CMU gymnastics team see early-season improvements
Less than two tenths of a point separated the CMU gymnastics team from victory last weekend.
CMU finished with a season-high 194.025 — just .175 shy of No. 14 Denver, which scored a 194.2.
Previously, CMU beat Utah State by five points and Illinois State by .175 in its first meet. The second-place finish last weekend — the team finished ahead of BYU (192.5) — moved its record to 3-1, and the score of 194.025 is a mark Coach Jerry Reighard said he is pleased with at this stage of the season.
“We were pleased with getting back on track,” he said. “I saw steady improvements from everyone, and it was very satisfying to beat BYU.”
The events that registered the highest improvements in points included the vault, uneven bars and floor exercise.
The vault event saw the highest point boost with the team posting a score 49.2 points, 0.9 higher than the previous meet against Utah State, and a full 1.25 from the first meet.
The Chippewas have not posted a score higher than 49 points since February 2009 against Bowling Green, when they posted a 49.050 on the floor exercise.
Top performers in the vault included senior Katie Simon, sophomore Kristin Teubner and freshman Britney Taylor, who all posted a 9.875. All three gymnasts increased scores from the first two meets, with Simon providing the biggest jump, adding .675 to her score. Teubner also improved her previous mark by a tenth of a point.
“They know that one-tenth here or a tenth there is very, very important,” Reighard said.
There also was statistical improvement on the uneven bars, with an addition of .475 from the previous competition. Simon posted a 9.775 against Utah State and improved that to a 9.850 against Denver and BYU.
Meeting goals
The tri-meet in Denver marked the second consecutive year CMU met its 194-point team goal in the third meet of the year. In 2008, it was not accomplished until the eighth meet, and it was met in the sixth meet of 2007.
Simon said expectations rise as the season goes on, and the team will not be content with meeting its early goal.
“We strive for that 194 but, toward the middle of the season, we start aiming for that 195, which is very doable,” she said.
The one event Central failed to score as highly as the others was one the balance beam. Teubner (9.775) was the highest-scoring CMU athlete, leading the team to its 47.75 total.
Although it was the only event CMU did not reach 48 points as a team, it did add .45 to its total from the previous meet (47.3).
Reighard said he was aware of some of the mistakes his team made on the balance beam, but improvement is usually slow on that event.
“It was a great early-season meet to learn some valuable lessons,” he said. “I would much rather be two-tenths behind at this point of the season, rather than two-tenths behind at the championships.”
