Central Michigan University Athletics
Gymnastics Travels to Four-Team Eagle Invitational on Saturday
3/8/2007 12:00:00 AM | Gymnastics
CMU Gymnastics This Week
vs. Eastern Michigan, Ball State and Illinois State at Eagle Invitational
Saturday, March 10 • 1 p.m.
Bowen Fieldhouse
Meet Notes: CMU has defeated all three of these teams previously this season … this is the first of three meetings in the next four weeks between CMU and EMU … the Eagles are at CMU for a dual meet on March 24 before the MAC Championships on March 31 … Ball State grabbed its first MAC win versus Northern Illinois on Feb. 25 … Illinois State lost to EMU in a dual meet on Feb. 28, 192.950-190.300.
MOUNT PLEASANT - The Central Michigan University gymnastics team will compete on the road for the last time before the upcoming Mid-American Conference Championships this weekend, when it competes at the Eagle Invitational hosted by Eastern Michigan. The meet will be held in EMU’s Bowen Fieldhouse beginning at 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 10.
CMU will join MAC rival Ball State and Illinois State as visitors for the four-team meet. CMU has already faced both schools this season, defeating Illinois State on Jan. 12 and winning Ball State’s Cardinal Classic meet on Jan. 26.
The Chippewas’ roller-coaster ride in their last four meets had another downturn with a disappointing score of 192.600 and a third place finish at a triangular meet with Pittsburgh and No. 19-ranked Missouri last weekend. CMU has alternated good scores (195.125 and 195.775) and bad scores (190.375 and 192.600) during the last four weeks, and is need of some consistency over the next four weeks in order to qualify for the NCAA Regionals and contend for the MAC championship.
“We need to score at the 195.000 level if we want to be in a position to qualify as a team for the NCAA Regionals,” CMU head coach Jerry Reighard said. “If we score anything less than that, it doesn’t really help us that much. Our individuals also need to look for scores of 9.800 or better to help their chances of qualifying individually if the team doesn’t make the regional meet. It’s time for everybody to step up even more than they have so far this season.”
Part of CMU’s struggles at Pittsburgh can be attributed to a lineup that was missing several key contributors this season, including Alexis Diaz, Vanessa Rodriguez and Laura Rogers. Diaz, a regular on vault and floor, missed her first meet this season and Rodriguez, who was a regular starter on the uneven bars and also competed vault and balance beam in most meets, is out for the season with an injury. Rogers suffered an injury earlier this season at Ball State that forced her to miss all of parts of three meets, and her return as an all-arounder at the Kent State meet helped CMU produce its season-best score in a big victory over the Golden Flashes. Without her at Pittsburgh, CMU struggled.
“That shows that Laura Rogers is an important part of this team,” Reighard said. “She has a presence when she is in the lineup that breeds confidence for the team, and when you take her away, along with Vanessa and Alexis, it really attacks our depth. It puts extra pressure on the rest of the team when you have key parts of the lineup that are missing.
“That has a tremendous effect on the athletes that have to fill those spots in the lineup. Jessica Neel was competing two events at Kent State, but the next week is working as an all-arounder. Kyla Krygier goes from fighting for a bars spot to being counted on every week. It’s a difficult adjustment to make. We’ve been using a lot of simulation exercises in practice to put on the type of pressure that the athletes would face in a meet situation, and we’re antcipating that will help us as we get ready for the Eagle Invitational this weekend.”
One challenge for CMU this weekend will be its order of events at the four-team meet. The Chippewas will be on the floor exercise in the first rotation, to be followed by the vault on the second rotation, then the uneven bars and balance beam.
“It’s very difficult to go from floor directly to vault because the floor exercise taxes a gymnast’s legs so much,” Reighard said. “We’ve been simulating that in practice this week, having our all-arounders go right from floor to vault to get ready for what that will be like when we compete on Saturday.”
