W Gymnastics wins 3rd straight B1G Regular Season Championship; Natalie Wojcik gets a 10.0
We all know what happened earlier this season. There were many distractions going on with the Michigan Women's Gymnastics program in the news for reasons that had nothing to do with their competitions.
It showed in the early meets when said-things were going on. Michigan started out B1G play with some very un-Michiganlike performances including a 195.975 team score in the B1G opener, horrifying by the program's lofty standards.
The team battled on and still managed to keep winning despite posting lower scores.
The turning point had to be the Nebraska meet where Michigan gutted out a win over their rivals. Since that meet, Michigan has posted nothing but 197 team scores.
And tonight was no exception.
The #8 Wolverines entered the annual Big Five Meet with a spotless 5-0 record in B1G play. The Big Five Meet had a twist this year with it also being an Elevate the Stage meet. The NCAA Championships take place on a raised floor podium so these meets were created last season to prepare NCAA gymnasts for what is to come in April.
Michigan (5-0) took on #22 Ohio State, Illinois, Rutgers and #14 Minnesota who was also 5-0 and tied for first in the B1G standings. If Michigan was to win the B1G Regular Season Championship, they had to win this meet.
The tone was set early with freshman superstar Natalie Wojcik scoring a perfect 10.0 on vault. FINALLY!!! She had been robbed all season long by the judges of 10s in various events. Fitting that she finally got her first tonight.
Bolstered by the 10.0, the Maize & Blue posted season highs on vault (49.350), bars (49.625) and beam (49.450) including EVERY SINGLE Wolverine scoring a 9.9+ on bars.
Michigan steamrolled the competition with an incredible 197.750 team score. The all-time program record is 197.850 back in 2000. The closest team in the standings was Minnesota with 196.700. That's a comfy margin.
Natalie Wojcik naturally won the all-around title with a 39.750 in addition to winning vault, bars and beam individual titles.
Michigan recorded wins over the following teams-
- 197.750-196.700 over #14 Minnesota
- 197.750-195.525 over Illinois
- 197.750-194.650 over Rutgers
- 197.750-194.194.600 over #22 Ohio State (lol)
Michigan is the outright B1G Regular Season Champion with a perfect 9-0 record in B1G play. That's the 3rd consecutive regular season crown and the 5th in program history. The B1G Regular Season Championship was first awarded in 2013 and Michigan has won 5 of the 7 ever given out.
Michigan is now 13-2 on the season and will return to non-conference action for the next 3 weeks before the B1G Championships on March 23. We'll head to Utah next Saturday for a 4pm meet.
February 23rd, 2019 at 10:14 PM ^
wow. that is seriously impressive and getting 10s is ridiculous. GO BLUE!
February 23rd, 2019 at 10:14 PM ^
Well damn. Go Blue.
February 23rd, 2019 at 10:22 PM ^
Hail to the Victors! Champions of the West!
February 23rd, 2019 at 10:36 PM ^
great write up, wd.
February 23rd, 2019 at 10:29 PM ^
Thanks for the great summary WD. Congrats on the championship ladies!
February 23rd, 2019 at 10:37 PM ^
Fire Warde for many distractions and "said things"!
February 23rd, 2019 at 10:53 PM ^
Congratulations! I can only imagine how much work they have to put in to achieve at such a high and consistent level.
February 23rd, 2019 at 11:13 PM ^
Congratulations ladies!!! Well deserved Big Ten Champs ?
February 23rd, 2019 at 11:25 PM ^
Noice!
Way to GoBlue!
February 23rd, 2019 at 11:37 PM ^
February 24th, 2019 at 12:55 AM ^
are you in the right thread?
February 24th, 2019 at 1:06 AM ^
LOL, Nope.
February 24th, 2019 at 5:24 AM ^
Thanks WD.
Go Lady Wolverines. Go Blue!