Michigan women’s gymnastics wins first national title thanks to clutch performance
In true NCAA fashion, Saturday’s final battle for the 2021 NCAA Women’s Gymnastics team title came down to the very. last. routine.
Florida was out of contention, trailing by a point heading into the final rotation. Utah was close but couldn’t pull off the scores on vault. With Michigan on beam and Oklahoma on floor, the other two teams finished early and looked on as the Wolverines fought for every tenth (literally) on beam and Oklahoma went lights out on floor.
With one gymnast left to compete for each team, the score was tied: 198.0750-198.0750.
Oklahoma’s Oliva Trautman anchored floor for the Sooners and let her trademark opening double layout do the talking. A 9.9375 put the defending national champs up 198.1625-198.0750. Michigan beam anchor Abby Heiskell would need to deliver a 9.850 or better to win.
She did better.
Under a kind of pressure only a handful of gymnasts before her would understand (think UCLA’s Peng-Peng Lee in 2018), Heiskell signed on the dotted line as a crowd of 2,267 served as witnesses in Fort Worth’s Dickies Arena. Hit. Fight. Stick. The winning mark? A 9.9250.
Michigan made history with a program-best 198.2500 to clinch its first-ever national title.
Oklahoma finished second with a 198.1625 – the fourth-highest score in a NCAA finals competition in program history. Utah took third with a season-high and program best at NCAAs with a 197.9875. Florida rounded out the final four with a 197.1375.
Michigan started its night on floor, posting a huge 49.6250 team score on the event. All but one of the team’s six routines went 9.9+. Junior Natalie Wojcik led the Wolverines with her balletic set to earn a 9.950. Gabby Wilson earned the next highest score with a 9.9375, and Heiskell, Nicoletta Koulos, and Sierra Brooks rounded out the counted scores with three 9.9125s. Brooks’ opening full-twisting double back was a highlight of the first rotation.
The only team to perform six 10.0 starts on vault, the Wolverines topped their opening rotation score with a 49.6500 in the second. Heiskell and Brooks both led the rotation with near-perfect 9.975s for their Yurchenko one-and-a-halfs.
In the final two rotations, the eventual national champions posted a pair of 49.4875s. On bars, three scores of 9.9+ kept the Wolverines in the lead heading into the final rotation. After falling on her signature Deltchev release during semifinals, Wojcik hitting her bars set boosted the team’s momentum as it went to beam.
Three lower opening scores left the door open for the Sooners, but the latter half of the Wolverine’s beam team sealed the deal. Brooks (9.9625), Wojcik (9.9875), and ultimately, Heiskell (9.9250) shut the door on Oklahoma and Utah, despite valiant efforts from both.
Of note: Three of Michigan’s all-arounders for the day – Brooks, Wojcik, and Heiskell – went 39.7750, 39.7375, and 39.7250, respectively.
There’s always the “what ifs?” that plague the runner-ups at these meets, but on Saturday, Michigan was just a little bit better, a little more well-rounded, than Oklahoma.
The Sooners started on vault, posting big scores for Allie Stern (9.950) and Olivia Trautman’s (9.96250) Yurchenko one-and-halfs. Evy Schoepfer found the landing on her unique tucked one-and-half to earn a 9.9375.
Ragan Smith earned her redemption on bars (9.8750) after falling off the apparatus during semifinals Friday, and 2021 NCAA all-around champion Anastasia Webb continued her dominance on the event, posting a 9.9375 for her world-class set that included a sky-high Pak salto and a stuck double front half-out dismount.
Oklahoma avoided a catastrophe on beam after Jenna Dunn fell in the lead-off position. The team rallied over the next five routines and, ultimately, didn’t have to count a fall.
The Utes were led by sophomore Maile O’Keefe, who posted a 9.9375 on bars, a 9.9875 on beam, and a 9.9250 on floor. Vault and floor specialist Jaedyn Rucker had a standout day on her specialty events, scoring a 9.9875 and 9.9250, respectively, on the events.
Utah’s beam team put up the highest rotation score of the meet with a 49.7000, with all five contributing scores going 9.9+.
Regular season No. 1 Florida started its night having to count a fall on beam and never fully recovered from the hit to its momentum, despite an impressive effort.
Payton Richards fell on her opening flight series, and after three hits, Thomas couldn’t hang on to her series either, resulting in the Gators having to count a fall. The team’s 48.7625 tally on the event would end up being the lowest rotation score of the entire meet.
It wasn’t all doom and gloom for the fourth-place finisher, though. After her fall, Thomas hit three 9.9+ routines, including a 9.950 on floor, tying teammate Nya Reed’s performance. And senior Alyssa Baumann earned a 9.9250 for what could’ve been the final beam routine of her gymnastics career.
Two years after the last NCAA champions were crowned, this weekend’s championships were a fitting end to an uncertain year and season.
Having gymnastics ripped from our hands by the COVID-19 pandemic was painful, but the return of the sport has undoubtedly sown a seed of appreciation in the hearts of athletes, coaches, and fans for the spirit and camaraderie that NCAA gymnastics represents.
It isn’t the sport of gymnastics that makes competing in the NCAA special. It’s the feeling of bubbling joy after hitting a difficult skill. It’s dancing with teammates (and adopted teammates) whenever the mood strikes. It’s supporting one another whether we’re staying home or trying to stay on the beam.
What makes NCAA gymnastics special is the people. The women (and men) and all who cheer them, watching in awe as they truly defy gravity.
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