Artz, Karas Earn Big Ten Weekly Honors
3/7/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics
March 7, 2016
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The Big Ten Conference announced that University of Michigan women's gymnastics junior Nicole Artz as the Big Ten Gymnast of the Week and freshman Olivia Karas as the Big Ten Freshman of the Week on Monday (March 7).
Artz honored the three Michigan seniors with a performance to remember on Senior Night against No. 6 Utah. She scored a career-best 39.725 in the all-around for the 11th best score in school history and highest since 2004.
The elementary education and language arts major might have also still been flying high coming off "Read Across America Day" two days earlier. She set a new career high on bars with a 9.975, receiving a perfect 10.0 from one judge. She also matched a career high with a 9.975 on floor, also earning one perfect 10.0 on that event. Those two amazing routines were coupled with a 9.925 that won beam for her and a season-high 9.850 on vault.
Artz claims her fourth Gymnast of the Week honor of 2016 and the eighth of her career.
Karas also had a great performance against Utah with an all-around score of 39.500, her third highest score of the year. She had a career-high 9.900 on bars and scored a 9.925 to finish second on floor. She has earned Freshman of the Week a school-record eight times this season.
The two gymnasts, along with their nine teammates, will look for another great performance this weekend as they travel to State College, Pennsylvania, for the Big Five Meet hosted by Penn State on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Communications Contact: Ben Blevins
