Previewing Michigan’s 2023 NCAA women’s gymnastics regional

When the No. 3 Michigan women’s gymnastics team walks into an arena, their dominant 23-2 record and storied postseason history is all it takes to intimidate opposing teams. With over 30 consecutive years of NCAA regional appearances, Wolverine coach Bev Plocki has created a dynasty. Her staff are no strangers to competing in NCAA Nationals and neither are her athletes. 

Other teams, however, have a difficult road to catch up with Michigan and compete at the Regional Finals for a chance at a Nationals appearance. 

For the second year in a row, the Wolverines head into their NCAA Regionals in Denver with graduate students Natalie Wojcik and Abby Heiskell leading the pack for a team seeking a spot in the Regional Final. 

Coming off of its 27th Big Ten Championship, Michigan will compete on Friday in the second session of the day, facing No. 14 Denver, No. 18 Minnesota, and either No. 28 Arizona or No. 35 North Carolina. With a top-two finish, the Wolverines would compete again on April 2 in the NCAA Regional Finals. 

Nationals are within reach, a feeling this team is used to. 

“At the end go the day, we just need to go to Denver, do our job, and be who we are,” Plocki told the Daily. “If we perform the way we’ve been performing all season and up to the way we perform in the gym every single day, we’ll be fine.” 

The Daily previews the regional where Michigan begins action on March 31.

Can the stars continue to dominate?

Even by Michigan’s standards, the Wolverines have had an unbelievable season, with a program record five meets reaching a total score of 198.000 or higher and perfect 10s from senior Sierra Brooks and Heiskell, along with seven regular-season All-Americans for Brooks, Heiskell, Wojcik and senior Gabby Wilson. 

Brooks got her best all-around score of 39.800 in the most difficult match up of the season against No. 1 Oklahoma earlier this month, and was the highest-scoring Wolverine on floor at Big Tens. Additionally, she was one of six finalists for the American Athletic Inc. award – the most coveted award for senior gymnasts. 

Wilson enters Regionals with the 2023 Big Ten individual title in vault and a victory in the 2022 NCAA Regionals on her floor routine. As team captains and recently-announced returners to the team, consistency and leadership are key from Brooks and Wilson. 

As always, Wojick and Heiskell are powerful cogs for Michigan. Along with Brooks, the pair earned a three-way 2023 Big Ten title in the uneven bars, with Heiskell adding a title in the balance beam. Michigan is hoping to continue finishing at the top of the leaderboard and dominating the individual and all-around competitions. 

“They’re a really incredible group of talented, beautiful, and smart young women,” Plocki said. “The entire team from top to bottom is 100% all in. I have 100% trust in them that their goals are the same … to win the National Championship.”

Specific goals of the meet

In the Regional, the main goal is to win and advance to the National Championship. However, there are distinct aspects of Michigan’s performance that must be fine-tuned for the Wolverines to achieve that. 

To start, vault is about more than “sticking the landing.” Plocki emphasized that the lead-up to the landing is just as important, and everything must line up for the perfect vault. 

“(The team) has been talking about making sure that we get big blocks off the table so we can get those vaults up in the air,” Plocki said. “In order to stick the landing, we have to be aggressive.” 

Moving to the other events, it’s clear that the Wolverines have to focus on doing what they do well and having confidence in their ability to deliver stellar results. 

“(The uneven bars are) really about … hitting every handstand and sticking every dismount,” Plocki said. “On beam, we’ve been working on doing sharp, confident dance and being very aggressive in the way the routine flows and looks.”

Finally, floor practice leading up to Regionals has brought the gymnasts back to their roots through drills emphasizing basic skills that can be easily lost under high pressure. In the final days before the meet, the Wolverines are also practicing holding the attention of the audience throughout the routine. Down the stretch, it’s the little things that make the biggest difference.

“We’ll work on (the performance aspect) a little bit today,” Plocki said. “Just really having fun with playing up to the crowd and to the judges with the dance.”

Final takeaways

The team has a mission and a reputation they are hoping to uphold throughout Regionals. They’re not only performing for themselves and their team and staff but for their school. 

“We want to do it for each other, we want to do it for Michigan and do it for the Block M,” Plocki said. “This is (the gymnasts’) journey, and I get to be a part of helping them along the way.”

If Michigan can perform as they have all year and in previous years, the Wolverines only have themselves to compete with – and could be well on their way to the Regional Finals.