Central Michigan University
Northern Illinois
CMU Gymnasts Win MAC Opener
1/22/2016 12:00:00 AM | Gymnastics
Meet Results
Zach Libby, CMUChippewas.com
DEKALB, Ill. -- The bitter feeling of falling by exactly one point to Northern Illinois in Mount Pleasant last year was stuck in the back of the minds of Central Michigan when they looked to exact revenge in its Mid-American Conference opener on Friday.
Not giving in to the thunderous capacity crowd at the Victoria E. Court, season-high results on vault (48.825), bars (49.075) and beam (48.925) trumped the Huskies' home-gym advantage as Central Michigan remained unbeaten with a 195.250-194.675 win.
The 195.275 score was the Chippewas' season-high.
"It was a really well-fought meet by our gymnasts," CMU coach Jerry Reighard said. "It was a great feeling for us, a great win for us, keeps at 6-0 now and that's where we want to be. It was a really good score, we keep moving up every week and I really think it took NIU by surprise."
Striving to reach a final overall score of 196 still hangs in the balance for the Chippewas, who exceeded that goal several times last season. The team has been slowly climbing toward that measurement since the opening meet.
When asked if there's a timeframe on when his team should reach that pedestal, Reighard said that although he won't predict that it'll occur next weekend at home against MAC rival Ball State, he has every confidence that CMU will achieve that goal soon.
Striking performances from Bryttany Kaplan (9.850) and Rachel Carr (9.850) on the bars helped secure the team's first plus-49 this season. The pair's finish earned them the top spot with NIU's Jamyra Carter.
On the balance beam, in which Reighard considered the rotation to be the deciding factor in their win over Brigham Young last week, four gymnasts from CMU finished in the top five, scoring a 9.750 or higher.
CMU's Caroline Fitzpatrick and Katy Clements each scored a 9.825 to share first place on beam.
"Our balance beam was phenomenal tonight," Reighard said. "I don't think anybody from NIU expected us to be able to do that. That wins a lot of meets for you and Katy, I call her the anchor, even though she starts out in the rotation, but she's scored a 9.8-plus three weeks in a row and gives us a lot of confidence."
The Chippewas' Kirstin Stambaugh and Brittany Wenzel shared first place on floor (9.850).
CMU freshman Kasey Janowicz scored a 39.125 to win the all-around for the fourth straight meet. Janowicz won the vault (9.875) and tied for third on beam (9.800).
"I watch a little timid freshman at the first meet and she just had big cow eyes and didn't know where to turn, what to do," Reighard said. "But now she's starting to get into a groove, and she's going to be a phenomenal athlete for us."
Players Mentioned
