As Annette said in her team talk, we are all very pleased with how our season ended. It was great having everybody in the gym for support while Katie and I still worked out before Nationals in Georgia. Katie and I had a lot of fun in Georgia. It was kind of nice to get to spend a little more one-on-one time with the coaches. I think we bonded really well. As for the competition, Katie looked great! She came in 8th for the All-Around, and made Second-team on vault! I was also there to do vault, and I’m happy with my closure to the season. Of course we wish that our team could have been there with us, but it was great that Katie and I had each other at the meet. 

This past week we have all been finishing up with finals and taking a little break from the gym, so our bodies are feeling better. After finals, most of the team is going home for a week to spend with their families before spring classes begin. Just about everybody will be in town for summer term. We’re so excited to have our new freshmen joining us soon! I’ve talked to them and they seem pretty excited as well. We are all already anxious for next season. I really think it will be an amazing year. 

It was also nice to see Natalie and Kristin start swinging some strap bar! They’re getting so anxious to be able to do gymnastics again. Hopefully they’ll be able to start doing some bars soon!

In our time out of the gym, air conditioning is being installed! We are so excited for this since it gets really hot some days in the summer. It’ll also be very enjoyable for anybody that is attending the Kids Camp at the end of June. 

Thanks so much for all of your support this season. It means so much to us to have such great fans. I hope everyone enjoys their summer. See you all next year!

As always, GO BLUE!!!

Joanna

Wow. This has been quite a season!

Although we are sad our season came to an end a couple of weeks ago and we wish our entire team could be going to nationals, we are more than excited to have Katie and Joanna going to Georgia this weekend and representing the block M!

Our whole team has been in the gym since regionals, some working on new skills already, but more importantly supporting Katie and Joanna. They have been focusing on the small details, and going for every stuck landing and hit handstand. They are looking confident and ready to go! We will all be watching them from home and sending them all of our positive energy just as we would if we were there with them!

Thank you for all of your support this season. It means more to us than anything and we wouldn’t have gotten as far as we did without all of you
believing in us! Go Blue, baby!

Annette

What a journey it has been this season. It is sad that after this past weekend, the season came to an end. Thankfully we have Katie doing the All-Around and Jo on Vault to represent Michigan! We all feel like we deserve to be out there on that podium! Regionals at Auburn was such a great experience. The two weeks we had before leaving for Alabama, all 11 of us really pushed ourselves in the gym. We wanted to make sure we were working harder than we’ve ever worked so we could qualify to Nationals. Unfortunately we did not qualify as a team, but we certainly have a lot of things to be proud of! So many people really stepped it up this year.

We were so excited Saturday night and had a lot of energy. We were ready to go! Starting off on vault was a lot of fun and we had three sticks in that rotation! Katie and Jo nailed their vaults capturing that Regional title, and I finally competed a pike 1/2 again and was able to help out the team total! Moving to bars, we still had that adrenaline and were ready to hit. It was awesome having Britt come back and compete a bar routine for us and stick that dismount cold! Shelbs closed up the bar rotation with such a solid routine. Moving on to beam we didn’t have as good a rotation as we have been practicing but Shelbs opened up the beam rotation with such a solid set! It was an awesome start. We didn’t have to count any falls, but we had a few bobbles. The race was close between Oregon State and us, so we knew we needed a killer floor rotation to seal the deal! I feel like we all had SO much fun competing on floor. Annette put together a three-pass routine for us which was really exciting as well! 

Our parents and fans were amazing and kept firing us up. We all hit great sets but fell just a little bit short to OSU. I’m not going to lie, it is a heartbreaking experience but like I said, we have no regrets and are so proud of one another. We left it all out on the floor and had such a good time competing with each other. We had a few goals- to hit 24 for 24, have FUN, and compete with aggressively. We did just that! We didn’t have the storybook ending we hoped for, but we’re holding our heads high because that’s what champions do. Next year we’ll be coming back with vengeance and continue to make you proud! 

On behalf of my team and I we would really like to thank all of our fans for all of their support! It really means the world to us! With such a difficult season, your motivation has helped us so much! As for now we still need you all to follow Katie and Jo on the road to Nationals, for they will be ‘”eppin’ the Block M” with pride! 

Love you all!

Always, Go Blue!

Reema

It was so great to see all of you who joined us in Cliff Keen Arena on Friday night. The building was packed and all your voices and energy definitely helped us have a great meet. We were able to put up our second highest score of the season, which feels great going into Big Tens this weekend. It was so great to see our freshmen share third place in the All-Around, with Joanna and Katie tying for first. Nothing like taking over that awards podium! 

Now that Big Tens is coming up, all of us girls are so excited. We cannot believe how fast the season has gone by. Hit handstands and stuck landings will be our main focus this week, which is what it will take to capture that Big Ten Title! Our little team has done nothing but improved throughout pre-season and we still have so much more to show.

For those of you who are unaware, Big Tens will be a little different this year. Instead of all teams competing in one session, for the first time the championships will be split into two sessions, with the four Big Ten teams with the lowest RQS competing at 2 p.m., while the higher four teams compete at 7 p.m.. Both sessions will be televised live by the Big Ten Network. Former NCAA All-Around Champion Kylee Botterman, will once again be the commentator for the meet. Your Wolverines will be one of the four teams competing at 2 p.m., so tune in and watch!

 Iowa, here we come! GO BLUE! 

Brittnee

Meet Re-Cap: WVU @ Michigan

I can’t believe season is here!  We’ve worked so hard this Fall, and it is exciting to finally start competing again.  Thank you for all of your support this past weekend at our first meet against Ohio State.  I think this was one of the most gratifying first meets for us, as several people stepped up to contribute on new events.  From my own class, it was great to see Britt healthy again and competing vault and beam and to watch Natalie hit an upgraded routine on bars.  As for me, it was fun to be able to compete all-around for the first time in college and to be able to help my team to the win.  Our sophomores put on a great performance, as always, highlighted by Kristin’s first exhibition on floor and Joanna’s 9.9 vault.  The freshmen were outstanding as well, with both Annette and Sachi hitting their routines.

This weekend, we head to Minnesota for our first away meet.  We’re working hard in the gym to build more confidence on beam and to perfect landings on vault and bars.  The team is very excited for this meet since several alumni will be in the stands watching – Jackie and Kelsey both attend law school at Minnesota, and Trish and Jordan will hopefully be there, too, so it will be really fun to see all of them!  The team is eager to improve upon our performance from last week and to take on another Big Ten rival.  If you can’t make the meet, be sure to tune in to the live online feed from home! 

As always, GO BLUE! 

Katie

As an added bonus, former Michigan gymnast and NCAA All-Around Champion, Kylee Botterman, will be the night’s emcee.

Additional details about the meet can be found on www.mgoblue.com or by clicking on the link below:

Intrasquad Meet

Don’t forget to check out this week’s Weekly Warm-Up where Coach Welker talks about the upcoming Intrasquad meet:

Weekly Warm-Up #10: Shannon Welker

Weekly Warm-Up #9: Annette Miele

Weeky Warm-Up #8: Reema Zakharia

And, while you’re here, be sure to check out some recent interviews with Brittnee Martinez and our 2012 commits.

Gymnastike Interview: Brittnee Martinez

Gymnastike Interview: Annette Miele

2012 Commit Morgan Smith

2012 Commit Austin Sheppard

Weekly Warm-Up #7: Teresa Arthur

UM Gymnastics: Favorite Athlete & iPod Music

Gymnastike Interview with Katie Zurales

Maize & Blues Signs Smith, Sheppard for 2013 Season

Coach Plocki Interview

Coach Sherman was also the latest member of the UM Gymnastics program to be in the hot seat. See what he hast to say about the upcoming season here:

Weekly Warm-Up #6: Coach Sherman