Central Michigan University Athletics
Gymnastics Hosts Bowling Green At Home This Sunday
2/8/2007 12:00:00 AM | Gymnastics
CMU Gymnastics This Week
Bowling Green
Sunday, February 11 • 2 p.m.
Rose Arena
MOUNT PLEASANT - After four consecutive competitions on the road, the Central Michigan University gymnastics team is back at Rose Arena for the first time since the season opening meet on Jan. 12 as it welcomes Mid-American Conference rival Bowling Green for a dual meet this Sunday, Feb. 11 at 2 p.m.
CMU (6-4, 1-0 MAC) is coming off a third-place finish at the State of Michigan Classic with a score of 193.475, its second-highest of the season. However, CMU head coach Jerry Reighard said his team left a bigger score out on the table.
“The team realizes we had the opportunity to post a much better score,” Reighard said. “Its a lesson we needed to learn. Our competitive nature still needs improvement. We’ve been raising the bar for the team in practice this week to try and remedy that.”
There were some positives from the performance at the Classic, especially the way that the team responded to adversity early on. The first gymnast on the first event, balance beam, fell, putting immense pressure on the rest of the lineup. CMU responded with five strong routines to save the event. That type of resiliency was something that CMU didn’t always have a year ago.
“We saw a lot of fight out of this team in those situations,” Reighard said. “We were on the ropes right away at the Classic, but we didn’t crumble, which was very encouraging. It had a very positive effect on the team to know that they could come back from adversity with a strong performance.”
CMU had two season-high scores last weekend, posting 48.425 on the vault and 48.575 on the floor exercise. Those scores are what CMU needs consistently to post a team total of 194.000, which Reighard sees as a benchmark score to reach.
“We should score a 194.000 in every meet, and we set that as a goal for the team,” Reighard said. “If we can stay within ourselves, I’ve told the team that scoring a 195.000 is in the realm of possibility.”
The Chippewas will need a good score to beat a Bowling Green team that is already 3-1 in MAC dual meets this season. The Falcons have won their last three competitions against MAC foes and have been improving their scores each week so far this season. Last year, BG defeated CMU in the Chippewas season opener, ending their streak of 26 consecutive victories in MAC dual meets. Because the rotation order for the MAC Championships in determined by a team’s record in regular season dual meets, it’s important for CMU to get a win over Bowling Green this weekend and stay ahead of the Falcons in the standings.
“There’s no question that this is an important meet,” Reighard said. “Every time you face a conference opponent, it’s important. We need to take care of getting a win, whether its by a tenth of a point or two points. We want to beat an opponent from the MAC every time we face them.”
Sunday’s meet with Bowling Green will be the first of three straight in which the Chippewas will compete in a dual meet with a conference rival. Following BG, CMU will be on the road against Western Michigan (Feb. 18) and Kent State (Feb. 25).
