The Wolverine

June-July 2021

The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports

Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1371232

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 42 of 67

JUNE/JULY 2021 THE WOLVERINE 43 her side aerial, I could tell that her mind was right, and that things were going to be good," Plocki said. "You can tell pretty much right off the bat, when they do their first major skill. "I could just see it in her face — she was focused, confident and de- termined. At that point, I was just so darned excited. Obviously, I was still holding my breath, but I just wanted her to finish the routine and get off the beam. It couldn't happen fast enough. "Your heart skips a beat. The anxi- ety of the whole thing is incredible. The relief, after she landed that dis- mount, it's just this flood of emotion. It was just incredible." Heiskell's 9.9250 effort set off a blue wave of euphoria at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas, on April 17. Even then, there were anxious moments before full confirmation. Plocki did the math in her head. She knew the 9.9250 replaced an ear- lier 9.75 for the Wolverines, and also knew Oklahoma — who was tied with Michigan late in the competi- tion — wasn't likely to manage that sort of jump in its final event. "I was confident, and my first reac- tion when she dismounted was that I was so relieved," Plocki said. "I was so excited. I could feel the tears start to come, the happy tears. We were hugging. Those last few routines, what they had done — it was that emotion, aside from whether or not we had won." Make no mistake — winning re- mained at the top of the checklist. Hence a double-take and a light- ning bolt of near panic when Plocki glanced up and saw a scoreboard that included Okla- homa's final tally and not Michigan's. "When we looked up, Oklahoma had gone up to 198.1625," Plocki recalled. "We were still at a 198.075. It showed them above us, and for a split second you get that sick feeling in the pit of your stomach, like, wait a minute. Did we not win? "Then some of the girls were like, 'No, no, no! They haven't put in Ab- by's beam score yet!' That's when we were silent, everybody standing there, staring at the scoreboard, wait- ing for that last score. "First we saw Heiskell's score come up on the beam flasher. Then we looked up and waited a little bit longer, and it came up 198.25. That's when the jumping up and down came, with more tears. I was just so incredibly happy." The final tally, inscribed forever into U-M athletics lore: Michigan 198.2500, Oklahoma 198.1625, Utah 197.9875, Florida 197.1375. FIGHTING BIGGER BATTLES TO REACH THE TOP It's no small side note that Michi- gan's first women's gymnastics na- tional title comes amid a global pan- demic. Especially when one factors in an in-season lockdown to which other contenders for the title weren't subject. Plocki and her team — like every U-M squad — followed orders by Michigan officials to shut everything down. Put away the equipment. Don't even work out, due to CO- VID-19 fears. "I know every team in the coun- try had to endure COVID and the restrictions," Plocki acknowledged. "The state of Michigan and our ath- letic department, it seems like, were harder here. This always seemed like it was kind of a hotbed for COVID. We had that shutdown. "There were a couple of other teams in the country that maybe didn't get to compete in a competi- tion. But they weren't totally shut down and shut out of their gyms for two weeks in the middle of the sea- son. It was kind of that feeling that sometimes good things do come to people who really deserve them." This team, Plocki assured, de- served them. So m u c h w e n t i n t o the championship, beyond Heiskell's title-capping per- formance. The Wol- v e r i n e s f e a t u re d the three best all- around scores at the NCAA Cham- pionships in program history — sophomore Sierra Brooks' 39.7750, junior Natalie Wojcik's 39.7375 and Heiskell's 39.7250. The three underclassman All- Americans paced the scintillating surge to the crown. They, like all of Michigan's gym- nasts, made great sacrifices along the way. They were tested for COVID six days a week, gave up their social lives and committed fully to the cause. The reward couldn't be topped. "Everybody has always known Natalie Wojcik is just a rock star," Plocki assured. "Her consistency and her talent have just been amazing. And Sierra Brooks has been as well. "But Sierra even turned it up to an- other new level as we went into this postseason. Right along behind her comes Abby Heiskell. We've known Sierra and Natalie were capable and amazing, but all of a sudden Abby Heiskell comes onto the scene. "We put her in the floor lineup for the first time at our regional champi- onship, and her first time out on the floor, she scores a 9.95. The second night, she scored a 9.9. The escalation of how much better she got from the beginning to the end of our season — in addition to how well those other U-M women's gymnastics head coach Bev Plocki "I just am so humbled and in awe of this team and what they did."

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of The Wolverine - June-July 2021