Gymnastics faces Bowling Green in last meet before MACs
CMU gymnastics coach Jerry Reighard said the team is seeking perfection as the season nears the Mid-American Conference Championship on March 27.
But for now, the team looks to stay healthy and confident in the regular season finale against Bowling Green. The Chippewas face the Falcons at 2 p.m. Sunday.
“I feel pretty comfortable,” Reighard said. “The time off helped them be ready for this week. We are really stressing perfection, and this is when we find out who can stand up and who cannot.”
The health of the team was a question mark early in the year with injuries affecting senior Jessica Suder and junior Andrea de la Garza. However, Suder returned in the fourth week of the season to help lead the team on the beam, and she ranks second in the conference with a 9.875 high. de la Garza has been able to compete throughout her injuries and scored higher than a 9.8 in all her events against Arizona State.
Senior Katie Simon said the team can only worry about what it can control.
“We’re trying to stay healthy,” she said. “It’s just little things you can’t do anything about, because we still have a lot of work to do this season.”
Reighard said the mental state and confidence — especially of some of the younger gymnasts — have improved. One of his examples was freshman Emily LaFontaine.
“I feel like Emily has gained a lot of confidence, and she believes she can compete at this level ... she has really come a long way,” he said.
LaFontaine has excelled on the uneven bars and the floor exercise. Her highest bars score came last weekend against Ball State, where she posted a meet-high 9.8.
BOWLING GREEN
The Falcons enter the meet tied for first in the MAC with a 4-0 record. However, their four league wins have come against teams in the bottom of the league, all of which CMU (10-2, 3-1 MAC) previously beat.
Breanne Guy leads BGSU with an all-around high score of 38.875 (Northern Illinois).
