After its third-place performance in the Big Ten Tournament just two weeks ago, the Michigan women’s gymnastics team placed third once again in the NCAA Regional Final Thursday afternoon. However, this time, third marked a season-ending finish.
With strong performances in the first three rotations overshadowed by a downhill performance in the final rotation, the 11th-ranked Wolverines (17-9 overall) came up just shy in the second round of the NCAA Regionals. Totaling 196.725 points, Michigan fell to second-place No. 25 Penn State (15-8) and first-place No. 8 Alabama (12-4-1), which finished with 196.925 and 197.450 points, respectively.
The Wolverines’ hot start began on the floor with a lead-off 9.825 floor routine from senior Carly Bauman. This came as no surprise as Michigan’s consistent floor performances rank fourth nationally in the event.
“Our training has been very consistent on all events,” Michigan coach Bev Plocki said. “And I just think that when the music is playing and you’re dancing, there’s maybe a little bit less time to let the nerves settle in.”
The Wolverines kept up the consistency in the remaining floor routines, giving them a 49.475 total score after the first rotation. And the second rotation showed a similar steadiness as well. In the vault event, senior Jenna Mulligan started with a 9.825 performance and graduate student Gabby Wilson posted the highest vault score at 9.950.
These vault performances in the Regionals showed quick improvement from the Big Ten Championship, and gave Michigan a narrow lead halfway through the meet.
“We finally were able to do it in competition,” Plocki said. “There’s no magic change that we made in practice that all of a sudden made it work. It has so much to do with nerves and how much pressure they put on themselves when they’re competing.”
The third rotation, which was the bars, also maintained earlier cohesion as performances ranged from scores of 9.825 to 9.900 despite the team bar score of 49.375 being the lowest event score at that point for the Wolverines.
However, those nerves ultimately showed in the final rotation, the beam — an event that Michigan has struggled with throughout the season. The nerves were present from the get-go as senior Jenna Mulligan, the lead-off gymnast, slipped off the beam when trying to land her double backflip. The consistency from the first three rotations had suddenly faded as the Wolverines’ beam scores ranged from 9.025, when junior Jacey Vore slipped off, to two 9.825 performances from Bauman and graduate student Sierra Brooks.
While Vore’s 9.025 was able to be scratched, Mulligan’s 9.225 was therefore counted. Michigan finished the beam event with the lowest team score of the competition overall at 48.450.
And with that performance, the Wolverines fell from first place to out of contention in just one rotation.
“We had a little wiggle here or there, but I just think that just because it was the last event,” Plocki said. “Beam is the event that we have the most time to think. It’s the smallest and the most nerve-wracking or pressure producing events, and I guess we just didn’t do a good job today of staying focused on work.”
Ultimately, the nerves on the beam ended the Wolverines’ run in the NCAA Tournament after a strong first three rotations. After a season of inconsistency on the beam, that event was Michigan’s eventual downfall.