The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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AUGUST 2023 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 27 2022-23 YEAR IN REVIEW coach said. "We hit every handstand and stuck four or five out of six dismounts. That's the kind of performance that just puts everybody else on their heels out of the gate. That energy that you feel and the confidence coming off a start like that just carried us through the meet. It was an incredible amount of fun." Graduate student Abby Heiskell be- came the third athlete in program his- tory to win multiple Big Ten all-around titles, after also placing first in 2022. Her all-around title was highlighted by a perfect 10.0 on the beam (the fourth time a Wolverine has accomplished that feat in the event). Heiskell, senior Si- erra Brooks, junior Carly Bauman and graduate Natalie Wojcik all shared the uneven bars title with identical 9.950 scores. Senior Gabby Wilson, mean- while, came away with a share of the vault title with a 9.925. The Wolverines made the NCAAs for the 31st year in a row and finished first of four teams at the regional competi- tion in Denver March 31. Their 198.02 was the second-highest regional score in program history, and their 49.700 on the floor was a U-M best. Plocki's group was as close as it came to advancing to the NCAA semifinals, finishing tied with LSU for second at the regional finals (197.857). The Tigers had the edge in the tiebreaker, though, and joined regional champion Denver (197.875) in moving on. "I feel like, legitimately, we were a good enough team that with the per- formance we had we still should have advanced," Plocki said. "But we didn't, because we opened a crack in that door and circumstances didn't line up in our favor — and it was heartbreaking. But it's also a great lesson to be learned." Best believe her athletes will be using that loss, like they did the one to Michi- gan State earlier this past winter and the Big Ten Championships in 2021, as fuel. While the Wolverines fell short of their ultimate goal of competing for a national championship at the NCAA fi- nals, Plocki thinks fondly of the journey her team went on in 2023. "Winning is very important, and that obviously has a ton of value, but there are a lot of other things that have value," she stated. "For me, I still will look back at this as being a great season and a season in which I'm very proud of my student-athletes because of all the things we did during the year and how we worked together as a team and what our culture was like and all of the things that we did really well." ❏ Runners-Up There was stiff competition for Female Team of the Year honors in 2022-23, with a slew of women's programs reaching great heights. Here is a look at the next four best women's teams from the last year: 1. Tennis — For the second straight season, head coach Ronni Bernstein and Co. won the Big Ten Tournament title, beating 10th-ranked Ohio State, 4-2, in the final, marking the Wolverines' third win over the Buckeyes for the season. The Maize and Blue advanced past Youngstown State, Notre Dame and Virginia, clinching a spot in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals for just the second time in program history, before falling to Georgia. 2. Track And Field — The Wolverines won both the indoor and outdoor Big Ten track and field champi- onships for just the sixth time in program history. Big Ten Coach of the Year Kevin Sullivan saw his team place 14th at the NCAA Outdoor Championships — its highest team finish since 2009 — and sophomore Savannah Sutherland won the national title in the 400-meter hurdles. 3. Lacrosse — Michigan made its second consecutive and third-ever NCAA Tournament. There, the Wolverines fell to top-ranked Northwestern, 8-7, after leading for two of the four quarters. The domi- nant Wildcats went on to win the national championship game by 12 goals over Boston College. U-M beat three ranked opponents during the year. 4. Basketball — Head coach Kim Barnes Arico's crew was at less than full strength most of the season but still posted a 23-10 record. The Wolverines earned a bid to their 11th-ever NCAA Tournament (and fifth in the last six seasons), before falling to eventual national champion LSU. — Clayton Sayfie Five U-M gymnasts won or shared individual titles at the 2023 Big Ten Championships — (left to right) junior Carly Bauman (uneven bars), Sierra Brooks (uneven bars), grad student Abby Heiskell (all-around, beam, uneven bars), senior Gabby Wilson (vault) and grad student Natalie Wojcik (uneven bars). PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN ATHLETICS