Bev Plocki

This is the sixth in a series of articles profiling the 2011 inductees into the Butler Area School District Athletic Hall of Fame.ANN ARBOR, Mich. — What opened up Beverly Fry Plocki's gymnastics career?Tornado Pride.Already a successful club gymnast, Fry yearned to represent Butler High School as an athlete.“I did a lot of club gymnastics outside of high school,” she said. “Steve Heasley coached the high school team and he allowed me to participate even with those outside interests.“I wanted to compete for my high school. I felt the Tornado Pride and wanted to become part of that.”She clearly did. The 1982 Butler graduate went on to WPIAL and PIAA championships as a Butler gymnast, was recruited by theUniversity of Alabama, became an All-American there, then transferred to West Virginia University and began setting up her life's work.Fry Plocki is now one of the most successful women's gymnastics coaches in the country, winning 17 Big Ten championships in 21 years as coach at the University of Michigan.“I doubt if any of that happens without my experiences as a high school gymnast,” she said.Fry Plocki will be one of nine inductees enshrined into the Butler Area School District Athletic Hall of Fame Sept. 16.“When I got that phone call ... I was so honored to be remembered,” she said.Despite her immediate success at Alabama, Fry Plocki realized that “I wasn't cut out to be a Southern belle” and decided to attend WVU, much closer to home.It was there that she met Mountaineer gymnastics coach Linda Burdette, who won 524 meets in 31 years of coaching. Fry Plocki served as a graduate assistant coach with her for two seasons.“When I left Alabama, I was a bit burned out on gymnastics and feeling a little down,” Fry Plocki recalled. “Linda provided a new perspective for me.“She made me feel confident about myself and I thoroughly enjoyed my career down there. Linda became a very influential person in my life. She made me want to become a coach.”During Fry Plocki's final year at WVU, she applied for five NCAA coaching openings. Three were assistant coach positions. One was as head coach at Wisconsin-Whitewater, the other at the University of Michigan.“I was in the right place at the right time,” she admitted. “I interviewed at Michigan, got the job, and never did interview at Whitewater.“The Michigan (gymnastics) program was down. But it was Michigan. I could sell the school on kids. I knew I could recruit there.”The Wolverines had won just two competitions in the two years prior to Fry Plocki's arrival. The winning began almost immediately.And it hasn't stopped.During her tenure at Michigan, Fry Plocki has mentored 136 All-Americans. She's coached six individual national champions and has had teams finish No. 2 in the nation twice.“All of that's great, but we want to win the national championship,” she said. “We won't rest until we get there.”The 2011 Butler HOF inductees will be honored with a receoption at 5 p.m. Sept. 16 in the high school cafeteria and will be recognized on the field prior to the home football game vs. Canon-McMillan that night.