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March 15, 2006

The senior spotlight is on ... Jenny Deiley!

As one of the most decorated student-athletes over the 30-year history of the Michigan Women's Gymnastics program, Jenny Deiley has garnered the respect and admiration of not only her teammates, family, friends, and fans, but also opposing teams and their fans. Her consistency and clean lines on all four events have earned her numerous accolades over the past three years, including eight NCAA All-America citations, Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors, and two Big Ten Individual Event Championships.

This year Jenny has emerged as the one of the top all-around gymnasts in the Big Ten Conference. To date, she has posted a 39.0 or higher in five of the seven meets in which she competed all-around and has placed first on each event at least once this season (she has won ten titles overall). Outside of the gym, Jenny is an English major in the College of Literature, Science & the Arts and a three-time U-M Athletic Academic Achievement Award receipent.

In anticipation of Senior Night and the upcoming postseason, we wanted to give you, the fans, an opportunity to reflect on each of the members of the Wolverine Class of 2006. Here is a look back at Jenny's accomplishments over the past three years.

Taking a Look Back: 2003-2005

During her freshman year at Michigan, Jenny was immediately relied upon for her consistency on all four events. In her first collegiate meet, Jenny won the vault, bars, and beam titles en route to first place in the all-around, becoming the first U-M freshman to win the all-around in a season-opening meet since 1995.

Over the course of the season, she earned seven vault titles, four bars titles, three beam titles, and four all-around titles. Her best regular season meet was at home vs. Nebraska, where Jenny posted a 9.90 or higher on all four events en route to her career high all-around total of 39.675.

At the 2003 Big Ten Championships, she shared the bars title and tied for second in the all-around. She also earned Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors. At the 2003 NCAA National Championships, Jenny tied for seventh on vault, tied for sixth on beam, eighth on floor, and tied for fourth in the all-around at the NCAA Team Preliminaries to earn NCAA Second Team All-America honors on vault, beam, and floor and NCAA First Team All-America honors in the all-around.

During her freshman campaign, Jenny set a Michigan record for the most all-around scores of 39.0 or higher in a single season (14) and the most by a freshman (14). In recognition of her contribution to the team that season, Jenny was awarded the team's Most Valuable Player award at the annual post-season banquet.

Jenny's sophomore season began with an injury (she missed the first four meets). However by mid-season, she was competing all four events. In each of the five meets that she competed in the all-around, she posted over a 39.000 total. Jenny earned one vault title during the regular season and placed third in the all-around at the 2004 Big Ten Championships. Her best meet of the season was at the NCAA Regionals, where she posted a 9.800 or higher en route to a 39.350 all-around total. At the 2004 NCAA Championships, Jenny placed 5th on vault in Team Preliminaries to earn NCAA Second Team All-America honors on that event.

Jenny's junior year built upon her freshman year's successes. Jenny earned seven vault titles, four floor titles, and three all-around titles during the regular season. Her best meet of the regular season was at home vs. Iowa, where Jenny posted a 9.850 or higher en route to a 39.625 all-around total. At the 2005 Big Ten Championships, Jenny tied for the vault title and tied for fourth on bars. At the 2005 NCAA National Championships, Jenny tied for third on vault, tied for eighth on bars and the all-around at the NCAA Team Preliminaries to earn a pair of NCAA Second Team All-America honors (bars, all-around) and to qualify for the NCAA Individual Event Finals on vault, where she placed eighth overall and earned an NCAA First Team All-America citation. In recognition of her contribution to the team that season, Jenny was awarded the team's Most Valuable Player award (with Elise and Lindsey).

A Senior's Reflections:

Recently, we've asked Jenny to share with you some of her fondest and funniest memories during her tenure at U-M, her plans for the future, and her gratitude to her family, friends, and fans.

What is one of your funniest memories from your collegiate career?

Oh, where do I begin, there are sooo many funny memories, because this team has a bunch of great and fun girls and lets just say that each one of us has our "blonde moment"! I remember one of our away meets Chels, Elise, Becca and I were sitting in one of our rooms discussing the plurals to each animal (how and why we got on this subject, I have know idea) but anyways, the plural of moose came up and with no hesitation Elise says, "Mise".We look at her and nod as no one really wants to disagree with her because she is Elise Ray, Captain of the 2000 Olympic Team. So there is a couple moments of silence, and then we look at her and say "No, it is not". For awhile, she really thought she was right, but we convinced her that you would not say, "look at those mises"!!!! We laughed so hard and so long.

Huneth also had a great moment this year, as she thought she would send a funny team e-mail.
However, the joke was on her, as she sent the e-mail to not the team e-mail but the entire gymnastics group that included our media guy, coaches, academic advisor, strength coach... She sent a calendar of hot Black men!!! I am sure the coaches were like, "why is Huneth sending us this"!!!!

What is your fondest memory of your collegiate career?

My freshman year. We hardly had anyone on the team that was healthy to compete and everyone kind of ruled us out and didn't have much, if any, expectations for us. However, we pulled together and had a great season, winning Big Tens and making it to the Super Six!!! At Big Tens, my bar routine was my fondest memory however, because I won that event and most importantly the famous "Jenny Deiley bar celebration" was coined!

What would you say is your greatest accomplishment in your collegiate career?

I have been blessed with a very successful college career and have won many awards and honors, such as Big Ten Freshman of the Year and multiple All American Honors. However, the most rewarding experience and accomplishment that I value the most is all the fan support. I can not thank all of you or express how much it has meant to me for so many parents that have came up to me after meets and told me how fun it is to watch me and all the little girls that come to me and say "you're my favorite".

Walking away from each meet with a complement from a parent or child or fan about how much they appreciate my gymnastics and the way I do it, is more satisfying than walking away saying I won first place in the all-around.

What do you take away from your experience with UM Gymnastics?

Coming to the University of Michigan has been the best decision of my life. I have not only met the most fascinating and dedicated athletes but also the most intriguing student leaders on campus. This is the greatest school on earth!!!!

What are your plans after the 2006 postseason?

Well, I am not entirely sure, but I do have some ideas. I am currently applying and interviewing for different jobs in pharmaceutical sales and marketing. I also plan on finding a boyfriend, but more importantly my focus will be getting on the TV show, The Bachelorette!! Elise and Chels fully support this, and they are helping me make my video...but I am not going to lie...I don't think my parents like this idea!! So we will see what happens!

Jenny's message to her family, friends, teammates, and fans:

There are a ton of people that I need to say thanks to, that have supported me and my gymnastics and allowed me to be as successful as I have been. First off, I need to say thanks to my parents who make it to almost every meet (they usually make the 12 hour drive, however this
year they have been flying, good for them)!!! I need to say thanks to my grandparents and my brother and sisters, Jackie, Steph and Chris and little Lexi! I want to thank the coaches for allowing me to come to this university and working with me to make me the best gymnast I can
be.

I want to thank Don Shepherd for all of his support to the Women’s Gymnastics team, because of his kindness and generosity, our program has only continued to get better. I also want to thank Abbey and Nicole, two young gymnasts that have made it to almost all my meets and sit in the first row next to the floor. I can always count on them. So, thanks and I wish you the best of luck with your gymnastics career. And lastly but certainly not the least, I want to thank all the fans, the Gymfantry, K-grams, the alumni gymnasts (you guys are great!), and the Boosters for their support. You guys are amazing and have made competing for the University of Michigan a great honor.

I know I am forgetting someone (haha, I am making it seem like I just won an Oscar and now am saying my speech), anyways I am sorry if I forgot someone, but I just want to thank everyone for making this one of the best experiences of my life!!

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