Gymnasts Hosts Western Michigan On Sunday
2/20/2016 12:00:00 AM | Gymnastics
Zach Libby, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. -- Central Michigan gymnasts head coach Jerry Reighard possesses an affluent vocabulary, and one of his all-time favorite words for athletics is "persevere."
When asked to describe CMU's come-from-behind victory at the IGI Chicago Style Meet last weekend, Reighard didn't hesitate to throw out his ideal verb, saying that some teams are better than others at making that last push in the final run.
Overcoming that adversity in the final rotation on Feb. 12 was a steppingstone that Reighard hoped for for his team, by not falling victim to the pressure and maintaining its composure mentally heading into the toughest stretch of the season, beginning on Sunday.
Rivalry week hits home for any student-athlete in any sport, as this weekend entails a slew of implications for both the Chippewas and certain individuals.
The Chippewas, who are 10-1 overall, 2-0 in the MAC, return to McGuirk Arena for the first time since Jan. 31 for an in-state matchup with Western Michigan at 2 p.m. Sunday. This weekend also marks CMU's first conference meet since late January.
The Broncos are 4-3 and have lost their last two meets, the first to Northern Illinois, the second to Eastern Michigan on Friday. They scored 194.200 against the Huskies, 193.250 against Eastern. Both meets were on the road.
Western's top score of the season is 195.275.
"They are toe-to-toe with us as far as their best-event scorer versus our best-event scorer on all four events," Reighard said. "And in the events that there is a difference, it's only a 10th of a point. It's going to come down to which team will mentally put in the most focus and determination."
The Chippewas are expected to put out the same lineup they did last week in Chicago. Experimenting with a different starting six resulted in a season-high in vault, an event in which the Chippewas have been somewhat inconsistent.
A positive turn in vault was offset by season-low scores on both the floor exercise and uneven parallel bars.
Freshman Kasey Janowicz, who has made her mark for the Chippewas in the all-around, is coming off her first meet in which she failed to reach an overall score of at least 39.000 since Jan. 8.
It wasn't a physical error that ended her four-meet streak, it was a mental lapse, as seen by both Reighard and the coaching staff. Janowicz would finish with scores of 9.825 or higher on every event, but recorded a 9.225 on balance beam after a fall.
"She's an incredible athlete and we just have to figure out how to maneuver this for the last four weeks," Reighard said.
Western Michigan marks the beginning of a critical four-meet stretch to which the Chippewas have been pointing all season. CMU has duals remaining with Bowling Green, Kent State and Eastern Michigan.
"The freshmen don't get it yet, but the upperclassmen are informing them about what's on the line," Reighard said. "The important thing about that whole formula is, it doesn't get any better, Western is going to be tough, Kent is going to be tough, and then we see Eastern. And it is down now to the teams who can persevere."
Players Mentioned
