Gymnastics carries on despite limitations of co-captain


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Teammates congratulate Commerce junior Kylie Fagen after her performance on the uneven bars; a performance which earned her a tied first place win, scoring a 9.825.

While the Chippewas defeated William and Mary soundly in last week's Royal Rumble and Tumble, it has become apparent the victory was lacking something.

CMU scored 193.950, the team’s worst score of the year. Gymnastics head coach Jerry Reighard admitted earlier this season that he expected a 195 score the first meet and a 196 for the second, falling far behind the goal in the meet on Friday.

Co-captain Brittany Petzold, injured in Wednesday's practice, was anticipated to be left out of the lineup and sported a walking boot cast throughout the meet.

Surprisingly enough, Petzold took off her boot and competed in the uneven bars, although the lack of points was a sign the team was missing the leadership of their co-captain.

“I asked the team if that was the problem," Reighard said. "Emily Heinz, she felt that it wasn’t, (but) my gut tells me it was. It forces some people that weren’t quite prepared to be in the lineup. Quite honestly, Brittany adds at least two tenths per event. It feels better to have someone like Brittany, as a teammate that you can count on ... they're going to be there so you can let things go."

Sunday the Chippewas challenge a Ball State team that upset them last year, scoring a 194.5. The Chippewas will need to be above 195, but could be without Brittany Petzold again, with her status remaining day-to-day.

“It was a struggle (having Petzold out of events), but we have a lot of other girls who we can put in and we saw it today,” said junior Halle Moraw. “We miss Brittany, but I’m glad some of the other girls stepped it up."

Moraw recorded her first 9.9 of the season.

“Sometimes athletes that are a 9.7 and they know they are replacing a 9.8, they press to get that tenth back and it sometimes doesn’t workout,” Reighard said.

CMU scored their best floor routines of the year totaling 49.125, but fell far from their best totals in any other event.

“Personally, I don’t think it was a leadership problem," Heinz said. "Brittany leads by example and today she had to be very vocal, which she did well."

The team's depth is better than in years past, but Reighard believes the gymnasts feel an added pressure filling in for a captain that leads by example.

"Its amazing, she went from not being able to do anything yesterday to vaulting and tumbling today," Reighard said. "She is in basically a cast now. Her will to compete is strong and if she has come this far in three days, we have another three until the meet. I think it will really test her to be on floor, and beam will be the most difficult. The cast doesn't allow her to manipulate her ankle."

Reighard expects Petzold to be vaulting next week – an area where she is needed after the lack of points last week.

CMU opens up their MAC season against Ball State at 2 p.m. Sunday in McGuirk Arena.

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