Wolverines Look Ahead to NCAA Ann Arbor Regional

THIS WEEK
Friday, Apr. 5 -- host NCAA Regional - Second Round (Crisler Center), 2 p.m.
Saturday, Apr. 6 -- host NCAA Regional Final (Crisler Center), 7 p.m.
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ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Crisler Center is one of four sites that will host 2019 NCAA women's gymnastics regionals, and will be where the University of Michigan will compete against eight other teams on Friday and Saturday, April 5-6 for two spots in the NCAA Championship.

NCAA Regionals

• Michigan will host the NCAA Regionals for the ninth time as the Wolverines welcome eight teams for the new three-day regional format at Crisler Center April 4-6. On Thursday (April 4), Illinois will compete against Central Michigan with the winner advancing to Friday's second-round competition.
• U-M will compete in the first of two second-round sessions on Friday (April 5) at 2 p.m. The Wolverines will face familiar opponents in Alabama, Ohio State and Penn State. U-M lost at Alabama in a quad meet on Jan. 11 and defeated both Penn State and Ohio State in the regular season and Big Ten Championships.
• The top two teams from each second-round session will advance to the regional final on Saturday, April 6 at 7 p.m.
• The Wolverines have won five of the previous eight regionals that they have hosted and advanced to the NCAA Championship in seven of the eight. The only year the team did not advance was in 2016, the last time they hosted.
• Overall, Michigan has won 12 NCAA Regional titles and advanced to make 23 NCAA Championship appearances.
• Michigan has had at least one individual event winner at regionals in each of the last 10 years.

Big Ten Champions

• Michigan won the Big Ten Championship for the sixth consecutive year and 25th in program history, scoring a 197.400 at Rec Hall in State College, Pennsylvania.
• Head coach Bev Plocki has the most championships by any coach in Big Ten gymnastics history with 24. The 24 titles broke Indiana's James (Doc) Counsilman's record for the most by any coach, in any sport, in Big Ten history.
• It is the third time in school history that the Wolverines have won six conference championships or more in a row, winning six straight from 1992-97 and seven straight from 1999-2005).
• Three individuals combined for four Big Ten titles. Freshman Natalie Wojcik won floor exercise (9.950) and shared the all-around title (39.600) with senior teammate Olivia Karas, while senior Emma McLean won vault (9.900) for the second time in her career.
• All three individual title holders were named to the All-Big Ten Championships team.

Big Ten 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 five regular-season titles are the most in the conference. Minnesota is next with three and finished second to the Wolverines this season. Nebraska is the only other school to win the regular season with two titles.

WCGA Regular Season All-Americans

• Wojcik is a first-team regular-season All-American on three events. She finished 6th in the all-around with a National Qualifying Score (NQS) of 39.630. She was third nationally on vault with a 9.955 NQS and was seventh on beam with an NQS of 9.930.
• Karas is a second-team regular-season All-American on two events. She ranks 15th nationally in the all-around (39.535) and tied for 16th on floor (9.925).

Big Ten Freshman of The Year

• Wojcik became the 13th Wolverine to earn Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors.
• She is the seventh of those 13 to go on and win a Big Ten individual title in the same season.
• Olivia Karas was Michigan's last Freshman of the Year in 2016, while Katie Lieberman was the last to win an event at Big Tens in 2005.
• Sarah Cain (1997) and Beth Wymer (1992) were the only two before Wojcik to win two titles or more.

AAI Award Finalist

• Karas was named one of six finalists for the AAI Award, given to the nation's top senior gymnast.
• She has had a terrific senior season after recovering from a season-ending injury suffered in February 2018.
• She has won floor five times this season, but is having the best year of her career on uneven bars and balance beam.

In the Rankings

• Michigan is No. 7 in the Road to Nationals rankings after the conference championships.
• The team is ranked No. 6 on vault and beam, No. 10 on bars and No. 8 on floor.
• Natalie Wojcik is among the best in the nation this year on every event. She is ranked sixth in the all-around, third on vault, tied for 23rd on bars, seventh on beam and T-32nd on floor.
• Karas also is highly ranked in several events, coming in at 15th in the all-around, T-16th on floor, T-19th on bars and T-44th on beam.
• McLean is T-28th on vault.
• Freshman Abby Brenner is tied for 49th on bars.
• U-M has four individuals ranked on beam. Joining Wojcik and Karas are sophomore Lauren Farley (25th) and junior Lexi Funk (T-32nd).
• Michigan was ranked No. 9 in the Women's Collegiate Gymnastics Association preseason poll.