Gymnasts Look To Bounce Back
3/3/2016 12:00:00 AM | Gymnastics
Zach Libby, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. -- Five days have passed since the Central Michigan gymnastics team lost at home in a Mid-American Conference meet to Kent State.
What was seen on the floor that Sunday night brought anguish for Chippewa fans and coach Jerry Reighard alike as an unwanted domino affect surfaced in the final three rotations.
Five total falls were committed by Central Michigan, including two on the uneven parallel bars, beginning an unpleasant downfall during the Chippewas' Senior Night and the final home meet of the year.
"To lose a meet, to us, that's not acceptable," Reighard said. "When that loss happens in your conference to a team that you know you're clearly better than … I mean, we allowed that to happen.
"If we were to come back strong after the bars incident, still a winnable situation, but we didn't."
The Chippewas find themselves staring up at Kent State and Eastern Michigan in the MAC standings. The Golden Flashes are 5-0 in league meets, Eastern is 4-0, and the Chippewas are 3-1.
The best scenario for CMU is that it wins at Bowling Green on Friday (6 p.m.), Eastern tops Kent on Friday, and the Chippewas beat Eastern in Ypsilanti next weekend. That would leave CMU, Eastern and Kent State with one loss each and they would share the regular-season championship.
"In order for us to even think about claiming a share of the title we have to beat (Bowling Green)," Reighard said. "We're going to go down there and try to do that."
The Falcons are 0-4 in conference meets. Their season-high score is 195.425.
"We have a job to do," Reighard said. "We want to be on our toes, we want to be go after this team and that's what we've been talking about."
Reighard said freshman sensation Kasey Janowicz, who has placed first in the all-around eight times in nine meets this season, will not compete at Bowling Green because of a leg injury.
In replace of Janowicz, Reighard said he will insert the gymnasts who have performed in exhibition rounds after each rotation throughout meets this season.
"I still think we have the horses to take care of business," Reighard said. "But there's no leaning on anyone. You have to do your job."
Players Mentioned
