Gymnastics Wraps Up Regular Season by Hosting WMU
3/13/2014 12:00:00 AM | Gymnastics
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – No. 18 Central Michigan gymnastics will go head to head with rival Western Michigan for the Chippewas last meet of the 2014 regular season.
The Chippewas and Broncos square off on Saturday, March 15, in McGuirk Arena at 2 p.m. CMU will honor its two seniors, Emily Heinz and Brittany Petzold, after the meet.
Last season, CMU travelled to WMU during the regular season and defeated the Broncos, 195.876- 193.250. Later in the season, the Maroon and Gold made a return trip to Kalamazoo for the MAC Championships, tying WMU for the title. Central Michigan has won the past seven regular season meets between the two teams and hold a 61-20-1 advantage in the series.
Western Michigan is 4-8 overall and 1-4 in the Mid-American Conference. Under first year head coach Jenny Jernigan, the Broncos tied their fourth highest team total against UIC last weekend, finishing with a 195.075.
The Chippewas finished second of five tems at the Rutgers Invite last week, bringing CMU to 14-3 overall. In the national regional qualifying score (RQS) rankings, CMU is 17th on vault (49.090), 21st on bars (49.005), 15th on beam (49.020), 11th on floor (49.205) and 18th in total team score (196.075). The team also holds the No. 1 ranking for each event in the Mid-American Conference.
Central Michigan gymnasts also dominate the conference RQS rankings as a Chippewa leads on all four events and CMU has three of the top 5 on each. Taylor Noonan has the top mark on beam with a 9.890 and also ranks 12th nationally. Halle Moraw is first on floor (9.900) and 14th in the country while Kirsten Petzold leads vault and is 28th nationally. Kylie Fagan's career high mark of 9.925 at Rutgers on bars moved her to the top of the MAC with a 9.865 RQS.
Brittany Petzold and Heinz have been an integral part of the program’s historic run the past four years, helping CMU win three MAC titles and two conference regular season crowns. They have led to the Chippewas to new heights this year including the top road score in program history and CMU’s highest regional qualifying score ever. Heinz has tallied 11 event wins during her career and 31 Top 3 finishes. Brittany Petzold was named the 2013 MAC Co-Gymnast of the Year and has been named first team All-MAC three times in her career.
The Chippewas will head to MAC Championships Saturday, March 22, at Eastern Michigan looking for their fifth-straight MAC Championship.