The No. 15 Michigan women’s gymnastics team, with the help of Olympian Jordan Chiles, drew a crowd of 11,314 to Crisler Center Sunday afternoon and under the bright lights, the Wolverines’ mistakes were magnified.
Due to detrimental mistakes, Michigan (8-2 overall, 4-1 Big Ten) fell to No. 2 UCLA (9-2, 6-0), 197.550-196.850. Despite a strong start in the vault and uneven bars routines, an uncharacteristic performance on the balance beam cost the Wolverines the meet.
The goal was clear: to “light up Crisler.” And as an enormous crowd gathered to witness powerful Bruins star Jordan Chiles, who competed for Team USA in the 2024 Summer Olympics, lit up it was. Though hosting the Olympian was an intimidating feat, Michigan showed up with clean performances on the vault and uneven bars.
“I was so elated with how we came out,” Wolverines coach Bev Plocki said. “We keep talking about, ‘We’ve got to get better on vault and bars, we’ve got to get better on vault and bars,’ and we came out tonight and we got better on vault and bars and I was really excited about that.”
Thanks to freshmen Sophia Diaz and Jahzara Ranger and graduate Jenna Mulligan’s steady vault routines, Michigan trailed UCLA by just .250 at the end of the first round. In the next round, graduate Carly Bauman led the Wolverines, receiving a career-high 9.975 score on her uneven bars routine, sending the crowd into a roar of applause as her score was poasted.
Meanwhile, the Bruins were performing as any second-ranked team would: clean and consistent. Yet, during Chiles’ first routine of the meet, a collective gasp lifted from the crowd as she slipped from the bars, belly-flopping onto the mat. Having to resume her routine, Chiles finished and received a 9.150 for the unexpected mistake.
It seemed like there was a curse on the last spot of the lineup for both teams on the bars. First, Chiles fell, then freshman Audrey Sanger fell as well, free-falling to the mat on the Wolverines’ last routine. As the second round wrapped up, Michigan captured the lead, 98.650-98.575 posted on the screen.
The Wolverines are a young team and inexperience has been a big challenge to overcome this season. While the young gymnasts usually look to the veterans for guidance and support, the mistakes on the balance beam were produced by two upperclassmen. Sophomore Kayli Boozer and senior Jacey Vore both fell during their ordinarily reliable routines.
“Beam is that event that if you have any nerves, that’s the event it’s going to show up on,” Plocki said. “I’m not disappointed in my team, I’m disappointed for them that that happened.”
As Michigan underperformed on the beam, the spotlight was on UCLA for its floor events. A stand-out routine was done by the Bruins’ Brooklyn Moors, as her engaging first pass and clean finish earned her a 9.975 score. Finally, Chiles brought up the rear of the lineup for UCLA. Chiles’ energetic and powerful routine was awarded with a 9.975, but as the score was presented, thousands of fans booed the judges — in their eyes, Chiles deserved a perfect ten.
But with the combination of the Wolverines’ mistakes on the beam and the Bruins’ elevated floor routines, UCLA regained its lead. Going into the fourth and final round, the score was 148.125-147.450.
Michigan needed to look at round four as an opportunity to redeem itself for its failures on the balance beam in the previous round. Bauman and Ranger performed prominent routines but, overall, the whole event lacked the exceptionality the Wolverines needed to overcome their earlier mistakes.
On the contrary, UCLA was performing consistently. The team received an event total of 49.425 for its balance beam routines and with the conclusion of the meet, the Bruins bested Michigan 197.550-196.850.
“We should be like robots,” Plocki said. “And we’re not at that point yet where we’re controlling emotions enough to just be robotic and do the job. UCLA is a phenomenal team, (I) don’t take away from them, they’re great, but … I do not think that they’re out of our league.”
By crumbling on the beam routines, a typical highlight, the Wolverines failed to upset the No. 2 team in the nation. With an Olympian on the opposing team and inconsistencies producing mistakes, an upset is a hard thing to do, and Michigan couldn’t execute.
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