Gymnastics holding intrasquad meet today
The Mid-American Conference champion gymnastics team will return to action on Friday with its annual intrasquad meet.
For head coach Jerry Reighard, the new season should hold some exciting new surprises, but thus far he has been pleased with the work ethic of his athletes.
“I am very excited about this team and their dedication,” Reighard said. “I especially love the attitude that I have gotten with this group.”
The intrasquad meet is an early bench mark for a squad that is returning 11 gymnasts from last season. Although it is still early, Reighard has high expectations for Friday’s meet.
“This intrasquad I think is going to be one of our best ever,” Reighard said. “We have been very diligently doing routines and I think were ahead of where we have been the last few years,” Reighard said.
Senior Cheryl Conlin will look to build upon her MAC championship performance last year as she and senior Andrea de la Garza will be the squad’s lone seniors. Conlin has high hopes for the meet and has been pleased with the team’s training in the early going.
“Our goal for this Friday is to get a 194,” Conlin said. “Last intrasquad meet we got a 192, but we’re a lot more consistent now and we have cleaned up our landings.”
Freshman of the year in 2009 Brittany Taylor will look to make a big splash in her sophomore season, by building upon her first team All-MAC selection. Taylor said that this year’s team is performing at a higher level than the 2009 team and said it will help them in the long run.
“This year I feel we are far more advanced in our routines and everything,” Taylor said. “At this time last year we were still kind of struggling.”
The team will also introduce four new freshmen, including Morgan Byrd (all-around), Emily Heinz (AA), Brittany Petzold (AA) and Alyssa Wilson (AA).
The new McGuirk Arena opened on Wednesdsay, but the team will compete inside of the Rose gymnastics room until after the New Year when home meets began.
The first official meet of the season will be at 7 p.m. Jan. 7 in Sacramento, Calif., with Sacramento State, Alaska-Anchorage and Wisconsin-LaCrosse also competing.
