Central Michigan University
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Western Michigan
CMU Gymnasts Nail Down Title
3/15/2015 12:00:00 AM | Gymnastics
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
KALAMAZOO, Mich. - Good, and getting better, at just the right time.
The Central Michigan gymnastics team posted a 196.225 score Sunday to top Western Michigan and win its first Mid-American Conference regular-season championship since 2012.
The Chippewas finished 5-1 in MAC dual meets. They will seek their sixth consecutive title next week at the MAC Championships.
"Very excited," CMU coach Jerry Reighard said. "This was definitely a pressure-packed meet for our team. Western was on our heels the whole day. I'm very excited for the team."
The 196.225 was CMU's second-best team score of the season as the Chippewas were first or shared first in all four events. Western could have earned a share of the title with the Chippewas with a win on Sunday. The Broncos' 195.725 was their season-best score.
"I kept telling them, `They're out to get you,'" Reighard said. "Western had a lot on the line too. Once we got into the rhythm of the meet I thought we really settled down and started seeing the CMU team I really wanted to see.
"We'll take (the title), we'll claim it, and we'll love it. It was a lot of work throughout the season, a lot of perseverance from every individual."
Halle Moraw won the floor exercise with a season-best 9.925 and shared first place on vault (9.850) with teammate Karlee Teet and Western's Jessi Buis.
"Of all the events, she loves floor," Reighard said of Moraw. "She's just so natural at the dance part of it and she has mastered the tumbling. She loves to perform out there on the floor and that shows."
CMU senior Taylor Noonan continued her remarkable comeback from a knee injury with a win on balance beam, posting her second consecutive 9.900. She returned for CMU's previous meet at BYU, where she was also first on beam.
"It would be like a basketball player hitting 10 three-pointers after being in a cast for however long," Reighard said of Noonan, who missed about eight weeks. "This is a composure story, this is a story of someone who mentally trained while she was hurt, did all the right things to be ready when she was given the green light. It's made a different beam team out of us no doubt it.
"I'm just very pleased with Taylor. She knows how to compete and she loves to compete."
The Chippewas' Kylie Fagan continued her season-long dominance on uneven parallel bars, winning with a 9.900. It marked the seventh time in 11 meets this season that Fagan has scored 9.900 or better in the event.
"I truly believe Fagan can be a first team All-American," Reighard said. "The top eight in the nation make All-American and she's ranked fifth right now."
CMU swept the top three spots on bars as Teet (9.875) was second and Taylor Bolender (9.850) placed third. The Chippewas' Becca Druien was second on floor exercise with a 9.900, which tied her season high, and Bolender (9.875) was third.
"I think this is exactly what we needed," Reighard said of his team's all-around outstanding peformance. "I think this gives us every confidence (going into the MAC Championships) that we haven't had for the last few years even though we've done it in decisive fashion the last few years. I think this kind of takes the monkey off your back."
The MAC Championships are Saturday at Kent State.
Players Mentioned
