Teubner's effort pays off at conference tournament
She's always the first to enter the practice gym and the last one to leave.
CMU gymnastics coach Jerry Reighard raves about junior gymnast Kristin Teubner. That dedication to improvement is what Reighard said was the catalyst behind Teubner’s three Mid-American Conference Championship titles Saturday at the conference tournament.
“She has really put her nose to the grindstone," Reighard said. "She has really spent the extra time and extra effort (in the gym)."
Teubner picked up wins in the beam (9.990) and the all-around (39.325) outright Saturday, and split the floor title (9.875) with senior Cheryl Conlin and Ball State's Nicole Allen.
Teubner was also honored as MAC Co-Gymnast of the Year with Kent State’s Christina Lenny.
For Teubner, it was a constant battle all year to keep her score averages high, and it eventually paid off for her this weekend.
“I tried really hard all year to keep those scores up, and when I got a couple MAC gymnasts of the week (honors) I was hoping that I could get the gymnast of the year,” Teubner said.
Averaging scores of 9.72 or higher in the vault (9.723), beam (9.727) and floor exercise (9.777) throughout the season, Teubner scored above average in all of those events Saturday with a 9.75 or higher. She also marked a season-high on the beam, posting a 9.900 score.
Teubner also claimed the all-around victory in the meet, posting another season-high score of 39.325. Prior to Saturday’s competition, Teubner had averaged 38.825 in the category.
“I can’t really say anything other than hard work and determination on her part,” Reighard said. “It's countless hours that most other athletes in this conference would not do.”
Beginning her career in 2009, Teubner set to work establishing herself in the conference, winning the MAC Freshman of the Year award as well as a league title in the floor exercise (9.850). She also nabbed MAC Gymnast of the Week honors.
In her sophomore season, Teubner was named to the academic All-MAC team and was honored as the conference specialist of the week (Feb. 9). As the leagues top scorer in the both vault (9.855) and floor (9.875), she finished the season having scored 9.700 or higher on 30 occasions and 9.800 or better 20 times.
She has followed suit thus far in 2011, with two nominations as the MAC gymnast of the Week. But for the Denver, Colo., native, the personal and team achievements aren't over yet. She said that work needs to be done as the team moves into regional competition.
“We had a little bit of mistakes on the floor and we couldn’t clean up some landings on vault,” Teubner said. “But from here it’s just the little things like we have been saying all year: hit the hands stands, hit the landings — all of those little things — and we’ll be in contention to go to nationals.”
