Contending for the triple crown

his weekend, Michigan senior Nikki Peters will have the opportunity to attain the individual Triple Crown on the uneven bars when the Wolverines travel to Salt Lake City to compete in the NCAA Championships.

The Triple Crown is the moniker given to a team or individual who wins the conference, NCAA Regional and NCAA titles.

In addition to Peters, the entire team also has the same opportunity - they've already locked up the Big Ten and regional titles, too.

JEREMY MENCHIK/ DAILY Already on her way to one of the most impressive seasons in MIchigan women's gymnastics history, next weekend Nikki Peters will try to accomplish something few gymasts have ever done - notch a triple crown.

As rewarding as it would be to win the uneven bars championship, Peters doesn't seem at all concerned about achieving individual accolades. Her true hopes lie with her team, and its quest to win a national championship.

"To finally show that the women's teams are fighting just as hard as the men's teams are would be a great accomplishment," Peters said. "It might be one of the greatest feelings in the world."

And that's saying a lot, considering Peters has had many great feelings in her life. She has received nine perfect 10's in all four events throughout her career - most recently on the uneven bars at the Big Ten Championships.

But Peters has to look back four years to remember her first true Michigan memory.

Michigan coach Bev Plocki traveled to visit Peters in her hometown of Willingboro, N.J. to offer her Michigan's last gymnastics scholarship for 1996. Peters' ensuing 48-hour visit to Ann Arbor to meet the team and observe the facilities is what locked up the decision for Peters. Originally, the Willingboro High School standout was recruited to Oregon State, but opted to stay closer to home, and be part of the Michigan tradition - and family.

This family affair is what really inspired Peters to make Ann Arbor her home for more than four years.

"I like being part of a team. In club (gymnastics) I traveled by myself," Peters said. "Everyone here is treated with respect and as a member of the family."

Peters has competed in club gymnastics ever the age of five. It was actually her club coach who got Nikki the opportunity to compete at Michigan.

"It was an out-of-the-blue kind of thing," Peters said. "My coach knew that Bev had another scholarship. She got a hold of her."

And it was a match made in heaven.

This gave Peters the opportunity to compete in one of the best programs, and for one of the best coaches, in the country.

In addition, Peters has managed to take advantage of the academics that a top-ranked academic school like Michigan has to offer.

In 1996 she received the University's athletic academic achievement award.

Currently, Peters is enrolled in the Division of Kinesiology and will walk in this spring's graduation commencement ceremony at Michigan Stadium.

From there, she hopes to earn a spot in a veterinary school, for which she is currently filling out applications.

During her four years as a Michigan gymnast, Peters has compiled a list of accolades as long as any other top gymnast in the country.

And with only one meet remaining in her illustrious career, she is keeping remarkably calm, under the circumstances.

"I'm not nervous," Peters said on Sunday afternoon as she relaxed in a local coffee shop. "Come Thursday morning, I will be though."

On that day, Michigan will begin day one of a two-day competition that will hopefully earn the women their first National Championship and consequently their first Triple Crown ever.

But in order to make that happen, Peters and the rest of her team will have to deal with what will perhaps be the most pressure they have faced all season, if not ever.

When asked how she is going to deal with an amount of anxiety that could bring the strongest to their knees, Peters reverts back to what Plocki has routinely instructed her to do through out her career.

"We try to minimize the pressure. We have to perform within ourselves," Peters said. "The pressure comes from you."

And will the thousands of fans that are going to be cheering out of their minds for the other 11 teams at this year's competition play a role in the anxiety?

"That's the fun part. It wouldn't be a meet without the fans," she said.

And there wouldn't be any fans if it weren't for the joy and amazement brought to them by athletes like Nikki Peters.

04-20-99