Gymnastics take third in NCAA Regional Championship, second best in school history
This season isn't done yet.
No. 18 Central Michigan University gymnastics finished with its second-best NCAA regional championship finish in school history this weekend. The Chippewas finished third behind No. 6 Georgia and in-state rival No. 7 Michigan.
“I am very excited, I thought the team did exceptionally well," said CMU head coach Jerry Reighard. "We did what we thought we would do, to beat the sixth and seventh seed we knew was going to be difficult. We were on fire on beam and floor. We won beam as a team, which is exceptional in this competition, and second as a team on floor.”
Both the Wolverines and Bulldogs started with byes and their respective best events, starting the meet with high scores.
Michigan competed with only seven gymnasts, each very talented at multiple events, compared to CMU’s 11 gymnasts at the NCAA regional championship.
The Wolverines never lost momentum, powering through each event with at least one 9.9. They eventually went on to win the NCAA regional championship meet.
CMU captain Emily Heinz described the SEC stadium Friday as "the dream atmosphere."
After a shaky start on vault, CMU started its comeback on bars with junior Becca Druien and with a harsh 9.825 score from junior Kylie Fagan. Reighard said Fagan's performance was "just as good as her 9.95 at the MAC championships."
“I thought that my bar routine was good, it felt great," Fagan said. "I thought that I was a bit underscored but there’s not really much I can do about that."
The Chippewas finished gallantly on their strongest event, scoring a 49.225 on floor. The judges stayed very strict, keeping scores much lower than each team's average. CMU outscored Ohio State and Rutgers.
Rutgers, who stole a late meet winner against the Chippewas in early March, was beat by nearly two full points by CMU.
The Chippewas had a tough start on vault, unable to stick their landings. They were able to battle back, showing their continued perseverance.
The toughest judged event of the day was beam, where CMU took three 9.85’s, the highest beam score of all teams. Junior Halle Moraw, Junior Taylor Noonan and Heinz tied for first place.
“Most exciting regional I’ve ever been to, so proud of this team and I couldn’t ask for anything better,” Heinz said.
The three beam champions will be traveling to Birmingham, Ala. to compete individually at the NCAA national championship.
“Obviously I would like to go as a team but I am super excited that I have two other people from the team that I get to go with,” Heinz said. “Honestly, I didn’t even know we had the highest score at the time or that it would even hold up.”
Moraw, a junior who has been working all year for a perfect 10, also finished third in her floor routine.
Druien was the only Chippewa to compete in the all-around, finishing with a 38.65.
“Becca Druien saved the meet for us on bars, she was just adrenaline loaded," Reighard said. "I think that was what lead us to go past Ohio State."
The third place finish by CMU is good enough for their second best NCAA regional championship finish in school history. The Chippewas will lose two senior captains in Brittany Petzold and Emily Heinz moving into the 2014-15 season but have a promising team of returning MAC champions.
