By Nita Srivastava
Daily Sports Writer
The crowd at Cliff Keen Arena went wild yesterday as the Michigan women's gymnastics team set a record for the most points in a Michigan meet.
The Wolverines scored 197.3, defeating Nebraska (195.575) and Illinois State (189.8).
Michigan's point total was not the only record broken in the competition. Michigan freshman Sarah Cain finished with her all-time high and first-place finish of 39.825, tying Beth Wymer's record set in 1994.
The Wolverines dominated the competition, finishing first in three of the four apparatuses. Cain scored a perfect 10 on both the floor exercise and the balance beam, a significant improvement from her disappointing scores of 9.350 and 9.375 on the floor and the beam, respectively, against Ohio State last Thursday.
Cain's score on the beam was the first perfect score in Michigan history on the apparatus.
"I tried to concentrate and work a little bit harder," Cain said. "I just want to do whatever I can to help out the team."
Michigan fans roared when sophomore Nikki Peters shook her arms after sticking a solid landing on the uneven bars, scoring a perfect 10. It was her third such performance this season.
Peters said that the strong performance by sophomores Cain, Beth Amelkovich and Lisa Simes helped give her the confidence she needed to finish with a perfect score.
"It really helps when your team is on," Peters said. "We're getting back our consistency, and that's what we need."
Michigan coach Bev Plocki stresses focus and hard work in her gymnasts' routines.
"I try to get my kids not to pay attention to other teams, because it's a distraction," Plocki said. "The reason we're successful is because we didn't let down until the meet was over."
The vault was Michigan's downfall yesterday. Nebraska grabbed the top two places, and Peters and Simes tied for third place with a score of 9.90. In past competitions, the Wolverines have been more successful on the vault.
The poorer performances on vault had little effect on the Wolverines' overall score - they still managed to grab the top two spots in the all-around. Amelkovich finished second, helping the Wolverines capture the meet.
"I was really pleased with the way we performed this afternoon, especially in the all-around," Plocki said. "We just have to stay healthy and continue to take things one at a time, and we should do really well."