One perfect 10.0 score in gymnastics is impressive.
- Paul Wong
- Freshman Elise Ray scored a perfect 10 on the floor exercise<br><br>Ellie White/Daily
Two perfect 10.0 scores back-to-back to cap off a win, make for a special day.
With an impressive victory already well in hand, the Michigan women”s gymnastics team turned to Bridget Knaeble and Elise Ray to provide some fireworks on the floor exercise. The duo did not disappoint, finishing off the final event of the Wolverines” 197.225-190.850 rout of Southeast Missouri State in spectacular fashion.
“That just made the night complete,” Ray said. “I was so nervous having Bridget score her ten right before me. It”s very, very exciting for me.”
The consecutive flawless showings paced Michigan to a 49.600 total for the floor, matching the highest score ever recorded in team history.
Southeast Missouri State never stood a chance against No. 8 Michigan, as the Wolverines had nine performances that either set or matched individual career-highs. That complete effort allowed the Wolverines to post the top five scores in every event.
“It”s exciting that we finally put together four events,” Michigan coach Bev Plocki said. “The really exciting thing is that we still have room for improvement, even after today.”
Ray added event wins on the beam and bars posting a 9.900 and 9.925, respectively leading her to the individual all-around win with a 39.650.
Knaeble finished right behind her teammate in the all-around with a 39.525, the highest career all-around score for the senior tri-captain. Christine Michaud also achieved a career-high of 9.950 in the vault for the win.
Perhaps even more importantly for the team, the impressive win came one week after Michigan had let a victory slip away at Georgia.
“It was extremely important,” said Knaeble of bouncing back from the loss. “Our goal for today was to get higher than a 197.000 score, and we were able to accomplish that.”
As a team, the Wolverines were able to score a 49.075 on the event that has been their Achilles” heel this year the beam. The score matched their highest total of the year.
“Well, I made my routine for one thing,” said Ray of the difference between this week and last on the beam. “It was kind of nice to have a home meet because everything was just a little more comfortable.”
The event marked the first home meet for Michigan in a month, as it had been in the midst of a three-meet road swing.
“Our kids love competing at home and love the fans,” Plocki said. “To see them give us a standing ovation after the floor was awesome.”
Next up on the slate for Michigan is a meet at No. 3 Utah. The Wolverines are hoping to pull off a road win, and will head into the meet convinced that they still can get better.
“I think we”ve just got to try and keep improving,” Knaeble said. “We”ll just go after the little things.”
It still remains to be seen exactly what the team is capable of on the beam, as a set rotation has yet to develop on the event. In addition, the goal remains to add difficulty to several routines as Knaeble, Ray, and Calli Ryals have done in the past two weeks.
But, Knaeble and Ray set the standard that the Wolverines will try to reach for the rest of the year perfection.