Four-peat; gymnastics splits fourth-straight MAC title with rival WMU
Rule books were scoured, points were recalculated, coaches paced.
And by the end of a confusing day Saturday, the Central Michigan gymnastics team left Kalamazoo as Mid-American Conference champions.
CMU took home the title for the fourth consecutive year, but this year shared the title with rival Western Michigan University.
“Four in a row is just an incredible feeling,” head coach Jerry Reighard said. “It’s a real testimony to the young ladies that are in our gym every single day. It’s really an answer to prayer. My entire team, my coaching staff and probably most of our crowd were really instrumental in guiding us and helping us to get to this point.”
Both teams scored a 194.8, with Kent State coming in close behind for second place with a 194.775.
As the competition ended, it appeared that Kent State had claimed the title with a 195, but that score was later revised.
With the realization that the Chippewas and Broncos were now bumped to first place, coaches and officials frantically searched for information on how to break a tie, but there was no rule to be found.
The day didn’t look promising for CMU in the beginning, facing difficulties on the bars as CMU got off to a slow start.
But, by their third event, the Chippewas were ready to add some heat to the mix and show they weren’t throwing in the towel.
The Chippewas dominated the floor exercise, scoring a season-high 49.350 in the event.
Halle Moraw anchored her team with her nearly flawless 9.950 MAC Championship title-winning performance.
Taylor Bolender started things in the right direction for the Chippewas with a 9.85, after struggling earlier in the day on bars.
Emily Heinz followed Bolender’s performance with a 9.825, and Becca Druien was next with a 9.8.
Emily LaFontaine only managed to score a 9.825, though one of the four judges awarded her a perfect ten.
“Emily was phenomenal,” Reighard said. “She got that ten from one judge, and I had no deductions, so I wasn’t surprised by the ten. I’m just in awe that you can get a ten from one judge but not even get a 9.9 from another.”
With four-straight 9.8s or better from her teammates, Brittany Petzold had the Chippewa supporters on their feet when she upped the ante with a 9.9.
Vault was the next best event of the day for CMU, scoring a total of 48.825.
Druien, Petzold, Tori Garcia and Meaghan McWhorter all scored a 9.775.
“I was not pleased with vaulting. I knew what was on the line,” Reighard said. “I spared no words to the team. I said, ‘you have to stick; you have to get in for no deductions,’ and none of our athletes did. It was a disappointing time.”
The day got off to a rough start for the Chippewas, with the first two gymnasts falling on the uneven bars.
Taylor Bolender’s routine with a low score of 8.950 was tossed out, but CMU was forced to count Taylor Noonan’s 9.075.
Druien turned it around, following Noonan with a 9.650, while Kylie Fagan led the event for her team, scoring a 9.825.
When the team moved to beam after a bye, things didn’t pick up right away for the Chippewas.
Preslee Harrald was up first in the event, and, although she never fell, it was apparent that Harrald was struggling to stay on throughout her routine and only scored a 9.275.
Petzold again was the turning point, scoring a 9.75 to get CMU out of its slump.
“Coach always says it’s not over until the end, and each one of us believed that,” junior Brittany Petzold said. “We didn’t think it was over. We knew if we did our gymnastics and our skills we’d win.”
