Graduate gymnast Gabby Wilson stuck her landing on the floor, a smile growing on her face as applause broke out around her. When her score came in — a perfect 10.0 — the arena erupted in cheers.
It was a bright ending to an otherwise poor showing for the Michigan women’s gymnastics team. Wilson hadn’t had a stellar night overall, but despite various errors in her other routines, she finished the night strong. Wilson, however, was just about the only gymnast able to respond after making mistakes.
In a loss marred by shaky performances and falls, the Wolverines’ confidence dropped, and they never recovered it. Michigan’s confidence has been rocky this season and after a few up and down meets, the Wolverines had an opportunity against Michigan State to build some, but ultimately failed.
Poor starts have been an issue for Michigan. Although there were a few moments of confidence, early woes snowballed into insurmountable road blocks. Uncharacteristic falls, poor vaults, poor bars routines and a very poor beam showing led to Michigan’s demise against the Spartans on Sunday. If the Wolverines had recovered after their poor start and performed adequately on the beam, they would have been better positioned to win the meet. Michigan State only beat them by 0.425 points — a gap that could have likely been bridged if Michigan performed like its typical self on the beam.
The problems on the beam were present from the get go. Senior Jenna Mulligan, the leadoff gymnast for the Wolverines, was forced to jump off the beam and reset after erring in her performance. Michigan followed it up with one of its worst beam performances of the season, with multiple gymnasts nearly falling off the beam. The Wolverines typically rely on beam and floor to gain an edge, given their struggles on the vault and uneven bars. But they could not do that Sunday. If they had, Mulligan’s error might not have carried as much weight, as her score could have been dropped and nullified.
But instead, Michigan let it shake its confidence.
Wolverines coach Bev Plocki stressed that Michigan’s downfall wasn’t courtesy of any one gymnast falling. Instead, the issue was the Wolverines’ inability to respond.
“(Mulligan) has been such a rock for us on beam but it goes to show you how important that leadoff position is because she’s been so stellar that when she had a very uncharacteristic fall, I think everybody kind of got nervous after that,” Plocki said. “That’s not Jenna’s fault. That’s our fault. They have to be able to understand that no one else’s performance that comes before them should affect their ability to go up there and still perform.”
Wilson’s performance on the beam wasn’t stellar either, and she isn’t any stranger to falling. Her fall on bars last season was partly why the Wolverines struggled in the postseason. But she hasn’t let it get in her way, and that helped her remain focused. Sunday when she wobbled on the beam, she didn’t let it deter her, and finished her routine. And she didn’t let the error impact her next event, scoring a perfect 10.0 on her floor routine.
“We always finish strong, no matter what bumps we have along the way,” Wilson said. “We know how we want to feel after the meet’s done, and that’s that we finished strong and left it all out there on the floor.”
Michigan has gymnasts with confidence on its roster, and Wilson highlighted that on Sunday with her perfect 10.0 to end the night. But the Wolverines know all too well that a strong finish means nothing if they don’t respond fast enough to prevent a poor start from sinking them. They need to find the confidence again before their falls sink their season further.