Michigan to Face Road Test Against No. 5 Utah

THIS WEEK
Saturday, Mar. 2 -- at No. 5 Utah (Salt Lake City, Utah), 4 p.m. MST
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ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Coming off a huge win at Elevate the Stage last weekend, the No. 9 University of Michigan women's gymnastics team will face another tough test this weekend as they travel to Salt Lake City, Utah, to go up against No. 5 Utah on Saturday (Mar. 2) at 4 p.m. MST.

Utah Meet

• No. 9-ranked Michigan will compete at No. 5 Utah in a matchup of top-10 teams. Utah is coming off its first loss of the season against No. 2 UCLA and is 7-1 overall. U-M is 13-2 after winning the Big Ten regular-season title last weekend (Feb. 23) at the Elevate the Stage meet.
• The two schools will face off against each other for the 43rd time with the Utes leading, 29-13, in the all-time series against the Wolverines.
• U-M won last year's meeting at home, 196.950-196.800, on Senior Day. Utah won, 196.625-195.525, when the two kicked off the 2017 season in Salt Lake City.
• The meet will feature two of the best gymnasts in the country in Michigan's Natalie Wojcik and Utah's McKayla Skinner. They are the top two vaulters in the country (Skinner is No. 1 and Wojcik No. 2). In the all-around, Skinner is No. 4 and Wojcik is No. 5 nationally.

Last Time Out

• Michigan won the Elevate the Stage meet in Toledo, Ohio, last Saturday (Feb. 23) with a season-high score of 197.750. It was the eighth highest team score in program history.
• The highlight of the meet was a perfect 10 on vault for Natalie Wojcik after she had come close in several meets this season.
• U-M followed up the perfect score with a 49.625 on the uneven bars, tied for the second best score on bars in school history. All six gymnasts scored a 9.900 or higher with Wojcik and fellow freshman Abby Brenner tying for the win with a 9.950.
• Senior Olivia Karas earned her first career win on balance beam, tying Wojcik with her career-high 9.925.
• Wojcik had a season-high 39.750 all-around score to top all competitors. It tied for the seventh highest score by a U-M gymnast.

Regular Season Champions

• Michigan went 9-0 in the Big Ten to capture its third straight regular-season championship and fifth in the seven years the conference has recognized the top team in the regular season.
• The team won the Elevate the Stage meet and five dual meets to go undefeated in the regular season for the second time in those seven seasons.

In the Rankings

• The National Qualifying Score (NQS) began this week and U-M debuted at No. 9 overall.
• The NQS shifted several rankings in the individual events as well. U-M went from 10th to sixth on vault, moved up one spot to eighth on bars, three spots to sixth on beam and five spots to No. 12 on floor.
• With the NQS, Wojcik is among the best in the nation this year. She is ranked No. 5 in the all-around, No. 2 on vault, T-10th on bars, No. 3 on beam and T-37th on floor.
• Karas is also highly ranked at T-12th in the all-around, T-32nd on bars and T-16th on floor.
• Brenner is T-33rd on vault, junior Lexi Funk is 23rd on beam and sophomore Lauren Farley is T-28th on beam.

Perfect 10

• Wojcik received her first career perfect 10 score on vault at the Elevate the Stage meet.
• The 10 on vault was Michigan's first since 2011 when Kylee Botterman accomplished the feat.
• Michigan has 28 perfect 10 vaults in program history.
• Nicole Artz was the last Wolverine to score a perfect 10, doing so in 2017 on floor exercise against Illinois at home.

Fully Healthy

• Karas has gotten better the healthier she gets after a long recovery from a 2018 season-ending injury.
• She has added her double pike back to her floor routine and is now performing a Yurchenko 1 1/2 on vault.
• Her scores are reflecting the upgrades and improved health as she has won floor exercise four times, scored a 9.950 on vault at Penn State, scored a 9.950 to tie for the win on bars at Iowa and also earned her first win on beam with a career-high 9.925 at Elevate the Stage.
• She has scored at least 39.400 in the all-around in each of the last four meets, improving her scores each time out.

Home Slate

• Michigan has one final regular-season home meet remaining, when they host No. 1 Oklahoma on Saturday, March 9, at noon on Senior Day. Seniors McLean and Karas will be honored following the conclusion of the meet.
• Individual and group tickets are on sale with general admission tickets starting at $6 and groups of 10 or more eligible for $3 tickets. For more information, visit the women's gymnastics tickets page.
• Ann Arbor is also home to one of four NCAA Regional sites in 2019. Get your tickets for the three-day NCAA Regional here.