Gymnastics Battles For MAC Supremecy With Kent State

Feb. 24, 2004

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THIS WEEK - The Central Michigan University gymnastics team (12-3, 3-0 Mid-American Conference) will entertain Kent State on Sunday, Feb. 29, at 2 p.m.

The winner of the meet will take over the top spot in the conference as both teams have yet to lose a MAC tilt.

FOR ALL THE MARBLES- "This is the showdown that will decide the conference," said head coach Jerry Reighard of the Kent State meet. "Both coaches are aware that this meet will probably decide the regular season champion.

"To put in perspective how big this meet is, 10 minutes after we won last year's MAC Championship I'm sure that Kent State was thinking about this dual and I was thinking about it 20 minutes after the meet.

"This is more than the regular season title or pride, this is about who gets the number-one seed going into the MAC Championship."

SCOUTING THE HUSKIES - The meet between the Chippewas and the Golden Flashes features the two most prolific teams in MAC history. They have combined for 15 of the last 16 conference championships.

This year is no different, both teams are undefeated and in a two-team race for first place.

The Golden Flashes have only suffered defeat once this season, a loss to Ohio State by .075, 195.450-195.375. They are ranked 23rd in the nation and fifth in the Central Region.

KSU has scored over 195 seven times this season and have tallied over 196 the past three weeks. It has the reigning MAC "Gymnast of the Week" in Jessie James.

James tied former Chippewa Michelle Orloski's MAC record on the floor with a 10.000 last week versus Bowling Green and George Washington.

The Chippewas have won the last four head-to-head meetings with the Golden Flashes and have won the past five in Mount Pleasant.

LAST WEEK- CMU remained unbeaten in Mid-American Conference play after it defeated Northern Illinois 194.425-194.150 in DeKalb, Ill., on Sunday afternoon.

The Chippewas also picked up non-conference wins over Alaska-Anchorage (189.775) and Winona State (182.150) to improve their overall record to 12-3 and 3-0 in conference action.

CMU had to overcome another poor performance on the bars (47.625) with solid performances on the beam (49.000) and floor (49.175) to pull out the narrow victory.

Sara Burtinsky led the way for the Chippewas by taking first on the vault and beam and first in the all-around. She scored a 9.900 on the vault and beam and finished with a career-high 39.350 in the all-around.

The floor exercise saw four Chippewas finish in the top six. Kara Reighard took first with a 9.900, Burtinsky took second with a 9.875, Mattie Crawford grabbed the third spot with a 9.850 and Stephanie Langley scored a 9.800 and finished sixth.

Crawford also tied Burtinsky for first in the vault with a 9.900.

STRUGGLING ON BARS - "One event, bars, continues to be our nemesis and it almost did us in against Northern Illinois," said Reighard.

"We had all kinds of career-high scores, especially on vault, and that was what got us the win."

MOVING TO THE TOP - With her performance over the weekend at Northern Illinois, Sara Burtinsky moved to the top of the Central Region rankings on the beam.

Burtinsky's career-high 9.900 moved her regional qualifying score (RQS) up to 9.900 and moved her into first place in the region. She is also ranked 13th on bars with an RQS of 9.805.

Other Chippewas ranked in the top 15 in the Central Region include: Kara Reighard ranked fifth in the all-around (9.895) and Mattie Crawford ranked 12th on the vault (9.820).

STREAKING TO VICTORY - CMU will look to continue a couple of its winning streaks this weekend versus Kent State.

The Chippewas have won 22 straight times that they faced an opponent from the MAC. Their last loss came in the 2002 MAC Championship when they finished second to Ball State.

CMU will also be putting its 14-match home win streak on the line. Its last loss inside Rose Arena came against Eastern Michigan in 2001.

TOUGH COMPETITION - The Chippewas will take on their fourth top 25 team this weekend when they battle No. 23 Kent State. All three of the Maroon and Gold's losses have come to ranked opponents.

CMU dropped its season-opening meet to Stanford which is ranked ninth.

The Chippewas lost a dual meet to Penn State on Jan. 24. The Nittany Lions are ranked 21st.

CMU then fell to Michigan on Feb. 6 at the Michigan Classic. The Wolverines hold the 13th spot in the country.