Pedrick Named MAC Gymnast Of The Year

DeKALB, Ill. – Heartbreaking, certainly. But plenty of encouraging signs and an awful lot to be proud of.

The Central Michigan gymnastics was in the lead heading into the last rotation on Saturday at the Mid-American Conference Championships at Northern Illinois' Convocation Center. That's when the host Huskies posted a 49.275 team score on the balance beam, to surge past CMU and deny the Chippewas a repeat title and the coveted double – a first-place finish in the MAC Championships along with the league regular-season title.

NIU finished with a 195.975 score, while the Chippewas came in at 195.575.

"We couldn't be more proud of every single individual out there, their performances today, and just the all-out effort they displayed," said CMU associate head coach Christine MacDonald, whose team won its second-straight MAC regular-season crown by finishing 6-0 in league duals.

"Today wasn't the outcome that we wanted, but at the same time, it was a great performance and a great fight," she said. "And they never stopped trying, never stopped working, and there were a lot of things that they had to work through, and that's sports."

The Chippewas didn't walk away empty handed as they captured multiple awards at Saturday's meet.

• Junior Denelle Pedrick was named MAC Gymnast of the Year after winning the all-around with a 39.300 score and the vault (9.900). The individual league titles are a first for Pedrick, as she becomes the sixth Chippewa to earn the Gymanst of the Year Award and the first since Halle Moraw in 2015.

• Senior Gianna Plaksa was crowned the bars champion with a 9.850, one year after she won the all-around at the MAC Championships.

• Morgan Tong was named MAC Freshman of the Year, becoming the seventh in program history to accomplish the feat and the first since Kasey Janowicz in 2016.

• Pedrick and Plaksa repeated as members of the MAC All-Championship team.

"We are coming home with a trophy that was won over a 13-week time period, and to do that week in and week out is very hard to do," MacDonald said. "We're coming home with lots of hardware, lots of excitement moving forward, and it definitely gives us a lot of motivation with the focus being on continuing to improve our regional ranking and hit regionals where we will be in our peak state. This upcoming week is going to be exciting."

HOW IT HAPPENED
CMU was tied with Eastern Michigan at 146.525 after its third event. The Chippewas had its best score of the day on the teams last event, the floor exercise with a 49.025.

FLOOR EXERCISE
The Chippewas posted a 49.025 on the floor exercise, their best in the four rotations. Abbie Rose Zoeller and Sydney Williams led CMU by tying for seventh place with a 9.850.

VAULT
The Chippewas started the day on the vault, posting a 48.875, led by Pedrick's first-place finish. Williams (9.800) tied for eighth.

BARS
Plaksa finished in a three-way tie for first on bars, leading CMU to 48.825 score. Pedrick (9.825) was fourth, while Kailey Miller (9.775) tied for ninth.

BEAM
Plaksa and Skyler Memmel tied for 11^th with a 9.825, leading the Chippewas to a 48.825 score.

REGIONALS
With a regional qualifying score of 195.655, the Chippewas have secured a berth in the NCAA Regionals.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Kasey Janowicz

Skyler Memmel

Kailey Miller

Denelle Pedrick

Gianna Plaksa

Morgan Tong

Sydney Williams