business at hand, which is always to advance to the Super Six and win a national championship. This year, it is Lindsey Bruck who will have to deal with the added attention in the media spotlight.
Lindsey's story of bouncing back from Achilles surgery and walking-on to the team for one last year is familiar to most gymnastics fans. It has been covered in detail in local papers and by the NCAA but not by a major national network. Though Lindsey has become adept at telling the story (she's done so countless times since the fall) it's always a little bit different when you know that millions of people will be watching you when the championships air.
With a backlog of athletes and coaches, Lindsey and head coach Bev Plocki had to wait for their turn in the interview chair. Before her interview the crew asked Lindsey to run through some gymnastics poses that they plan to use for the opening championships montage and for bumpers during the broadcast.
Right after Coach Plocki finished her one-on-one with CBS broadcast associate Julie Landa, the power went out. Lindsey handled it like a pro, chatting with the CBS personnel and waiting for her turn under the hot lights. "I'm a little nervous," she said before the camera rolled, but once the spotlight hit her, she turned it on.
Questions ranged from Michigan's year to her torn Achilles. "I didn't want to end 20 years of gymnastics with a torn Achilles," she commented.
Everyone will have to wait for the broadcast on April 10 to wait and see just how well Lindsey did on the big stage.
WEDNESDAY QUICK NOTES
The youngest Wolverine on the squad, Kari Pearce, was just two years old the last time Michigan failed to advance to the NCAA Championships. Michigan has now qualified for nationals 16 consecutive years, a streak that only Georgia, Utah and Alabama have matched. "We're going to make sure we keep the streak going and that we keep making nationals for a very long time," Kari said.
Every year at some time during the postseason athletic trainer Lisa Hass designs special wrappers for gigantic chocolate bars that she gives to the team and staff. This year, Hass waited until nationals to unveil her masterpiece. The wrapper features pictures of Michigan's new NCAA Qualifiers banner hanging in Crisler Arena and the team on the podium celebrating its 2008 Big Ten title. "The Tradition Continues in 2008 With Another Banner Season," rings the picture of the banner. For those of you concerned about nutritional information, Lisa does include the ingredients to her special chocolate bars, listing "strength, brains, beauty, grace and endurance." Truly essential building blocks for Wolverine chow.
There is definitely a Big Ten Conference presence at nationals this year. Though Michigan is the only team among the final 12, every program except one has at least one gymnast competing individually.
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