NCAAs or not, this season was a success

It would be entirely unjust to look down on the Michigan women's gymnastics team merely because its postseason was cut short during the NCAA preliminaries. Give them a break - the Wolverines failed to advance by the absolute narrowest of margins. Just .025 of a point.

But even if Michigan had finished dead last in preliminaries - instead of actually being the first team below the line that separated advancers to the Super 6 from spectators - Michigan's season would still be a true success.

Michigan finished the regular season ranked second in the nation and was ranked below only the eventual national champion - No.1 Georgia. Notably, Michigan did not coast through the season at No. 2. Instead, the Wolverines gradually climbed near th

JOHN KRAFT/Daily Heather Kabnick was a bright spot for the Wolverines this year, as part of a team that spent much of the season ranked in the nation's top five.

e top of the nation from a season-low ranking of 17 in late January.

During the Wolverines' 15-6 season (8-2 in the Big Ten), Michigan did a wonderful job satisfying the home crowd at Cliff Keen Arena. The Wolverines were bettered in just one home meet at the hands of Georgia, which consistantly dismantled every team it encountered en route to an undefeated season.

"Our home meets were the best," all-American freshman Bridget Knaeble said. "We always pulled it together in front of a home crowd."

The Wolverines were definitely at their best in Ann Arbor. In the domination of then-No. 6 Kentucky, 196.8 to 191.6, the Wolverines hoarded all but one individual award.

During the awards ceremony, which recognizes the top-four finishers in each event as well as the all-around, the Wildcats simply watched Wolverine after Wolverine step forward and acknowledge her achievement.

The Wolverines were also quite good at pulling themselves together after a poor opening event.

"It is a good attribute to be able to bounce back like we do," Knaeble said.

That is exactly what Michigan had to do at the Big Tens after its first event. Following a disastrous score of 47.675 on the beam, it was clear that the Wolverines would have to be near perfect for the remainder of the event if they had any hopes of a respectable finish.

The team came together in its next three events and finished the day with grace as all-American Nikki Peters scored a perfect 10 on the floor exercise.

Michigan averaged nearly a 49.1 in its last three events - good enough for a second-place finish at the conference tournament.

On the surface, the Wolverines' second-place finish at Big Tens appeared to be a disappointment, considering they were the reigning conference champions for the past six seasons.If Michigan had lost hope after their terrible beam performance, however, they would never have finished anywhere near second place.

Two weeks later, the Wolverines traveled south to Tuscaloosa, Ala., for the Central Regional Championships. Host Alabama, which finished third at NCAAs, was the only team to better the Wolverines, and Michigan's score of 196 was good enough to earn it a No. 5 seed at NCAAs.

Although nationals were an obvious disappointment, do not forget that Michigan did qualify - an accomplishment only 11 other teams in the nation can boast.

Surely, all of the teams whose seasons ended in either the conference or regional championships would agree - 'tis better to fare poorly at NCAAs than to not compete at all.

04-21-98