Central Michigan University
NCAA Regional Championships
Chippewa Gymnasts 5th At NCAA Regional
4/2/2016 12:00:00 AM | Gymnastics
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippewas.com
IOWA CITY, Iowa - No regional champions, no NCAA berths.
But plenty of satisfaction as the Central Michigan gymnastics team wrapped up the 2016 season, one of the most tumultuous in recent memory, Saturday at the NCAA Regional at Iowa.
The Chippewas finished fifth in the six-team field with a 194.675 score. CMU's chief Mid-American Conference rival, Kent State, was sixth with 194.525, a result that longtime Chippewa coach Jerry Reighard called "very satisfying."
"I am content with that," Reighard said of the Chippewas' overall finish. "There were some opportunities that we missed, but there were also some people who stepped up. It sort of balanced out. We were the only team that improved their seeding, we came in sixth and went out fifth. Everybody else finished where they were seeded, except Kent State."
No. 1-ranked Oklahoma finished first with 197.575, while 12th-ranked Nebraska was second (196.550). Arkansas (195.500) was third and host Iowa (195.450) finished fourth.
For CMU, Karlee Teet tied for ninth on vault (9.800), Taylor Bolender tied for ninth on balance beam (9.850), Jodie Plescow tied for 17th on uneven parallel bars (9.825), and Gianna Plaksa (9.750) tied for 20th on floor exercise.
Teet and Bolender are seniors, while Plescow is a sophomore and Plaksa is a freshman.
Saturday's meet was not unlike so many others this season for CMU in that Reighard and his assistants were forced to make drastic adjustments mainly because of injuries.
"We had a lot of people who didn't make this trip," Reighard said. "We had an opportunity for our freshmen to get NCAA experience and I think that will really help them down the road. I saw some growth and some maturity in those people.
"It was a work in progress I think for us this whole season. We changed personnel, we changed routines. I really think that we coached our brains out, to be honest, trying to find the right combinations.
"We massaged a lot of routines to fit the rules and give us the best possible scores. I thought the team really had an attitude that we're not going to give up. That's important for us moving down the road."
Players Mentioned
