All season long, youth has been a key part of the identity of the No. 15 Michigan women’s gymnastics team. With four freshmen consistently in their rotation, not many programs across the country utilize freshmen like the Wolverines do in all four phases of competition.
And in front of a packed Crisler Center on Sunday, facing its tallest task of the season against No. 2 UCLA, Michigan’s freshman class excelled with a plethora of career-high scores in every event.
Michigan started on the vault, an event where it has occasionally struggled throughout the season. However, the Wolverines set a team-high vault score for this season — highlighted by three key freshman scores. First, Peyton Davis set the tone, setting her career-high score of 9.825. Jahzara Ranger then followed suit, matching her career best with a excellent 9.850 score. Finally, Sophia Diaz rounded out the trio scoring 9.850, above her season average of 9.815 in the event. Michigan hopes to use this showing as a building block for what it can potentially achieve on vault this season.
“We just have to keep trying to get better,” Wolverines coach Bev Plocki said. “This was another step on the way to being where I know we have the capability of being.”
On bars, although freshman Audrey Sanger suffered a fall, her fellow freshmen made up for it. Sophie Parenti tied her career high with a 9.825, and Diaz also notched a career-best 9.900, where she successfully stuck a difficult landing that erupted the crowd. These rookies’ improved scores provided Michigan with a boost in depth — a necessary quality for success in women’s gymnastics. The impressive total across the board helped give the Wolverines a 98.650-98.575 lead over the Bruins after the first two rotations.
The meet fell out of reach for Michigan on the beam, its strongest event of the season before Sunday. However, it was not at the fault of the two freshmen competing, as Parenti and Ranger attained scores of 9.825 and 9.875, respectively. While the Wolverines had two falls from veterans, the freshmen proved they could stay composed and contribute clutch scores under immense pressure.
“I use a lot of self-talk,” Ranger said. “If you ever watch me, I’m usually eyes closed, feeling the music, just trying to stay in everything and block out all the craziness of the environment.”
To close out the meet, four more great freshman performances led to an above-average team floor score of 49.400. Parenti, Davis and Diaz all recorded scores over 9.800, and continuing her career night and closing strong for the freshman, Ranger contributed a near-flawless routine, achieving a 9.900.
A huge part of improving as a freshman is adjusting to the next level, especially in a high-quality conference like the Big Ten. With their performance against UCLA in a high-pressure atmosphere, the freshmen showed they’ve made the necessary improvements to compete at the highest level.
“In the beginning, I was just trying to get used to the environment of competing in college because it’s really different than club,” Parenti said. “With each meet, I focus on more details.”
Of the 12 total freshman routines across the four different events, 11 of them performed above their season-long averages. The growth that this young group has shown — especially in a gigantic test against the Bruins — should give Michigan a reason to get excited about the future of the program and for the rest of this season.
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