Balance beam plagues CMU gymnastics team in loss to Kent State
The balance beam got to the CMU gymnastics team yet again Saturday.
Despite beating rival Kent State on the vault and uneven bars and leading 97.725-97.525 heading into the final two events, four beam falls allowed the Golden Flashes to take the lead and win 194.250-193.925 at Rose Arena.
“If you can’t do one of the events in a competition, you can’t win. And (Saturday), we didn’t do balance beam,” said coach Jerry Reighard. “We did well on three of four events, and we controlled our destiny. But you can’t be 30 percent on one of the events and expect to beat anyone.”
Prior to Saturday, the team increased its beam scores, including high marks against Denver and BYU (47.75), as well as a season-high last weekend in the State of Michigan Classic (48.775).
But the beam lineup accounted for three falls (sophomore Cheryl Conlin, freshman Britney Taylor and senior Katie Simon) and one failure to meet the difficulty in the event (junior Andrea de la Garza). Failing to hit all the required elements in the routine was a setback for the team, Reighard said.
CMU also lost to Kent State twice in three meets last season, including the Mid-American Conference championship meet.
“There were no positives that came out of (Saturday’s meet),” he said. “We lost the meet, and that’s what happened.”
The lone balance beam highlight came from senior Jessica Suder, who won the event with a 9.8.
The Chippewas claimed victory on the uneven bars and the floor exercise with scores of 48.950. Simon and de la Garza led the way on the bars, with scores of 9.875 and 9.8, respectively. The floor exercise was paced by sophomore Kristin Teubner, who scored a 9.875.
CMU (7-2 overall, 2-1 MAC) next faces Western Michigan (3-10 overall) at 2 p.m. Sunday at Rose Arena.
Reighard said he knows his team must find some way to return to form during the upcoming week of practice.
“We have to put on the uniform and, somehow, they need to figure out how they’re going to turn this around,” he said.
