Nicole Artz- The Astonishing Freshman

It's been a stellar season for eighteen year old Nicole Artz, who graduated high school a year early to join the Michigan Wolverines this season. Despite her age, Nicole (Nico for short) has become some what of a superstar for the University of Michigan with her dependability and maturity leading the way- something that's rare for someone with so little experience. Nicole, who is the 2012 JO National Floor Champion, made her collegiate debut by taking home the balance beam title and 2nd on floor (behind the reigning national floor champion Joanna Sampson) in the first meet of the season. She went on to take home several more titles throughout the season, including two uneven bar titles; an event she wasn't even expected to be competing on this season! Nicole's strongest event is floor, where she opens with a sky-high piked full in and almost always scores over 9.9, but she's also rock solid on beam, which is a place where Michigan could use some high scores.

Halfway through the season Nicole began competing as an all around gymnast. She has scored 9.9 or higher on three of the four events this season, with floor being the highest (9.950). Most recently she won the all around title at the Regional Championships with a score of 39.325. Nicole was also named Big 10 Freshman of the Year, after winning the Big 10 Freshman of the Week title four times this season. Nicole's consistency week in and week out has played a big part in gaining the role of "all around gymnast" this year. It's impressive to note that she's hit 42 out of 43 routines this season- not to shabby for someone who is only a freshman!