Gymnasts Head West

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. -- The Central Michigan gymnastics team hits the road for the first time this season on Saturday when it competes in a nonconference quad at Denver.

Joining the Chippewas and the host Pioneers are Texas Woman's and Sacramento State.

The Chippewas are 4-0 after winning their season-opening quad and then downing Illinois State in a dual. CMU posted a season-best 195.275 team score in downing the Redbirds.

GOOD TEST
The Chippewas are ranked 22^nd nationally, averaging 195.075, while Denver is ranked eighth, averaging 196.275.

WHERE THEY STAND
The Chippewas are ranked 22^nd nationally, averaging 195.075. CMU's best event ranking is ninth in the floor exercise.

Denver ranks in the top 20 nationally in all four events. The Pioneers are seventh on bars, ninth on vault, 13^th on beam, and 18^th on floor.

Individually, CMU's Gianna Plaksa is ranked 37th nationally all-around with a 39.050. Also for the Chippewas, Denelle Pedrick is 42^nd on floor with an average score of 9.850.

Denver's Lynzee Brown is ranked 13^th as an all-arounder at 39.400.

THE RECORDS
Denver opened the season with a victory in a quad at Alabama. The Pioneers posted a 196.275 team score top ninth-ranked Michigan and 17^th-ranked Alabama along with CMU's Mid-American Conference brethren Bowling Green.

Texas Woman's is 0-2 and averaging 193.550. All-arounder Bria Northrup leads Texas Woman's with a No. 23 ranking (39.225).

Sacramento State is 1-4 and coming off a second-place finish in a home tri-meet with Stanford and Seattle Pacific. The Hornets posted a 189.950 score in that meet and are ranked 62^nd with a 190.000 average.

THE MILE HIGH CITY
Saturday's meet is the first of four consecutive away from McGuirk Arena for the Chippewas.

Among the challenges of traveling to Denver is the time change (mountain time) and the thinner air due to the higher elevation of the Mile High City.

"We've been trying to take care of the cardio, which we know will affect us," CMU coach Jerry Reighard said. "So, you compound that with being on a plane, we're out of our element, we're in a hotel.

"Those are all things that a non-athlete may think are great. But we're not on a vacation … this is a working trip.
"We've been talking about it for the past few months. They're prepared, they know what they need to do. We've done everything from hydration to sleeping correctly. But, the biggest issue is the time zone, and there's nothing I can do about that."

BEING GRITTY
Reighard said his top goal anytime his team competes is improvement. CMU has been solid in its first two competitions, but there is, as always in gymnastics, room for improvement.

"We're a numbers sport," he said. "The numbers are what we live and die by. We've made some subtle improvements from one meet to the next.

"The part that I've really liked (from this team) is what we call grit. Every athlete wants to be gritty, but in gymnastics, gritty means composed. It means working under pressure and to not let the pressure get to you."

NEXT
CMU will go to Kalamazoo on Sunday, Jan. 27 to take on Western Michigan in its MAC-opening dual. Western Michigan is scheduled to compete today, Friday, in a MAC tri-meet with Eastern Michigan at Northern Illinois.

The Broncos head into that meet tied with CMU for the No. 22 spot in the nation.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Denelle Pedrick

Gianna Plaksa