We are the champions, my friend - and we'll keep on fighting till the end.
Those magnificent words of Queen were finally heard over the loud speaker late Saturday evening in Crisler Arena after the Michigan women's gymnastics team rocked the Central Regional championships en route to an overwhelming 197.7-196.25 victory over second-place Alabama.
Saturday marked the end of an era of the Crimson Tide's domination in the Central Region as Michigan stopped Alabama's streak of 10 consecutive regional championships.
"The regional title is something that has eluded us for a number of years," Michigan coach Bev Plocki said. "It's something that we've waited a long time for, but we knew we had a great opportunity to do it this year."
After showing their poker face all season, the Wolverines finally played their ace Saturday, recording the highest all-around score in school history.
Michigan dominated from the beginning, scoring a 49.55 on the vault after opening with a first-round bye. Alabama faltered on its first event, the uneven bars, with a 48.525.
Michigan sophomore Lisa Simes and freshman Sarah Cain recorded stellar vault scores - as usual - with a 9.95 and a 9.925, respectively. Simes tied with Louisiana State's Stephanie Hyett for the vault title.
But Michigan also received a couple of last-second, dark-horse performances. When sophomore Nikki Peters, an integral part of the Wolverines, went down with two sprained ankles last week, a gaping hole was left. Called on to plug up that hole were freshman Sarah-Elizabeth Langford, senior Andrea McDonald and sophomores Kristin Duff and Kathy Burke. Each responded well to Michigan's distress call. Langford and McDonald recorded vault scores of 9.775 and 9.875, respectively.
On the uneven bars, the story was similar and the smiles were the same. Filling in for Peters, Duff pulled through with a solid 9.875 on the bars, allowing the regulars to work their wonders.
Cain proved once again why she was voted Big Ten gymnast of the year two weeks ago, bouncing back to capture the bars title with a 9.975.
Meanwhile, Alabama was digging itself a hole. Competing next on the balance beam, the Tide recorded a less-than-superb 49.025, despite senior Meredith Willard's title-winning beam score of 9.925.
Halfway through Saturday's competition, the Wolverines found themselves sitting pretty, with a large 1.1-point lead over LSU and a surprising 1.45-margin ahead of Alabama.
"I thought that was about the way things might end up," Alabama coach Sarah Patterson said. "The underlying story for us in this meet was that we started on the two pressure events, bars and beam. We were a little tentative and had a few problems."
Despite Michigan's big lead, the biggest test was yet to come. The Wolverines had to sit through a bye round before opening their third set on the balance beam, which has often been Michigan's toughest event this season.
"All we talked about was relaxing and doing what we do every day," Plocki said. "It's great to have a bye before the beam because vault and bars are events that you get really pumped up for and sometimes you're adrenaline level can be too high going into the beam. So it's good to have a bye to take a step back and bring it down a little bit so that you can re-focus on the balance beam."
The Wolverines were relaxed on the beam, picking up right where they left off before the bathroom break. Michigan received its sixth solid bench performance of the evening, with a 9.8 from Burke.
"It's a key position to be the leadoff person on balance beam," Plocki said. "And Kathy does that so well because she can just go up there and be rock-solid."
Michigan's ride through the beam wasn't exactly smooth, but it was adequate enough to sustain the lead. Cain proved she was human, recording two breaks on her beam routine, eventually tallying an 8.85.
"I was disappointed because I fell," Cain said. "But the five people before me hit and had solid scores. So overall the team did well."
Michigan still led LSU and Alabama by 1.025 and 1.125, respectively, heading into the evening's final apparatus. With a full-one point lead, the only thing left to be determined was the all-around title.
Alabama's Willard led Michigan's Heather Kabnick by 0.0725, as the Wolverine prepared for her strongest event. But the home team was a gracious host, letting Alabama walk away from the evening with at least one prize.
Willard recorded a 9.9 on the vault - enough to secure her all-around title. Kabnick, who has recorded two tens on the floor during the regular season had a shot at stealing the title, but her 9.925 fell just short.
She'll get another shot at Willard in two weeks, however, at the NCAA Championships in Gainesville, Fla.
But next time, Kabnick, a native of Florida, will have Willard in her own back yard.
JOHN KRAFT/Daily
Senior Andrea McDonald scored an impressive 9.875 on the beam - just third best among the Wolverines.