Michigan Intrasquad Highlights

The University of Michigan opened up the 2014 season with an intrasquad vs. Central Michigan in Crisler Arena on December 8th. The team scored an impressive 196.550 (beating Central Michigan by over 3 points!) and counted no falls during the meet. Every gymnast did their job for the Wolverines with the lowest score being a 9.750! One of the favorites that did not compete on Sunday was sophomore Briley Casanova, who is recovering from a concussion. She will be hoping to make her way into the lineups once the season officially gets underway. Overall, I was very impressed with the entire team and I think this is going to be a strong season for Michigan. The teams end goal is to make the Super 6 and place in the top 3.

I have a few videos from the intrasquad posted on YouTube but unfortunately my camera started acting up and I was only able to record vault and a few bar routines. Luckily the live stream was archived so if you missed it, you can watch the full meet (here). It's great quality!

As expected, the senior captain Joanna Sampson delivered on all four events; scoring a 9.9 or above on three of the four events. At the start of the meet she stuck her yurchenko full for a 9.925. There wasn't very much to deduct from and I think that vault easily could have scored a 10 had it been later in the season. The Michigan mens team who was in attendance seemed to agree and they let the judges know it by chanting for a 10 until her score was flashed! On the bars she debuted her new release (toe on tkatchev) and nailed the landing on her double layout dismount for a solid 9.9. On beam she was a little shaky and it showed in her score. (9.750) Joanna closed out her competition on the floor, where she is the reigning National Champion. After nailing all three passes (double layout, front full- punch front, and double pike) she scored a 9.9 and finished the meet with a 39.475, proving yet again that she's going to be one to watch this season. Read our recent interview with Joanna (here).

Joanna Sampson

In addition to Joanna, Austin Sheppard was the only other gymnast from Michigan to compete on all four events. (Her beam was an exhibition though, so she technically didn't rank in the all around.) She anchored the vault lineup where she was awarded a 9.825 for her powerful and clean yurchenko full. Austin is awesome on vault and I'm really hoping we will see some sticks from her this season because she has the potential to bring in a huge number. Austin also competed on bars, beam, and floor for the first time ever; showing incredible skills like a piked tkatchev on bars, a back handspring layout to two feet on beam, and a full in on floor. Austin finished with a 39.075 which is not too bad for her first time competing on all four events.

Austin Sheppard

This year Michigan will have to fill 3 missing spots in the lineups. Katie Zurales (AA) and Brittnee Martinez (UB, BB) both graduated last year and senior Stephanie Colbert (VT, FX) was forced to retire due to injury. This is where the freshman duo is expected to step in. Nicole Artz  looked fantastic at the intrasquad. She exhibitioned on bars and competed in the lineup on beam and floor. She looked pretty nervous to me, but handled the pressure well and hit all her routines. On floor she opens with a gorgeous piked full in and typically has pretty solid landings on this event. I'm sure we'll be seeing Nicole in the floor and beam line ups throughout the season!

Nicole Artz

The Canadian freshman Talia Chiarelli was also very impressive for her first time competing in Crisler Arena. She competed on vault, beam, and floor (vault and floor were just an exhibition.) and made it through without any major mistakes. Her yurchenko full on vault only had a small step back and her beam routine was rock solid. Her score of 9.8 was the highest score on beam all evening! Even in the practices, Talia seems like she is very confident on beam and can bring in some big numbers. On floor she struggled with her arabian double front in warm ups, but managed to land it during the meet. According to coach Bev Plocki she rolled her ankle earlier at the start of the training season, but she is expected to be 100% ready to go when the time comes.  Overall she did a great job last weekend and looks very promising for the future.

Talia Chiarelli

Reema Zakharia is easily the biggest crowd please on the Michigan team. She is known for her up-beat and fun floor routines that draws the crowd in. When she's not competing she can often be found dancing on the sidelines or giving her teammates a pep talk. Reema competes the only non yurchenko style vault on the Michigan team- a handspring piked with a half twist; she scored a 9.75 at the intrasquad. She also competed on beam (which she normally doesn't) and had a solid set scoring another 9.75. Lastly on floor she had the crowd wrapped around her fingers after opening with a double front and showing off her dance skills. She scored a 9.875.

Reema Zakharia

Shelby Gies, is a bar and beam specialist who has beautiful lines. She's so easy to watch because she makes every movement seem so light and floaty. I could watch her all day! She hit a spectacular bar routine that scored a 9.800 (which was kinda low in my opinion) and also rocked a great beam routine that scored a 9.775. Check out her bar routine below!

Redshirt senior Natalie Beilstein also had a phenomenal night scoring a 9.9 on floor, a 9.850 on vault, and a 9.775 on bars. Natalie is one of two gymnasts on the Michigan team who competes a yurchenko 1 1/2 and she typically brings in huge scores for the Wolverines on that event, plus bars and floor. Last season she consistently scored in the 9.9's on those three events. Coach Bev Plocki said they would like to get her into the beam lineup sometime this season.

Sachi Sugiyama is another one of those girls who is capable of making the lineup on every event and scoring in the 9.9's. On vault she did a yurchenko 1 1/2  with a large step. Despite the landing she was rewarded by the judges for taking some risk and scored a 9.875. Then she soared through bars and floor and scored a 9.850 on both events. Sachi is a beautiful gymnast to watch and you can tell she really focuses on the artistic component of the sport and perfecting all the little details.

Sachi Sugiyama

For complete results from the Intrasquad click here!

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