Gymnastics brings out the best in opponents again
Central Michigan gymnastics always brings out the best in its competition.
Eleven of the 12 teams the Chippewas have faced this season have put up their highest scores of the year while facing CMU.
The trend continued Sunday, as No. 14 Illinois scored a 196.775 and No. 23 Ohio State notched a 195.925, the highest of the year for both teams.
“We messed up a little bit on bars and beam and we still got a 196.4,” said sophomore Kirsten Petzold. “Just knowing that, we know we can easily be a 197 team. For that to be their highest scores, I feel like we’re easily better than them.”
Petzold’s 9.925 on vault put the Chippewas in position to steal the victory after falling behind both teams early. For the second week in a row, it came down to the final gymnast.
“When the meet was over (for CMU gymnasts), we were all lined up,” said head coach Jerry Reighard. “We were all crossing our fingers. Obviously you always hate to wish somebody ill, but we would have taken it had it occurred.”
Illinois had a 196.0 before senior Amber See approached her floor routine. See needed a 9.6 to tie the Chippewas, anything higher would have secured the victory. See hit a 9.95, tying the highest score of the meet.
“A lot of congratulations to Illinois’ last gymnast,” Reighard said. “Pressure situation and she came through with a 9.95. I thought it was a really (big) pressure situation for Illinois. Their coach came up to me after the meet and said ‘you guys really put the pressure on us,’ and that’s what we were striving to do.”
It was a similar situation last weekend against Kent State, when senior Marie Case scored a 9.925 on beam to finish off the Chippewas.
Even though CMU lost to Illinois, Reighard was proud of the team’s ability to fight back after last weekend’s struggles.
“I think it was just a really important meet for us as far as rebounding from last weekend,” Reighard said. “(It) showed that we do have the composure to be in the upper echelon of the NCAA.”
Junior Taylor Noonan pegged a 9.9 on balance beam and said the team showed fight after what happened last weekend.
“We came back against the loss to Kent State with a lot of fire in our bellies to get back to a 196, 197 score,” Noonan said. “We’re just so proud of each other and the resilience that this team has is really incomparable to any other team that I’ve been on.”
