Four gymnasts score 9.9 or higher in weekend victory against Ball State


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Shaila Segal takes her turn in the uneven bars during sundays MAC opener in McGurik Arena against Ball State.

Central Michigan gymnastics had four gymnasts score nearly perfect marks and recieved its highest team score of the year against Ball State.

CMU also had four gymnasts score at or above the 9.9 mark and achieved a 195.800 team score Sunday.

Sophomore Kirsten Petzold and senior Emily Heinz each scored a 9.925. Junior Kylie Fagan and sophomore Taylor Bolender both notched a 9.9. Junior Halle Moraw was the only Chippewa to score a 9.9 or higher coming into Sunday’s meet.

"This week in practice we focused on perfect parts,” Fagan said. “It showed this week, coming out with all those high scores, 9.9’s in every event. It was fun.”

Petzold’s high score on the vault, which was the first event, might have been the most important in terms of momentum. Her sister, senior Brittany Petzold, scored a 9.825 while battling a shoulder injury all season.

“I thought the momentum really shifted with the last two – the Petzold sisters on vaulting,” said head coach Jerry Reighard. “That really got us where we wanted to be.”

Before the Petzold sisters, all four CMU vaulters had a 9.725 or lower. Unlike last week’s mediocre start on vault for CMU, which led to a disappointing 193.950 final score, the Petzold sisters were able to finish the event on a high note.

“Vaulting is our nemesis,” Reighard said. “It’s definitely our weakest event and it has been all season. We’re trying to address that on a daily, weekly basis.”

CMU made its largest improvement on the bars, where it scored almost a point higher than in the previous week's competition.

“Bolender on bars really set the pace on that event,” Reighard said. “Then you come along with Kylie Fagan, who I’ve been saying ‘no one should beat you, no one should beat you. You need to be MAC Champion. Compete to be that.’ And today we saw that. The dismount made all the difference, and believe me, that’s what she worked a lot on all week long.”

Even after breaking the 9.9 threshold, Fagan said there is still room for her to grow.

“We practice for 10’s. Not 9.9’s,” Fagan said. “When we come to a meet, a 9.9 is supposed to be easy.”

Heinz said a 9.9 is normally given when the gymnast makes two minor mistakes, half a point per mistake.

"You always want to beat your high,” Heinz said. “We still had some mistakes. We’re still hungry for more.”

Bolender reiterated Heinz's remarks.

“Even when you do score that good, you still know what you messed up on and know what you need to do better,” Bolender said. “You want to get higher now. You get a 9.9, but you want to get a 9.975 and just keep building.”

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Taylor DesOrmeau is a senior at Central Michigan University, majoring in integrative public relations ...

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