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

Weekly Warm-Up: Brittnee Martinez

While you’re here, check out what the athletes have been up to in the gym along with an interview with Bev from Gymnastike.org:

Fall 2011: Beam

Fall 2011: Bars

Fall 2011: Vault

Bev Plocki: Gymnastike Interview

Summer Session with Coach Plocki

Also, a regular contributor on www.mgoblog.com did an analysis to determine the top-performing sports teams at Michigan. Guess which sport came out on top?

Top Performing Michigan Sports Teams

Details regarding the tailgate and how to purchase football tickets will be available in early August — be sure to check back for information.

Go Blue!

Can you believe the competitive season is over?  I know I can’t!  The season flew by and we wrapped it up by making NCAAs Super Six for the first time in about six years!  As a freshman, I must say it was quite an experience being on the floor at NCAAs!  I know I had a lot of fun being out there cheering everyone on, and I am sure the rest of the team can say the same. 

Now that Nationals are over we get a two week break from practices, which allows us a whole lot of time for studying for our upcoming finals.  After finals, some of us will be going home for spring term, while others will be staying here in Ann Arbor to take a class or two, and will be getting back into the gym to start up some new skills.  Many of us have been talking about the new skills we want to work on over the summer, and we are all really excited to upgrade our routines.  We are also really looking forward to work out with our incoming freshmen over the summer, and getting to know them really well before fall rolls around. 

I must say that even though we are going to have a really close team next year, I am going to miss our seniors a ton!  They have been the greatest leaders, and each of them has inspired me and the rest of the team in so many ways.  They have taught us underclassmen so much throughout the year, and I know we are going to remember everything they taught us so we can carry on the tradition of excellence together.  I wish them all the luck in their futures because they truly deserve it! 

Hope you all enjoyed watching our a-MAIZE-ing season!  Get ready for another awesome season next year!  GO BLUE!

Tori Kane

 P.S. Congrats to Kylee Botterman for winning the NCAA all-around!

Wow! Can you say Regional Champs!? That was one of the most exciting gymnastics meets I have ever been a part of! We worked so hard in practice the past couple of weeks to clean up routines, practice those stuck landings, and have confidence going into Regionals. All that hard work paid off and we came out with a win! I am so proud of each and every one of my teammates, and their performance at the meet! Also, thanks to all of our fans for coming to the meet and supporting us at Regionals at our home arena!

Now we are gearing up for Nationals in the gym, continuing to fine-tune every skill, and keeping the energy up in the next two weeks! We are so pumped for next weekend! We have a countdown on the mirror at the gym, and every time I look at it I cannot believe that Nationals is so close, and that my very first season is coming to the end. It went by soooo fast!! It feels like just yesterday that I was moving into my dorm room, anxiously waiting to see my locker, and to practice at our gorgeous gym. I am going to miss all of our amazing seniors next year! Every single one of them has had an impact on me in some way, of course all good things, and I am sure my teammates feel the same way!

As for us freshmen who have another three years here, we are so excited for the years to come! Jo, Tori, and I are going to be living in a house together next year, which will be a learning experience to say the least. Jo is going to teach me and Tori how to cook because she apparently knows how to cook, and Tor and me…not so much. We can make mac and cheese from the box, well I can…but Tor might burn down the house. We made a deal that Jo and I would do the cooking, and Tori would do the cleaning because she loves to clean, unlike me. Anyways, we cannot wait to move into our house, and get out of our “box” (meaning the dorms) that we live in now.

After Nationals, most of us head home the next week once all of our finals are done. Some people are taking spring classes, and others are taking summer classes so we will be back up here in the summer. Also, most of us will be here working Michigan Gymnastics Camp!! I will be working both weeks, and I think staying in the dorms both weeks!! So I can’t wait to see everyone at camp!

Again, thanks to all of our fans for coming to the meets all year and supporting us! We couldn’t do it without you! GO BLUE!

Kristin Nagle