The Wolverine

May 2013

The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports

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  big ten/NCAA championships: women's gymnastics "We are ecstatic," Martinez added. "We had so much fun out there. It's great to see so much hard work pay off. We just wanted to have fun — not forced fun — and just enjoy the experience. I think that type of thinking definitely helped us." Sampson, the 2013 Big Ten Gymnast of the Year, tied for third place in the all-around (39.200 points) in Morgantown, and also finished third in the same event at the conference championship meet (39.575 points). On March 23, the Maize and Blue posted their fourth-highest score in Big Ten Championships history — and highest since 2004 — with a 197.225-point outing to continue a dominating season. Zurales finished tied for first in the vault (9.950 points), good for the 78th individual conference title in school history, and both Martinez and senior Natalie Beilstein tied for second in the uneven bars with a 9.900 mark. Beilstein, Martinez, Sampson and Zurales each earned All‑Big Ten accolades. "It's something we talked about and concentrated on," Plocki said of the team's demeanor heading into the Big Ten Championships. "These last few weeks — this whole season, really — we've had great energy and great attitudes." With a record of 29-2, including 17-2 in conference action, Plocki's squad went undefeated in dual meets this season and finished outside of the top spot in meets against multiple opponents only twice in six tries, coming in second on both occasions. The Wolverines will be appearing at the NCAA Championships for the 19th time in the last 21 seasons, and they earned a regional crown for the second time in the last three years. Still, the season is far from over for the national title contenders, who are in search of another elite performance and appearance in the NCAA Super Six. To reach their ultimate goal, they have little room for error. "Everything happens for a reason," Martinez said. "We got back in the gym after last year and knew what we wanted. We knew what we were capable of. To make it, again, just shows that hard work does pay off." "I tell my team all of the time, you have to take care of process and let the outcome take care of itself," Plocki said. "What I am looking for from my team moving forward is that we it take one event at a time and one routine at a time. "I told them that we need to go in there focused on winning the event that we are on at that moment, then we will rotate to the next event. If we can go in there and win each event one at a time, we will move on to the Super Six and vie for a national championship. "Our last three meets of the year, we had a lot of really great highlights. We won a regional title and came in second in the Big Ten, but we have to dig a little bit deeper because we have to eliminate all of the little miscues if we want to get to the Super Six and compete for a national title." — Kevin Minor

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