Following bounce-back victory, gymnastics heads to Ball State for first road conference meet
Three consecutive home meets to begin the season has built momentum for the Central Michigan University gymnastics team that is heading into the most crucial part of the Mid-American Conference schedule.
Following a tri-meet victory during which they scored season-highs in every category, the Chippewas are set to finally play in an opponent’s gym.
The women travel to Muncie, Ind. to take on MAC foe Ball State University at 7 p.m. Friday.
In recent action, CMU (2-1) topped its first MAC opponent, Eastern Michigan University, outscoring the instate rival Eagles 195.875-194.575.
BSU has struggled in the early going. The Cardinals are still searching for their first 2015 victory.
However, tough matchups with Top 5 teams such as No. 1 University of Florida and No. 4 Michigan State University have given the Cardinals a unique competitive nonconference experience.
Ball State’s high score this season came in at 193.7 courtesy of junior Denasiha Christian, the 2014 MAC Floor Champion. Christian scored a 9.85 on both floor and vault in her first routine of the season against Florida.
Christian can make or break a meet for the Cardinals.
The Chippewas posted a great team performance in their most recent meet, surrendering just one fall. CMU scored more than 49 in two categories: Beam and bars.
“I was very happy we won every event. That is fully where we expect to be,” Head Coach Jerry Reighard said. “I was a little disappointed that we did not hit the 196. Our floor team made costly going out of bounds errors that cost us those points.”
Reighard stressed the importance of bouncing back last week with a victory. Without senior leader Taylor Noonan (knee injury) the Chippewas had lost to Illinois University at home one week prior.
Senior Halle Moraw and junior Karlee Teet are heading into Friday’s meet with confidence. Both of those Chippewas were solid in the wins over EMU and Seattle Pacific University.
“We need to continue our hard work. We have been very focused, very motivated,” Moraw said. “There are still small mistakes that we need to fix to get that 196 plus that we are looking for.”
Moraw posted two 9.8’s and a 9.9 in the floor exercise, which this week she called her favorite event. Teet scored a 9.8 on vault and a 9.85 on bars.
