Gymnastics

Central Michigan Takes Gymnast and Specialist of the Week Awards

MAC Gymnast of the Week
Hannah Demers, Central Michigan, Sophomore
Demers led CMU to a first-place finish at the Illinois State quad with a career-best mark of 39.375 in the all-around. DeMers tied for first on floor with a career-high mark of 9.925, finished second in the all-around and on vault (9.850) and fourth on beam (9.775).


MAC Specialist of the Week
Annie Hammond, Central Michigan, Senior
Hammond won bars with a season-high mark of 9.925 as CMU took first at the Illinois State quad meet.
 
Other Nominees

Alex Fochler, Bowling Green, Senior 
Alex Fochler won the uneven bars at Eastern Michigan’s quad meet Sunday, posting a top 10 score in BGSU history. Fochler’s 9.900 was tied for the sixth-highest score in school history and was good enough to beat all bars competitors from Iowa State, Eastern Michigan and Air Force. Fochler added a 9.725 on floor. Fochler was the only gymnast to crack Iowa State’s stranglehold on medalist honors as the Cyclones took home first place in every other event and the all-around.

Courtney Bezold, Eastern Michigan, Senior
Senior bars specialist Cortney Bezold led Eastern Michigan in the event once again, scoring 9.850 and tying for third in the EMU Quad Sunday, March 7, inside the Convocation Center. Bezold currently ranks third in the MAC on the apparatus. 

Claudia Goyco, Ball State, Senior
Claudia Goyco was the best on the floor Sunday at Kent State. Goyco, MAC Specialist of the Year in 2020, scored 9.9 on floor to tie for 1st place as Ball State earned a team win at Kent State and a team mark of 195.725. The routine was her second 9.9 score of the year and eighth of her career.

Toshi Richard, Kent State, Senior
Richard has been a huge lift for the Flashes on floor in her senior season. She tied a career-high 9.900 and tied for the individual title on Sunday against Ball State to help Kent State to its second-best floor mark (49.350) of the season.  It was Richard’s first individual event title of her career, and she did it in front of limited fans in her final collegiate meet inside the M.A.C. Center. 

Natalie Hamp, Northern Illinois, Sophomore
Natalie Hamp posted back-to-back scores of 9.875 on uneven parallel bars in a pair of meets for NIU this week. Hamp has achieved the career high score of 9.875 four times this season, including in each of the Huskies’ last three meets. The 9.875 is NIU’s best score on bars on the season. She led the bars team to totals of 49.175 and 49.225, tops in both the tri-meet versus Iowa State and Illinois State on Friday, and the quad meet versus Illinois State, Central Michigan and Lindenwood on Sunday. The 49.225 total is tied for the third highest bars school in school history.  

Rachel Decavitch, Kent State, Sophomore
The 2020 MAC Gymnast of the Year was back competing in the all-around for the first time in nearly a month. DeCavitch returned to the beam for the first time since Feb. 18 and promptly tied for first place with a score of 9.825. She also recorded a 9.875 on floor to tie for third place. She posted her second-best all-around score (39.025) of the season.

Morgan Hooper, Northern Illinois, Junior
NIU’s Morgan Hooper scored 39.000 or higher in both of her all-around performances this weekend, which were just her second and third all-around meets of the season. Hooper scored or matched her season highs on three events – and the all-around – during the week. Her 9.850 on bars at the Illinois State Quad Meet was her best score on that event since 2019. Her 9.850 on balance beam at the NIU Tri-Meet and her 9.775 on floor exercise were both her best scores of the year while the 39.100 in the all-around versus Iowa State and Illinois State is her career high.  Her performances on bars helped NIU post two of its top 10 team scores all-time on that event. 
  
Molly Paris, Eastern Michigan, Sophomore
Sophomore Molly Parris competed in three of four events in the EMU Quad Sunday, March 7, inside the Convocation Center. Parris scored 9.750’s across vault, bars, and beam, finishing 11th, 10th, and 13th, respectively. 

Taylor Jensen, Bowling Green, Sophomore
Taylor Jensen posted a new career-best on the all-around and finished second in the all-around at Eastern Michigan’s quad meet Sunday. She posted a career-high 38.975 and finished second of six all-arounders in the meet, which included Iowa State, Eastern Michigan and Air Force. She was runner-up on vault with a career-best 9.875 and added a career-best 9.800 on balance beam. She added a 9.700 on floor and a 9.600 on the uneven bars.

Marissa Nychyk, Ball State, Junior
Marissa Nychyk competed all-around for Ball State in a meet win at Kent State on Sunday, finishing with a win on vault and a score of 39.000. Her mark of 9.85 was the day’s top vault score and she was 4th on beam. Nychyk’s efforts led BSU to a 195.725 team score and a win, the Cardinals are now 13-1 in head-to-head scoring this season.