On January 13, the University of Michigan gymnastics team hosted a tri-meet with Stanford University
and University of Nebraska. Michigan came in second with a final score of 196.500, and Nebraska, who is ranked 9th in the county, finished third with 195.400. Stanford, who is ranked 2nd, won the meet with a final score of 196.800.
For the first three events– vault, bars, and beam –the Wolverines were leading the competition. The team was having the best meet of the season so far. They even performed well on beam, which has been their weakest event in the past. During this meet, it was floor that gave the team problems, which is usually one of their strongest events.
“We just needed to finish the competition on floor the way we typically perform floor and we could have come out on top,” said Bev Plocki, the head coach at U of M. “It’s frustrating that we had a good of a meet as we did on three events, and then gave it to them on floor.”
Although they didn’t win, the Wolverines had several mini victories throughout the meet. Kylee Botterman performed a perfect vault, earning a 10.00 from both judging panels, and putting the Wolverine fans on their feet. Botterman was lucky enough to have her family there to support her, and to see her 10.00 vault.
“I give [my parents and family] the number one fan award because they love to support me,” Botterman said. This was the first perfect 10.00 of the season.
Trish Wilson is a senior on the U of M team. Wilson competed bars during her freshmen year, but injuries kept her sidelined for the past few years. She has torn four ACLs and has had six surgeries on her knees, so she is just happy to be back in the gym.
“Just the opportunity to come back and be able to still be healthy and be able to compete is a dream come true, and it’s very fun, and it’s great to be back on the team.” Wilson said.
On her second meet back, Wilson tied for first on uneven bars with a nearly perfect score of 9.925. Wilson proved to herself and the audience that she is still a competitor and will be an asset to the team in future meets.
Plocki said “I had goose-bumps when [Wilson] finished her routine. She deserves to be in there and deserves to have so much success this year.”
Along with Wilson, the Wolverines welcomed Brittnee Martinez into the bar lineup. Even though she didn’t hit her routine, she is healthy enough to train and improve for future meets.
The Wolverines didn’t win, but they know that they can hit routines in the future. “As a team, we’re just going to work to really refine all of our skills,” Wilson said.
“It’s great to know that we can compete with the number two team in the country right now; we were ahead of them all meet,” Botterman said. “It gives us the confidence to go into the next challenging meets of the season.”
Photos courtesy of University of Michigan athletic department.
