Bluegrass next for Blue By Sarah Ensor Daily Sports Writer When the No. 3 Michigan women's gymnastics team takes the floor of Cliff Keen Arena tomorrow Friday, its toughest opponent may not be the foe listed on the schedule, but rather its own tradition of excellence. Although No. 17 Kentucky (1-1 overall) is a formidable opponent, Michigan's main objective for this weekend's meet is not to defeat the Wildcats, but to improve on its personal performance. To do so is a challenging task after last week's record-setting meet against Michigan State, when the Wolverines (2-0 Big Ten, 5-2 overall) scored a 196.750 and had seven gymnasts achieve career-highs. "We need to stay concentrated on our performances and improve on what we've been doing," Michigan coach Bev Plocki said. "We had a great meet against Michigan State, so it's a lot to ask to improve on those kinds of performances. But we do have room for improvement and the biggest thing that I am looking for is consistency. We want to continue hitting the routines the way we have been." The national rankings in women's college gymnastics are based on individual team performances rather than on wins and losses. The Wolverines already own the nation's highest single-meet score, but hope to bolster their season average and pick up a victory over Kentucky. "Every time we go out (on the floor) we're going out there to beat our score - our own score - from the previous weekend," senior captain Sarah Cain said. "There's no defensive strategy in gymnastics," Plocki said. "Regardless of who the opponent is, how highly ranked or not, we have to stay focused on what we have control over, which is our own performances - because that always has to be the key." This isn't to say that a meet against Kentucky is an automatic victory. The Wildcats compete in the talent-rich Southeastern Conference, and routinely face gymnastics powerhouses like No. 2 Alabama and No. 4 Georgia. "You can never take anyone for granted," Plocki said. "Kentucky is a respectable team and I expect them to come in here and (compete). "The other thing is, like any sport - Lloyd Carr says it, Brian Ellerbe says it - teams are at their best when they face Michigan, so we have to be on our toes and keep paying attention to what we're doing." The Wolverines' other goal for the weekend is to pack the stands at Cliff Keen Arena. Only 858 fans witnessed the meet against Michigan State, a statistic disappointing to the gymnasts and coaches alike. "I want people to come and check it out and see how much fun it is," Plocki said. "I want the students at the University of Michigan to find out that women's gymnastics is a really fun event. "They can get rowdy. I want them to be doing the 'Go Blue' cheers back and forth. I want them to have nicknames for my athletes. "Crowds at Georgia and Alabama and these kinds of places are eight-to-nine-to-10,000 people routinely. And there's a reason for that - gymnastics is great." Cain agreed. "It's our second home meet, and once again we're excited to be competing in front of the home audience," Cain said. "We're hoping for a bigger crowd this time, so anyone who wants to watch good gymnastics, come on out to Cliff Keen." Originally on page 11A in the 1-27-2000 issue of the Daily.