Gymnastics upsets No. 24 Maryland, could move up into top-25 rankings
Gymnastics slipped past 24th ranked Maryland on Friday, picking up a 194.8-192.05 victory at McGuirk Arena.
After scoring 194.45 in last week’s season opener against Wisconsin-Eau Claire, head coach Jerry Reighard predicted the team would need to score 195 to beat Maryland this week. While they came up two-tenths of a point short of the goal, they had no problem putting away Maryland.
“I told the team that we needed to be a 195 team,” Reighard said. “I think we really pressured them. I don’t think they really expected us to be the caliber that we were.”
Reighard said he believes the victory will catapult the Chippewas into the Top-25 in the NCAA National Rankings, which will be released Monday. CMU received votes in the preseason rankings, but not enough to crack the Top-25.
CMU beat Maryland in all four events – vault, bars, beam and floor. Reighard credits his team’s strong start as a key to the victory.
The Terrapins began the night with a 47.750 on bars and CMU took advantage by scoring a 48.625 on vault, taking a large early lead.
“I told the team, ‘hey, they just opened the door, you’ve got to walk through,’ and they did,” Reighard said. “I tell them, ‘I don’t want you watching the other team because that’s not what we’re here to do, but I’ll tell you when the door opens, and when it does, then you’ve got to ante up,’ and that’s exactly what happened.”
Senior Brittany Petzold was the only Chippewa to compete in all four events Friday and had an all around score of 39.175. Friday was Petzold’s all around debut for CMU.
Her and senior Emily Heinz claimed the top two scores of the night, each with a 9.85 on floor.
“Emily Heinz really came through for us,” Reighard said. “She’s probably our fifth or sixth best floor worker. It was a great charger for us."
Both Brittany Petzold and her sister, sophomore Kirsten Petzold, were enthusiastic about the results.
“We had a fall on floor and we still got a 194.8, so that tells us how much better we can be,” Brittany Petzold said. “We had a few mistakes here and there on other events, so I’m really excited for the future.”
Both Reighard and Brittany Petzold have high expectations for next Friday’s meet against William and Mary after Friday’s performance.
“We’re hoping for a 196. I know for sure we can get a 196,” Brittany Petzold said. “(We) had mistakes on the other events that I know we can do and we can fix in practice.”
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