Big Al Traps A Wolverine in Coleman Coliseum

Vault

 Up first for the Tide was junior Lauren Holdefer, who vaulted a front pike with great height and distance but she had to take a step forward on the landing (9.725).  Freshman Mari-Christine Bayer followed up with a beautiful Yurchenko 1/1 that had great height and form during flight but she was deducted for piking it down a bit and taking one step to balance her landing (9.825).  Sophomore Shannon Hrozek vaulted a front pike with nice height and form but one step on the landing limited the final score (9.775).  Jeana Rice boomed her Yurchenko 1/1 with the slightest scoot for a 9.925 and Stephanie Kite threw one of her better pike ½ twists of the year for a 9.825 (very nice explosion off the table and landing).  Kristin Sterner threw the difficult Yurchenko half off front full layout for a 9.85, marred mainly by a thrust forward on one foot during the landing.  Bama finished with a 49.200 on the vault.

On the uneven bars, Michigan scored a 48.975, highlighted by routines from junior Calli Ryals (9.85) and freshman Jenny Deiley (9.875 for a beautiful stalder and a 1½ pirouette to giant full to straddle Jaeger combination).

Uneven Bars

Shannon Hrozek completed a very nice bars set for a 9.800, which included a huge Gienger release.  Sophomore Michelle Reeser was rotating very fast and confidently, throwing a full turn to a Tkatchev release and missing the handstand only on her release to the low bar (9.825); she took one step on her dismount of the reverse tuck over the high bar.  Freshman Larissa Stewart competed for the first time this year for the Tide for a 9.65, a routine highlighted by a reverse half turn right on top of the bar to two reverse giants to a half turn to a Tkatchev release.  She took a deep step forward on her landing of the double layout dismount and had a few form deductions elsewhere in the routine but was thrilled to get through her first performance for the Tide with no major mishaps.  Kristin Sterner followed up with her best routine of the year, missing only one handstand enroute to a 9.90 (no trouble this week on her release moves and she nailed the double front dismount like a dart).  Freshman Dana Filetti threw a booming Gienger release and a 1 ½ pirouette to double front dismount combination that garnered her a 9.825 (great distance from the bars on her dismount but a step back and slight cowboying of the reverse tuck cost her).  Jeana Rice (9.975) finished the event in fine fashion for the Tide, throwing a routine that garnered a 10 from one judge.  Her dismount (full in) was drilled, reminiscent of Andree Pickens.  The Tide scored a 49.325 on the uneven bars.

The Wolverines fared very well on the vault (49.300), highlighted by Jenny Deiley's elegant Yurchenko 1/1 (9.90) and freshman Becca Clauson's powerful pike ½ twist (9.925). 

Balance Beam

Tiny Michelle Reeser has taken over graduated UA gymnast, Raegan Tomasek's, lead-off position on the beam with steady performances each week.  She threw a flawless routine, highlighted by a flight series of ff, layout, Korbut and a switch leap to two straddle jumps (9.90).  Freshman Dana Pierce was all set to have a magnificent routine but fell on the layout during her flight series (9.325). She already has a 9.925 this year on the beam and is a competitor, so look for higher scores from her in the immediate future.  All American Shannon Hrozek had a solid routine, completing her flight series with beautiful extension on the flic flacs and layout and checking her balance slightly on the sheep jump only.  However, she appeared to be extra cautious in this routine after Pierce's mishap, which the judges may have picked up on.  A hop on the landing of the double twist was likely deducted as well (9.825).  Kristin Sterner's routine was perfect until the dismount of the super difficult double pike, where she took one step back (great distance from the beam) for a 9.85.   Mari-Christine Bayer had several balance checks during her routine, starting with the flight series, third element (front aerial, bhs, Korbut, the latter was off-centered and she had to grab the beam from top to keep from sliding further to the right) and during her leap series and her second needle scale.  She was smiling all the way despite this and landed the gainer pike off the end of the beam perfectly (9.65). Jeana Rice's routine had no obvious deductions from what we could tell after reviewing the tape several times.  She even landed her double twist dismount without moving, so the 9.925 is a little perplexing.  The Tide finished with a 49.150, having to count the 9.65 from Bayer after Pierce's fall. 

The floor exercise for Michigan had highs and lows.  Beautiful dance was displayed by Jenny Deiley (9.625) and Calli Ryals (along with her tumbling for a 9.95) while senior Janessa Grieco combined aggressive tumbling and choreography (9.90) to some jazzy music.  The Wolverines finished floor with a 49.075, having to count Deiley's score when she and Kara Rosella encountered major problems in landing some of their tumbling passes (9.550). 

Floor Exercise

With the help of the YMCA dads, Bama got pumped up for the final event during the 3 minute touch.  Mari-Christine Bayer got things started in a huge way, opening with a high and beautiful double pike, landed perfectly.  The second pass (front, front full, front tuck) and third (double twist) were landed just as well but the dancing and leaps, not to mention how well she sells this routine in general, set her apart (9.90 from both judges).  Michelle Reeser tried to best this but had one step back on her opening double pike and popped out just a bit on the last element of her second pass (front, front full, front layout) but her third pass (front, barani half, layout-stepout) was perfect and she finished up with a huge smile (9.85).  Lauren Holdefer boomed her opening double pike but encountered difficulty on the second pass, a double tuck (had to take two steps back on the landing) and she completed another double tuck with no problems for a 9.825.  Jeana Rice encountered no problems this week during her leap series and threw a super double pike, whip to 2½ twist and a whip to a double full with perfect timing for a 9.925.  Stephanie Kite landed her new opening pass with a handkerchief to spare (front through to a double full to a punch front) and the crowd seemed to really like her new music (9.90).  Kristin Sterner (9.95) put the exclamation point on a super night of competition by throwing her signature double pikes at the beginning and end, landing both perfectly; her second pass of a front through to a Rudi, to a layout-stepout was perfectly timed with the music as well.  She now finishes this routine with a full-twisting Shushonova before her final dance move.  The Tide scored a 49.525 on floor and a final tally of 197.200.

The Michigan Wolverines had very nice beam routines thrown by Janessa Grieco (9.90) and Calli Ryals (9.975) and a bend at the waist and step on the dismount marred the otherwise very elegant performance by Jenny Deiley (9.70).  UM finished on beam with a 49.175 and a final tally of 196.525.