Gymnastics looking for redemption at WMU on Sunday
Head coach Jerry Reighard is hopes that sticking to routine will be in his team’s favor when the gymnastics team competes Sunday against Western Michigan.
CMU will face WMU in Kalamazoo Sunday at 1 p.m. and Reighard said the time slot works just fine for him.
“We practice every day at one o’clock,” Reighard said. “I think your biorhythms are more in line when we compete at that time. They’re not sitting an entire afternoon in a hotel room, which can be difficult waiting and getting anxious.”
Having a Sunday meet also gave the team extra time to practice coming off a 196.05 to 194.9 loss to Kent State.
But instead of working non-stop all week, Reighard said the team took Wednesday off.
“I think it was a wise move,” Reighard said. “It was a hard thing for me to do, just trusting that the rest was going to be better than the work, so we’ll see how that turns out.”
The Broncos were picked second in the preseason poll, while Kent State was selected as the favorite and the Chippewas were predicted to fall into third place.
Reighard said there is rivalry between CMU and WMU in any sport, and gymnastics is no exception.
“We’ve been working really hard on sticking vaulting and sticking dismounts, on bars especially," Reighard said. "This is going to be a meet that Western will think we are vulnerable after Kent State and I think we’re going to have to prove to them that’s not the case.”
Last week, beam was a strong suit and also a downfall.
The Chippewas took the top three-spots in beam with junior Emily Heinz posting a 9.875, sophomore Becca Druien recording a 9.85 and sophomore Taylor Noonan rounding out the top-three with a 9.825.
But, they also had to count two falls in the event..
“Beam is a headcase,” Reighard said. “The hope and the strategy is that we will have a lead and that will be a different type of atmosphere for us than last week.”
