Wolverines Win Big Ten Womens Gymnastics Championship
6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics
March 27, 1999
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The University of Michigan emerged as victors at the Big Ten Womens Gymnastics Championships on Saturday, March 27 in Jenison Field House. The championship came down to the final rotation with Penn State holding a slim 147.200-147.000 lead. The Wolverines Nikki Peters landed a perfect 10.000 on the bars which capped off a 49.300 team score on that event, the highest event total of the night. That score pushed Michigan to victory with a 196.300 total.
Penn State finished second at 195.550, followed by Ohio State at 194.625. Minnesota finished fourth (194.150), Illinois in fifth (193.800), Michigan State in sixth (191.600) and Iowa in seventh (136.825).
"I gave it my all for my teammates and it just turned out that it worked in my favor," said Big Ten uneven bars champion Nikki Peters. "I was excited."
The Wolverines nearly swept the events as Lisa Simes won the all-around with a 39.425, Christine Michaud tied for first on the vault (9.875), Peters won the uneven bars (10.000) and Sarah Cain (9.900), the floor exercise. Gina Wiechmann of Illinois and Lindsey Vagedes tied for top honors on the balance beam with a 9.875.
Michigan head coach Beverly Plocki was named co-Big Ten Coach of the Year. "I did not see it coming," said Plocki. "Its always an honor to be voted for that kind of an award by your peers; very flattering."
The Wolverines placed six gymnasts on the All-Big Ten team (Lisa Simes, Christine Michaud, Sarah-Elizabeth Langford, Sarah Cain, Nikki Peters and Bridget Knaeble), followed by Penn State (Missy Leopoldus, Gemma Cuff, Nikki Smith, Ellen Casey) and Ohio State (Lindsey Vagedes, Jill Tucker, Mary Beth Doerr, Elizabeth Jensen) with four, Minnesota (Judy Cavazos, Catie Christensen, Megan Beuckens) with three and Illinois with one (Gina Weichmann).
Michigan State, competing with only seven healthy gymnasts, still managed a very respectable 191.600 final score. Freshman Jane McIntosh had the Spartans' highest showing with a 9.800 on the balance beam to tie for seventh place. Sophomore Toni Duce set her career high in the all-around with a 38.600 to lead four MSU all-arounders while sophomore Lori Ruane set a career best with a 9.800 on the floor exercise. McIntosh competed in her first-ever collegiate all-around, scoring a 38.225. The Spartans hit their second-best floor score of the year with a 48.900.