Central Michigan Life

Issue date: 1/16/08 Section: Sports

Senior 197-pounder Wynn Michalak, left, and senior 184-pounder Christian Sinnott, right, have been big part of coach Tom Borrelli's school-record 196 career wins. [Click to enlarge]

The gymnastics team is determined to correct the mistakes that led to it losing the first two meets of the season.

After losing to Oklahoma and Illinois State by more than 12 total points, CMU coach Jerry Reighard emphasized the need to block out distraction.

"I just told them that we need to become mentally stronger," Reighard said. "It's very uncharacteristic of our team to have as many mental errors as we did last weekend."

Central was supposed to have Monday off, but following the disappointing weekend, plans changed.

"After the Illinois State meet I talked to my staff. We were originally supposed to have Monday off and I said, 'No way, we have to practice tomorrow,'" Reighard said. "Before the meeting started, my captains came to me and said, 'We want to practice tomorrow,' so that was very nice to see."

Senior Danielle Espinoza said the captains have been reminding the team that it's a long season and they need to keep it in perspective.

"We keep the girls positive by reminding them that it's not about what happened last week," she said. "What's in the past is in the past, so we just have to keep moving forward."

One of the problems the Chippewas have faced early on this season is a lack of depth. Injuries have forced many of the younger athletes to take on bigger roles than Reighard initially expected.

"Our problem is getting six healthy kids on each event. As a coach you have no control over it," Reighard said. "The experimentation is going to carry on through Iowa."

The Chippewas also are getting help from unexpected contributors. Senior Jenna D'Alie has performed well in her first two meets since recovering from foot surgery that forced her to miss three seasons. Sophomore all-around competitor Laura Rogers returned earlier than expected despite still recovering from offseason ankle surgery. She competed on the floor exercise Friday and both the floor exercise an uneven bars Sunday.

"Practice went pretty good - a lot of people fixed a couple things," Rogers said. "I started doing beam more. We're just trying to figure out a stable lineup."

Reighard said consistency is the key because of the lack of depth.

"I feel really good about the first three athletes we compete in every event," he said. "I don't have any problem with them. The fifth and sixth girls (in each event) are my focus for the next two weeks."



sports@cm-life.com

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