Friday's Gymnastics Results
Cantral Michigan 95.250, NIU 194.675
Lindenwood 192.150, Ball State 192.050, Illinois State 190.80
Courtesy of MAC Sports Information
Central Michigan
Scores
DEKALB, Ill. -- The bitter feeling of falling by exactly one point to Northern Illinois in Mount Pleasant last year was stuck in the back of the minds of Central Michigan when they looked to exact revenge in its Mid-American Conference opener on Friday.
Not giving in to the thunderous capacity crowd at the Victoria E. Court, season-high results on vault (48.825), bars (49.075) and beam (48.925) trumped the Huskies’ home-gym advantage as Central Michigan remained unbeaten with a 195.250-194.675 win.
The 195.250 score was the Chippewas’ season-high.
“It was a really well-fought meet by our gymnasts,” CMU coach Jerry Reighard said. “It was a great feeling for us, a great win for us, keeps at 6-0 now and that’s where we want to be. It was a really good score, we keep moving up every week and I really think it took NIU by surprise.”
Striving to reach a final overall score of 196 still hangs in the balance for the Chippewas, who exceeded that goal several times last season. The team has been slowly climbing toward that measurement since the opening meet.
When asked if there’s a timeframe on when his team should reach that pedestal, Reighard said that although he won’t predict that it’ll occur next weekend at home against MAC rival Ball State, he has every confidence that CMU will achieve that goal soon.
Striking performances from Bryttany Kaplan (9.850) and Rachel Carr (9.850) on the bars helped secure the team’s first plus-49 this season. The pair’s finish earned them the top with NIU’s Jamyra Carter.
On the balance beam, in which Reighard considered the rotation to be the deciding factor in their win over Brigham Young last week, four gymnasts from CMU finished in the top five, scoring a 9.750 or higher.
CMU’s Caroline Fitzpatrick and Katy Clements each scored a 9.825 to share first place on beam.
“Our balance beam was phenomenal tonight,” Reighard said. “I don’t think anybody from NIU expected us to be able to do that. That wins a lot of meets for you and Katy, I call her the anchor, even though she starts out in the rotation, but she’s scored a 9.8-plus three weeks in a row and gives us a lot of confidence.”
CMU freshman Kasey Janowicz scored a 39.125 to win the all-around for the fourth straight meet. Janowicz won the vault (9.875) and tied for third on beam (9.800).
“I watch a little timid freshman at the first meet and she just had big cow eyes and didn’t know where to turn, what to do,” Reighard said. “But now she’s starting to get into a groove, and she’s going to be a phenomenal athlete for us.”
Northern Illinois
Scores
DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University women’s gymnastics team posted its best performance of the season in a 195.275-194.675 setback to Central Michigan in an electric atmosphere in Victor E. Court at the Convocation Center Friday night.
“The kids came in with their energy up and ready to go,” said NIU head coach Sam Morreale. “The MAC is very competitive and these kids want to show where they stand. I’m proud of the effort they put forth. It’s a great score for us. This is the team we want to be moving forward.
“The crowd was electric. It was great. I like being in the bowl in the Convocation Center, but there’s something to be said for the energy in Victor E.”
In addition to posting a season-high overall score, NIU (1-2, 0-1) posted season bests in all four events led once again by the bars squad. The Huskies scored a season-best 48.975, with Jamyra Carter (Ypsilanti, Mich./Huron) scoring a 9.850 to finish in first place with a pair of Chippewas. Senior Lauren Africano (Bourbonnais, Ill./Bradley-Bourbonnais) and sophomore Ashley Potts (Oakwood Hills, Ill./Praire Ridge) finished in fourth and fifth with a 9.825 and 9.800, respectively.
While the Huskies’ floor team closed out NIU’s evening with a meet-high 48.900. Junior Brittany Wenzel (Hilliard, Ohio/Davidson) won the event with a 9.850, her best score of the year. Freshman Anna Martucci (Clarkston, Mich./Our Lady of the Lakes) took third with a career-high 9.825.
“They’ve been working really hard in practice,” Morreale said of the floor team. “They’ve been trying to get better. They’ve been paying attention to detail. It’s nice to see that show in competition. As good as we did, we can still get better.”
Andie Van Voorhis (Columbus, Ohio/Hilliard) led the charge for NIU’s vault team. The Huskie sophomore scored a 9.850 to take second overall. Courtney Dowdell (Lynwood, Ill./Thornton Fractional South) turned in a solid vault, scoring a 9.800, to finish fourth.
The Huskie beam squad, still trying to find its way, scored a 48.025, surpassing the previous season-high of 47.750 set in the season opener at Iowa. Megan Greenfield (Crystal Lake, Ill./Crystal Lake South) was the highest-placing Huskie, taking third with a 9.800.
“Beam is still a work in progress for us,” he said. “I still feel it’s our best event depth-wise. We just have to get kids comfortable and get them to do what they do in practice in competition.”
NIU returns to action Saturday when the Huskies travel to Eastern Michigan. The meet starts at 3 p.m. and is part of a joint gymnastics-wrestling meet between the two schools.
Ball State
Scores
NORMAL, Ill.—Ball State gymnastics finishes second at the season’s first tri-meet against Illinois State (190.800) and Lindenwood (192.150) Friday night, scoring a 192.050.
“We performed well on vault and floor which helped us to come away with a win against Illinois State,” head coach Joanna Saleem said. “Although we didn’t perform how we wanted to on bars and beam which lead to our narrow loss against Lindenwood, we kept our energy high to come back and win floor.”
The Cardinals won vault with a 48.600, and floor with a 48.950 event score. Sophomore, Jordyn Penny claimed third place on vault with a 9.750.
On the bars, Penny took second place scoring a 9.800, while freshman, Madison Howell followed in third place with a score of 9.750.
Kayla Beckler earned fourth place on the balance beam with a 9.650. Penny followed in fifth place with a 9.625.
The team picked up the momentum on the floor where senior Denasiha Christian claimed the floor title with a score of 9.850. Clare Collins, while scoring a career high, shared second place with teammate Sarah Ebeyer both scoring a 9.800. Shelby Arms stood fourth with a 9.775.
“Denasiha had another great floor routine,” stated Saleem. “Clare also did an awesome routine and scored a career best. It’s so exciting to see her doing well in competition. She has worked really hard to break into the line up this season... All in all we had a lot of good things happening. I’m excited to return to the nest and really show our fans how we’ve grown as a team.”
The Cardinals return to action Sunday, January 24, when it opens up the Mid-American Conference with Eastern Michigan along with Illinois State in Worthen Arena at 1 p.m. Admission to the meet is free.
