Gymnasts Go To EMU With Eye Toward MAC Championships
3/9/2016 12:00:00 AM | Gymnastics
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. - The Central Michigan gymnastics team is in an unusual spot: It faces a Mid-American Conference dual meet that doesn't carry championship implications.
Instead, the Chippewas go into Thursday's (6:30 p.m.) meet at Eastern Michigan seeking a shot of momentum ahead of the MAC Championships, which are scheduled for Saturday, March 19, at Ball State.
CMU is coming off a 195.750-195.150 MAC victory over Bowling Green. The Chippewas dropped their previous MAC dual, to Kent State, which effectively gave the Golden Flashes a clear path to the regular-season crown, which they claimed last weekend with a dual victory over Eastern Michigan.
"Our motivation is that this is the last tuneup practice that we have before the Championships," CMU coach Jerry Reighard said as he looked ahead to Thursday's meet at EMU. "The win is prideful.
"What would make me happy is equaling the score we just had at Bowling Green. A 196 would make me really confident going into the Championships and then hopefully we get to add in a few (now-injured) people that I know would be crucial."
The Chippewas dropped a non-leaguer to the Eagles earlier this season. Avenging that isn't a concern, Reighard said. Looking ahead to the most important meet of the year, the MAC Championships, is.
"This is a short practice week, but we're going to make every minute count," he said. "We want to make sure we eliminate a lot of the deductions that we had (against Bowling Green). That's obviously the primary focus. No changes, just a lot of tweaking."
Injuries - some nagging, some serious, all damaging to the Chippewas' bottom line - continue to be a concern as the season reaches its crescendo with the MAC Championships and the April 2 NCAA Regionals - if the Chippewas qualify.
"We're going to pull some people out of the lineup (on Thursday) that I know we desperately need, but we don't need them as much this weekend as we do in the Championships so it's a little bit of a juggling act right now," Reighard said.
All-arounder Kasey Janowicz, who has burst onto the scene in her freshman season, missed the Bowling Green meet with an injury. She will be in the lineup on Thursday, but will compete only on uneven parallel bars and balance beam.
Janowicz may not be 100 percent, but Reighard said he does not want her to lose her edge heading into the MAC Championships and, potentially, the NCAA Regionals.
"My hope is that she'll do two events because I don't want to keep her out of competition," Reighard said. "That becomes a little bit of a mind game when you haven't competed in three weeks."
Players Mentioned
