CMU Gymnasts Head to Eastern Michigan
2/4/2016 12:00:00 AM | Gymnastics
Zach Libby, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - Macey Hilliker stood still on the floor, waiting for her music to begin, with her teammates and coaches standing by her side on the final rotation.
It was her first floor exercise performance in the lineup since coming back from a leg injury that had her sidelined for a majority of the season, and it came in crunch time as Central Michigan looked to take control of the meet with Ball State at McGuirk Arena last weekend.
The music dissolved when she landed her final jump, ending the performance standing upright with her arms and head raised in the air, resulting in a roar of applause from the home crowd.
A 9.875 score put the sophomore in third place among the six competitors. It was not the highest score from a Chippewa, but it received positive recognition from head coach Jerry Reighard.
"It was a stunning performance," Reighard said. "Not surprising though because we know what's inside of that young lady. She's a very tough-minded athlete."
Reighard is expecting a comparable performance from his gymnast on Friday when Central Michigan (7-0) travels to Ypsilanti for a non-conference dual meet with Eastern Michigan at the Eagles' Convocation Center.
Eastern, 7-1 overall, is coming off a convincing 194.775-193.950 win over Northern Illinois on Jan. 30. EMU's only loss came on Jan. 17 in Kalamazoo to Western Michigan by a .225 difference. That was a non-conference meet.
Central Michigan arrives with a continued issue on the vault, which Reighard called it a major area of focus during this week of practice.
No gymnast from the Chippewas finished with a score higher than a 9.800 last weekend, making it the second time this season in which CMU saw itself trailing going into the second rotation on the uneven bars.
Eastern Michigan currently ranks 29th in the country and first in the conference on the vault.
"I'm a little optimistic that we could better this week (on vault), but it really depends what happens in practice," Reighard said.
Another CMU gymnast who will be heavily scrutinized is freshman Kasey Janowicz, who looks to continue her streak of posting scores of 39.000 or better.
It will also be the first time since CMU's non-conference meet with BYU in which the other program has gymnasts competing in the all-around, as EMU utilizes two in Kendall Valentin and Catie Conrad. Valentin finished with a 38.875 score against NIU.
"Kasey is up for the challenge, there's no question about it," Reighard said. "She knows what she's capable of doing and of all the freshman, I think Kasey really has her eyes on the prize and so she's going to go out there and compete in each event to the best of her abilities."
The Chippewas are averaging 194.450, the Eagles 194.629. the Chippewas go next weekend to Navy Pier for the IGI Chicago Style Meet.
"Eastern has improved but I don't think we've reach our full potential," Reighard said. "After this, we go to the Navy Pier and then the rest is all MAC competition that we have to win. We will be tested (Friday) for sure."
Players Mentioned
