Women's gymnastics takes fourth in nation at NCAAs

JOHN KRAFT/Daily Junior Heather Kabnick performs the floor exercise at a match on April 4. Kabnick was one of the nation's top performers on the floor exercise, and received two perfect 10s this season.

You cross your fingers the entire year hoping your team will peak at just the right moment -- when everything is on the line.

But for the 1997 Michigan women's gymnastics team and its coach Bev Plocki, the climax happened a little too soon, and the Wolverines finished fourth at the NCAA championships.

Michigan came on strong in the spring after a sluggish start that dropped its national ranking as low as No. 11. Yet by the end of the regular season, Plocki's squad had assembled a 15-5 record and a ranking in the nation's top three.

Five performers attained very solid scores week after week, and one of them -- freshman Sarah Cain -- was already establishing herself as one of the nation's finest gymnasts.

Cain captured unanimous Big Ten freshman of the year honors and Big Ten gymnast of the year, as the Wolverines won their sixth straight Big Ten title in Minneapolis.

Junior Heather Kabnick and sophomores Lisa Simes, Nikki Peters and Beth Amelkovich rounded out the core of Plocki's squad.

Kabnick was among the nation's elite all season in the floor exercise, recording two perfect 10s during the season. Peters held the title as the country's top performer on the uneven bars, recording four perfect scores.

But Michigan would wait to strut its stuff inside the big house -- Ann Arbor's Crisler Arena.

In the season's highlight, the Wolverines hosted the central regional competition and knocked off regional powerhouse Alabama, scoring a school record all-around score of 197.7 in the process.

"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."

Despite Alabama's reputation as one of the nation's premier women's gymnastics teams, the regional championship was never even close. Michigan beat the Tide by 1.45 points.

And a dismal performance by Georgia -- easily the best team of 1997 -- at the southeast regional competition the same evening left the door open for any team to come in and snatch away the NCAA title. Michigan was now in the hunt for its first-ever NCAA title, and entered the season's final showdown as the No. 1 seed.

The Georgia Bulldogs faltered again at the NCAA championship -- but no Wolverines stood on the very top of the awards podium in Gainesville, Fla. Michigan peaked two weeks too early to claim the crown.

Despite falling to UCLA, which was also seeking its first national championship, the Wolverines made a close run.

Michigan was running neck and neck with UCLA going into the last event, when the Wolverines finished with a sub-par 48.875 on the floor exercise, winding up fourth overall. Still, the lower finish did little to diminish Michigan's accomplishments this year and its ability to compete with the nation's best.

"I'm extremely pleased with the way the kids have done the whole weekend," Plocki said. "If you talked to any coach, they would all tell you that the pairing of the teams and the closeness of the competition was unlike any other Super Six championship we've ever had before. The difference between (Michigan and Georgia) was one-tenth of a point. A one-tenth deduction is a shoulder shrug.

"Our team did an absolutely outstanding job and I'm very pleased with their performance," Plocki continued. "I'm just proud to say that we were on the podium, and we've been on the podium three out of the last four years. And I think that's quite an accomplishment."

Although Michigan fell short of its first national championship, the Wolverines will get plenty more shots at the ultimate prize.

The Michigan team is still very young and its strength lies in its youth. Cain -- probably the best performer all year -- will get three more shots at an NCAA title.

"Eighty-five percent of our team or better are freshmen or sophomores," Plocki said. "We've got a great group of freshmen coming in next year. I think that the next three years are going to be stellar years for Michigan, as long as we can stay healthy."

09-03-97