Gymnastics team rebounds on beam, beats WMU
The CMU gymnastics team’s balance beam practice paid off Sunday.
It scored a 48.525, more than a point higher than its performance in last week’s loss to Kent State (47.25), on the beam.
CMU beat Western Michigan 194.825-191.725 in front of 675 Sunday at Rose Arena.
With nearly three hours of practice time devoted to the beam, coach Jerry Reighard said he was pleased with the improvements following last weekend’s four-fall rotation.
“It’s amazing what work ethic does, and time on task,” he said, “It was really enjoyable to see all the hard work pay off today.”
Freshman Britney Taylor and seniors Jessica Suder and Katie Simon led the team with 9.8’s on the event. Junior Andrea de la Garza scored a 9.75.
In other events, sophomore Kristin Teubner led CMU with a 9.875 on the floor exercise and Simon scored a meet-high 9.9 on the uneven bars.
The Chippewas began on the vault, where they posted a 48.925.
Taylor led with a 9.875. Teubner, who finished with a 9.85, said the team kept its start value, which falls if a gymnast falls or does not meet a requirement on fan event.
“We have over six 10.0 start values, and we have been doing very well on the vault,” she said.
The second rotation placed CMU on the bars, an area of consistency for the team through the last two meets. Simon’s 9.9 and Dieffenderfer's score of 9.75 provided a spark for CMU. The Chippewas posted a 48.4 on the event, which moved them ahead of the Broncos by 2.05 points.
Teubner posted a team-high 9.875 lead the Chippewas to a season-high 48.975 on the floor exercise.
Reighard said changes could come to his lineups as more freshman gymnasts are making strides to get into competitions.
“Those changes, you’re going to see more often,” he said. “We’re starting to get them where we want them, and I think it really showed.”
The team looks to obtain its goal of a 195 score when it faces Northern Illinois at 2 p.m. Sunday in DeKalb, Ill. The team’s highest score of the season came in the State of Michigan Classic, where it notched a 194.975.
Reighard said 195 is a very achievable mark.
“We feel comfortable about setting that goal, and they are starting to believe, and that is the biggest part of the battle,” he said.
Notes
Both teams wore pink leotards in honor of breast cancer awareness.
On vault, freshmen Meaghan McWhorter scored higher than 9.7 on an exhibition run.
