Gymnastics scores five 9.9s, earns win over Bowling Green on Senior Day
It’s been the balance beam—or the “third quarter” as Head Coach Jerry Reighard called it Sunday—that has plagued the Chippewas all season. But they were able to overcome it Sunday, on senior day.
“The third quarter was not great,” Reighard said. “It was mediocre. But it didn’t drown us. We didn’t fall apart. I think that’s a real sign of a maturing team.”
After recording the ninth-highest vault score in program history and notching a pair of 9.9’s on the uneven bars, scores started to go south on the balance beam. It was senior Halle Moraw who helped salvage the event, scoring a 9.9 and giving her team momentum heading into the floor event, the final rotation.
“(On the) beam I had a wobble,” Moraw said. “Which if I get that, then I know I’m golden there. Floor was just fun. I heard the crowd right before I went. I couldn’t have asked for a better way to end.”
Sophomore Kirstin Stambaugh and junior Kirsten Petzold gathered 9.85’s while senior Becca Druien and Moraw finished the meet with a pair of 9.9’s to help the team eclipse the coveted 196 mark.
CMU won 196.125-192.700.
“It was crazy to land my final dismount and that be the final thing I do at McGuirk,” Druien said. “It’s something I’ve been trying to get for four years now. It just finally clicked. And it’s something that I know I can do for the rest of the season.”
It was Druien’s first 9.9 on any event in her career. For Moraw, it was her fifth 9.9 in on floor in the past six meets.
“I enjoyed every single moment, didn’t take a single one for granted, tried to take it all in,” Moraw said. It kind of helps we have a month and a half left because if it was the very last meet, I’d be a hot mess right now.
“It was just so great to be with all six seniors. Just to go out with a 196 plus is even better. It was a great day.”
Reighard said the team is starting to hit its stride. While the home season is over for CMU, they have three more meets before the March 21 Mid-American Conference Championships.
Bowling Green came into the meet with three straight scores of 195 and above for the first time in program history, but struggled against the Chippewas.
Moraw said she knew her team was in control, based on a nervous tactic she observed from Bowling Green.
“We have this thing where, when teams are really loud when they start, they’re kind of scared because they get loud and try to pump themselves up,” Moraw said. “That’s when we know. We’re like, ‘yep, we’ve got them already.’ It was nice they did that too, this week.”
The 196.125 is the 14th highest in program history the third-best this season and the best home score of 2015. CMU moves to 8-3, 4-1 in the MAC. The Chippewas will travel to Davis, Calif. for a quad-meet Friday against UC Davis, Sacramento State and Iowa.
