Michigan
Big Ten Championships
Michigan Seeks to Capture 26th Conference Title at Big Ten Championships
3/18/2021 5:56:00 PM | Women's Gymnastics
» Michigan will compete for its 26th Big Ten championship and seventh straight.
» The Wolverines earned back-to-back 198s in their last two meets, with a program-best 198.100 at Maryland.
» U-M has the most B1G titles of any school, with Minnesota and Ohio State next with five each.
THE MEET
Saturday, March 20 -- at Big Ten Championships (Minneapolis, Minn.), 5:30 p.m. CDT
TV: Big Ten Network | Live Results | Live Video
• Complete Notes (PDF)
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ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 3-ranked University of Michigan women's gymnastics team will head to Minneapolis, Minn., to compete for its conference-leading 26th title at the Big Ten Championships. The Wolverines will be in the evening session Saturday (March 20) at 5:30 p.m. CDT at Maturi Pavilion on the campus of the University of Minnesota.
Session and Rotation Information
• U-M is in the evening session of the championships along with No. 16 Illinois, No. 18 Iowa and No. 7 Minnesota, while Ohio State, Maryland, Penn State, Nebraska and Rutgers will compete in the morning session of the championships.
• The Wolverines will start on the uneven bars in the first rotation and move to the balance beam for rotation two. Michigan will then compete on the floor exercise in the third rotation and end on the vault.
Wolverine Bites
• Michigan will be competing for its 26th Big Ten championship, by far the most of any school in the conference. Next on the list are Minnesota and Ohio State with five apiece.
• Head coach Bev Plocki has the most championships by any coach in Big Ten gymnastics history with 24. Larry Cox, former Ohio State head coach, is second with five. The 24 titles topped Indiana's James (Doc) Counsilman for the most by any coach, in any sport, in Big Ten history.
• U-M has won the last six Big Ten Championships. It is the fourth time in school history that the Wolverines have won five or more consecutive titles, winning six straight from 1992-97, seven straight from 1999-2005 and five straight from 2007-11.
• Michigan also leads the conference with 97 individual champions, 57 more than Minnesota in second place. The 97 championships include 81 event titles and 16 all-around victories.
• The Wolverines had five gymnasts honored by the Big Ten Conference, with Natalie Wojcik earning first team All-Big Ten honors for the third time, Sierra Brooks and Gabby Wilson earning first team honors for the second time, Abby Heiskell notching first team honors for the first time, and Naomi Morrison earning second team honors.
• Heading into the postseason, Michigan ranks third nationally and leads the nation on the vault while ranking third on the uneven bars, sixth on the beam and 10th on the floor. Individually, Natalie Wojcik ranks fourth on the beam, fifth on the uneven bars and sixth in the all-around, while Sierra Brooks ranks fourth on the vault and 13th in the all-around. Additionally, Gabby Wilson is 15th on the floor and Abby Heiskell ranks 14th on the vault.
• The Wolverines set program records in back-to-back weeks, eclipsing the 198 mark for two straight weekends. U-M earned its first 198 in program history at the Ohio State Quad (March 7) with a 198.025 before topping it with a 198.100 at Maryland (March 12) to end the regular season. Furthermore, Michigan broke the program beam record with a 49.600 at Maryland and posted the second-highest vault score in program history with a 49.800.
• The NCAA selection show will be streamed Monday (March 22) starting at 5 p.m. on NCAA.com.
Up Next
• Thu-Sat., April 1-3 -- at NCAA Regionals
Players Mentioned
