Michigan
Michigan State
Michigan Flips for Chip in Win over Michigan State
2/14/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics
Feb. 14, 2016
» U-M scored more than 197.000 for second straight meet.
» Three Wolverine gymnasts scored career highs -- Talia Chiarelli (vault, 9.925), Nicole Artz (beam, 9.950), Lindsay Willaims (beam, 9.900).
• Complete Results | Photo Gallery 
| Event Replay 
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Crisler Center)
Score: #3 Michigan 197.225, Michigan State 195.425
Records: U-M (8-1, 4-1 Big Ten), MSU (3-5, 1-4 Big Ten)
Next U-M Event: Friday, Feb. 19 -- at Southern Utah, vs. UC Davis (Cedar City, Utah), 7 p.m. MST
• MLive Piece: Michigan women's gymnastics adopts 'Flip for Chip,' in honor of teammate's fallen father (Feb. 14)
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 3-ranked University of Michigan women's gymnastics team showed up to its Sunday (Feb. 14) meet in Crisler Center with one goal in mind, to Flip for Chip, and did just that, handing Michigan State a 197.225-195.425 loss to improve to 8-1 overall and 4-1 in the Big Ten.
The 2016 season has been dedicated to the late Chip Hills, father of student assistant coach Cailee Hills who passed away from pancreatic cancer prior to Thanksgiving. The team walked into Crisler with Flip for Chip T-shirts and purple accessories as the color is related to pancreatic cancer.
Chip, who attended every gymnastics meet last year during Cailee's freshman season, was a joyous person who would show up to meets in maize and blue overalls. That joy carried over to the Wolverines as they competed on Sunday.
"This day meant a lot to our team and to Cailee," said head coach Bev Plocki. "When you have a meet that is very emotional sometimes you worry that they will try too hard. I was really happy that we had a good meet. I like to think that Chip was smiling down and kept it light and fun for our team."
Before the meet, the team mimicked human bowling with freshman Emma McLean tumbling towards her teammates and pretend knocking them out of the way. The team created a tunnel to run through after a vault routine by freshman Olivia Karas. It was this lighthearted attitude that Chip displayed on a daily basis.
Gymnast bowling 🎳 pic.twitter.com/ptygVH349N
-- Michigan Gymnastics (@umichwgym) February 14, 2016
"He found joy in every moment," said Hills. "His big thing was to find three good things out of every day, no matter how bad the day was. That's what I have done in my daily life and is something that has stuck with me."
There were more than three good things that Michigan could find from today's meet.
In the first rotation, Karas suffered her first career loss on vault despite her 9.900. That was because junior Talia Chiarelli went next level, sticking her Yurchenko 1 1/2 for a career-high 9.925, which won the event. The duo helped Michigan to a 49.275 vault score and the early lead.
Chiarelli's classmate, junior Nicole Artz, took her bars routine up a notch. A big routine ended with a big celebration as she scored a season-high 9.925 to win the event. Senior Lindsay Williams posted her second big score of the week with a 9.90 as U-M finished with a 49.275 on the event.
Artz continued to wow the crowd on beam as she used precise execution to match a career high with a 9.950 and take her second win of the day. It was not the only beam routine that the crowd loved. Williams also matched a career high as she recorded a 9.900 on the event. The Wolverines tallied a 49.375 overall on beam.
"We know that Chip was watching and would be very proud of us," said Artz. "He has had a huge impact on this team and continues to have an impact."
The team had a sizable lead when it went to floor and finished things off with five solid routines. Karas made the biggest impression on the Crisler crowd of more than 4,000 with a 9.925 to win the event and finish second in the all-around (39.450). Artz won the all-around with a 9.825 on floor to give her a 39.500 overall.
Michigan had the top five finishes on vault and top four finishes on beam, finishing with a 197.225 for its second 197.000 or better in the last six days.
It was a performance that would have had Chip Hills smiling and cheering from start to finish.
"It was incredible," said Cailee Hills. "I knew my dad had an impact on the team but not to this level. The team banded together to do this. It showed how inspirational he was and how important he was to everyone he met."
We you fans. Happy Valentine's Day from #Team40! pic.twitter.com/66NLgTaWQo
-- Michigan Gymnastics (@umichwgym) February 14, 2016
Michigan will head west for a tri-meet with Southern Utah and UC Davis Friday (Feb. 19) at 7 p.m. MST in Cedar City, Utah. The Wolverines have one more home contest remaining in the regular season, hosting Utah on March 4 at 7 p.m.
Players Mentioned
