Unfamiliar Familiar Spot
3/17/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics
March 17, 2017
PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- The No. 9-ranked University of Michigan women's gymnastics team will compete for its fourth consecutive Big Ten championship on Saturday (March 18), but the Wolverines find themselves in an unfamiliar position.
Competing for the Big Ten championship is something Michigan strives for every year and something they have had great success with, winning 22 titles, nine more than the other Big Ten schools combined. However, the location and setup for the 2017 Big Ten championship meet is new and different.
For one, U-M has never competed at Rutgers in its more than 40-year program history. The Scarlet Knights joined the Big Ten in 2014, but scheduling has not taken the Wolverines to the Piscataway campus. Also for the first time, the championship will be held on a podium similar to what is done at the NCAA Championships every year.
The events are all raised up higher than normal to put more of an emphasis on the gymnasts without having as much around the event as a distraction.
A new venue and a new format made Friday's practice day very valuable for Michigan.
"It is a new experience for everybody," said head coach Bev Plocki. "Competing on a podium is meant to bring all the focus to the athletes who are performing. We are really looking forward to that. It makes the athletes feel special."
Noticeable differences when competing on a stage is there is always a little extra bounce to get used to. It makes beam a little more challenging as well as floor.
"It is a little different with everything just being a little bouncier," said sophomore Olivia Karas. "It is great to be able to come out here today and play around on the equipment to see how it feels."
The Big Ten Championships are also different from most regular-season meets with there being bye rotations due to the number of teams competing. However, the Big Five Meet last weekend was a good tune up for all the teams in the conference. Michigan had its bye at the start and then finished off competing in the last four rotations. This week, with two byes, the Wolverines will start on a bye, compete on bars and beam, have their second bye and then finish off on floor and vault.
"You get into the flow and then have to sit for 20 minutes in the locker room," said Plocki. "Having the opportunity to go through that last weekend was important for our younger kids who haven't experienced that before."
That experience was especially helpful for freshman Lexi Funk. Virtually all experiences are new for freshmen, but Michigan relies on Funk to set the tone on many of its events. The pressure of getting the team off to a good start while experiencing something for the first time is something Funk has embraced.
"It puts a little bit of pressure on me because if I am leading off the first event of the meet, I am setting the tone for the whole meet," said Funk. "I just want to go out and hit a solid routine that everyone can build off of. I like being able to start that momentum."
In her first meet doing the all-around against Southern Utah on Feb. 26, Funk led off floor with a season-high 9.900. It sparked the entire team to score a 9.900 or better and post a 49.600 to tie for the fifth highest floor score in school history. The next weekend with her leading off, the team went 49.625 vs. No. 1 Oklahoma to tie for the third-highest floor score.
"We ended on floor and had built up a lot of momentum by the end of the meet," said Funk. "It was a really fun rotation and great for me starting it off with a 9.900."
Last weekend in the Big Five Meet (March 11), Funk soared to a team-high 39.275 in the all-around. She thrived in the new atmosphere with team corrals, bye rotations, a busy competition floor with five teams in action and competing in the all-around for the first time in a road meet.
"I have never experienced anything like having byes or corrals so it was nice to see how everything works before the Big Ten Championships," said Funk.
On Saturday (March 18) at 5 p.m., Funk and the rest of her Michigan teammates will get a chance to add to the trophy case and hang another banner in the Donald R. Shepherd Women's Gymnastic Center. Half the team will be looking to experience their first Big Ten title, while seniors Nicole Artz and Talia Chiarelli will be trying to complete their college careers 4-for-4.
