No. 19 Gymnastics looks to rebound against No. 14 Illinois and No. 23 Ohio State after close loss
Central Michigan gymnastics doesn’t have time to sulk about losing their undefeated record last weekend.
For the second-straight week, the Chippewas will square-off against ranked competition.
No. 14 Illinois will host No. 19 Central Michigan and No. 23 Ohio State Sunday at 3 p.m. in a meet that CMU head coach Jerry Reighard said is up for grabs.
“We’re going down to win, there’s no question in my mind,” Reighard said. “Statistically, we are right in the same ballpark with Illinois and probably ahead of Ohio State. It totally depends on all three teams, who shows up.”
CMU, UI and OSU have average overall team scores within seven-tenths of each other. CMU has the highest score between the three teams (196.6).
The Chippewas will begin the meet on the uneven bars – the event that led to their downfall Sunday against Kent State where three gymnasts scored a 9.325 or less.
“(Trying to be perfect) is risky on bars,” Reighard said. “You’ve got to do everything at absolute vertical, and if it goes the wrong way, as it did for Karlee (Teet) and (Taylor) Noonan, it’s really hard to make up from. But, if you’re not in that absolute vertical position, you can’t get a 10.”
Instead of changing the lineup on bars, the Chippewas are looking to reorder the lineup, a change Reighard likes.
Sophomore Taylor Bolender was one of three gymnasts to succeed on bars against KSU, scoring a 9.825 to go along with the 9.925 she earned for her floor routine. Bolender was named Mid-American Conference Specialist of the Week for her performance last Sunday. She said the award was little consolation in the loss.
“It’s exciting, but at the same time it’s hard to celebrate these things when we still didn’t win,” Bolender said. “We’re just ready to get back out there and fight and come back even stronger, not letting it affect us and we’re not dwelling on it.”
Reighard said seeking vengeance is not a smart strategy in gymnastics.
“We can’t get angry,” Reighard said. “You can get angry in a contact sport where you need to be physically aggressive. We need to be in a performance mode and. in our sport. if you’re trying for revenge, then you’re thinking about what happened in the past and you’re not in the present.”
Even though Reighard described Sunday’s deficit as “insurmountable,” and described Monday as “pretty painful,” multiple Chippewas said the team has moved on.
“We didn’t let that affect our practice, affect our pride, our drive,” said junior Kylie Fagan. “It motivated us even more to do so much better and strive for the MAC championship even further.”
Infographic:
Scores for Central Michigan, Illinois and Ohio State from the past five meets (from least recent to most recent):
CMU: 195.8, 196.6, 195.925, 196.5, 195.5
Illinois: 196.175, 195.35, 196.475, 195.575, 196.5
Ohio State: 194.775, 195.2, 195.625, 195.9, 195.275
