Gymnastics Triumphs at George Washington, 190.850-190.675

Sunday, March 5

Washington, D.C.

1:00 PM

Central Michigan University

190.850

190.675

George Washington

3/5/2006 12:00:00 AM | Gymnastics

March 5, 2006

Complete Results

WASHINGTON, DC - The Central Michigan University gymnastics team stayed upright just enough to edge shaky George Washington in a dual meet here this afternoon, topping the Colonials by a score of 190.850-190.675. GW had seven falls in its last 12 routines on the balance beam and floor exercise, while CMU limited its errors to only three falls on those two events to erase a deficit after the first two rotations and earn a victory. With the win, the Chippewas improved to 6-8 on the season.

"It was nice to end up on the winning side of a close meet," CMU head coach Jerry Reighard said. "We've been on the wrong side every other time this season. This certainly wasn't the prettiest gymnastics meet, but I'm proud of my team for hanging in there, especially on the last event, balance beam. We talked about wanting to limit our mistakes and put the pressure on George Washington on the last two events, and we did that. I think we can take some good things out of this from that as we get ready for our next few competitions."

CMU opened the meet on the uneven bars with a solid, but unspectacular, performance on the event. The Chippewas had four scores of 9.550 or better on six routines, led by Sheena Smith's 9.825 that captured the event, but had to count a fall and totaled 47.600 on bars. Jules Passy had a strong routine with a 9.700, while freshmen Jessica Neel (9.575) and Michelle Lopez (9.550) also came through with clean performances. CMU trailed GW by nine-tenths of a point after the first rotation.

The Chippewas then moved to the vault, which has been their most consistent event of the season, and today was no different with CMU putting up 48.425 points as a team on the event. Smith was the top Chippewa with a 9.800, the second-best score of the meet on the event, with teammate Mattie Crawford's 9.775 right behind Smith in third place on vault. Good scores from Whitney Burton (9.675), Neel (9.600) and Stephanie Langley (9.575) helped CMU cut into the Colonials' lead after two rotations, but it still trailed by nearly seven-tenths of a point with two rotations left.

The meet turned on the third rotation, with CMU on the floor exercise and GW on the balance beam. One after another the Colonials fell off the beam, four of their six gymnasts in all. Meanwhile, the Chippewas stayed more upright on the floor, falling twice and getting some very strong scores. Danielle Espinoza led the way for CMU and won the event with a 9.825. Its two seniors, Langley and Crawford, came through with high marks of 9.675 and 9.625 respectively to help post a total of 47.550 on the event. GW counted three routines with falls, and when the third rotation was over, the Chippewas found themselves leading for the first time in the meet, but with an advantage of only two-and-a-half tenths (.025) over GW.

CMU went to the beam to finish the meet, and its first three gymnasts all stayed on the beam, getting the team off to a solid start on the event. In that first group, Espinoza posted a 9.775 and Neel came through with a 9.525. The Chippewas did have two falls in the last three routines, but Passy's exceptionally steady routine earned her a score of 9.825, best of the meet on beam and tied for her season-best mark. When GW's last two gymnasts both fell during their floor routines, CMU had done enough on the beam to preserve its slim lead and leave the meet with a victory by less than two-tenths of a point (.175).

"Perseverance pays off, and we saw that firsthand today," Reighard said. "You never know what's going to happen in a gymnastics meet. I think in some of the other meets this year, we've been defeated because we beat ourselves with our response to disappointments on one event or with a lack of confidence. We didn't do that today. We kept our composure and came back on the last event, and it resulted in a victory. That should help us with our confidence this week and beyond."

CMU will be back in action in its final non-conference meet of the season next Sunday, March 12 against the University of Kentucky. The meet with the Wildcats begins at 2 p.m. at Rose Arena.

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