Freshman Taylor leads gymnasts in win against EMU
Freshman Britney Taylor waited for Mid-American Conference competition to rise to the top.
The CMU gymnastics team opened its MAC schedule Saturday by beating Eastern Michigan 192.975-191.525 in Ypsilanti and improving its record to 4-1.
Posting a 47.1 on the balance beam, Central finished behind EMU in the final rotation by 1.25 points. Three CMU gymnasts had falls during their beam routines.
But CMU coach Jerry Reighard said Taylor’s balance beam performance, which edged EMU’s Kaylyn Millick by .05 points, was the highlight of the event.
“It was an absolute joy to see,” he said, “She does one of the most difficult routines in the conference.”
Taylor (39.025) and senior Katie Simon (38.9) led the way with the two best all-around scores of the meet. Taylor claimed her first all-around victory of her career.
Taylor scored her highest on the balance beam (9.825), which has been the team’s lowest-scoring event through the first four meets, including Saturday.
She improved her previous balance beam score from the competition in Denver (9.375). However, she said she is aware of the up-and-down nature of gymnastics and that each week is a different meet.
“Just because I did well today, I still need to do good next week,” she said, “I just need to keep doing the things I know I can do.”
Leadership
The night started on the uneven bars, where Simon and junior Cheryl Conlin provided CMU the lead. The gymnasts posted scores of 9.825 and 9.7, respectively.
“The entire bars squad did a great job,” Reighard said, “(Simon) had a spectacular routine, and (Conlin) had the best bar routine of her career.”
Simon also shared the high score on the vault; her and Taylor scored routines of 9.825.
The third rotation involved the floor exercise, where freshman Bailey Brumbach made her first collegiate appearance and scored a 9.65. Sophomore Kristin Teubner scored a 9.775 and won the event, Cheryl Conlin scored a 9.75 and Simon a 9.750.
“We got exactly what we needed from our floor personnel,” Reighard said. Senior Jessica Suder competed for the first time this season, following a broken foot that sidelined her for the first four meets.
Exhibition
On vault, freshmen Meaghan McWhorter and Keri Deiffenderfer performed in the exhibition role and scored above 9.7. The exhibition allows gymnasts to practice their routines in front of judges for a personal score, although it does not count toward the team total. Reighard employs two exhibition performances on each event in order to help prepare some of his younger gymnasts for collegiate competition.
“It gives the athletes a chance to get out there under competitive pressure, and it gives the coaches a chance to see how they perform,” he said.
Central will face EMU again next weekend when it travels to Kalamazoo for the State of Michigan Classic at 1 p.m. Saturday. Michigan State and Western Michigan also are competing. Last year, CMU finished second behind MSU.
