Despite season-best effort, CMU places fourth in Kentucky quad meet
CMU gymnastics got its opportunity under the bright lights on Friday night, competing in a “Friday Night Heights” matchup on the SEC Network. The Chippewas traveled to Lexington to square off against the likes of Kentucky, the 12th ranked squad in the nation, along with Georgia and Illinois. Despite a season-best overall team score of 195.550, CMU was unable to push for a top place in the meet, finishing as the last of the four teams.
Kentucky took first place with an overall team score of 197.450, followed by Georgia with a score of 196.125. Illinois finished in third as they squeaked past CMU’s mark with a 195.650 - a mere tenth of a point ahead.
Sophomore Adriana Bustelo got the ball rolling for the Chippewas as they started the meet on the uneven parallel bars. Bustelo did so in style, securing a career-high score of 9.850 and a fifth place finish in the event (tied with Kentucky’s Kaitlin Deguzman and Georgia’s Megan Roberts). CMU would finish the rotation with a team score of 48.750 - their lowest mark of the night for a single event.
Elsewhere, CMU got a healthy dose of top-five finishes throughout the competition. Junior Hannah DeMers shared the third place finish in the vault with Georgia’s Abbey Ward and Rachel Baumann. Also cracking the top five for vault were CMU sophomores Elizabeth Cesarone and Katie Kowalski, as each earned a score of 9.825 and a fifth place finish.
CMU senior and longtime contributor Sierra DeMarinis anchored the floor exercise like a true veteran, posting a season-high 9.900 mark during the floor exercise. This mark would place her in third for the event, along with Georgia’s Baumann. DeMers placed fifth with a score of 9.850. The pair of DeMarinis and DeMers also shared a fifth place finish on the balance beam with a score of 9.825 each.
CMU finds itself back at McGuirk after four consecutive road meets next Friday, Feb. 11 for a home tri-meet against Western Michigan and Michigan State. The meet is set for 7 p.m.
