DeMers, Tong Ready For NCAA Championships

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Hannah DeMers and Morgan Tong take their turn under the bright lights on the biggest stage in college gymnastics on Friday when the two Central Michigan Chippewas partake in the NCAA National Championships at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas.

DeMers, a sophomore from Canton, will compete on the uneven bars; Tong, a junior from Markham, Ont. Can., will compete on balance beam. The meet is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. and the event will be televised on ESPN2.

"This is a great learning opportunity, it's great exposure for our program and for them to get to the final stage is extremely valuable to both of them as individuals and to our team," CMU coach Christine MacDonald said.

Tong and DeMers qualified two weeks ago out of the regional in Athens, Ga., bringing to 13 the number of Chippewa gymnasts to have qualified for the nationals in the history of the program. Both scored 9.925 and placed fourth in their respective events at the regional.

They are the first from CMU to make it to the NCAA Championships since Denelle Pedrick in 2018.

Tong and Demers will rotate with Utah, one of eight teams that qualified for the Championships. The Utes and Tong will compete on beam in the first rotation; the Utes and DeMers will hit bars in the final rotation.

The rotation order is "going to serve Tong well especially because she'll be warm and ready to compete. Also, I think (DeMers) will be the last competitor of the meet on bars, and she scored higher than anybody on Utah's team going off of regional scores," MacDonald said. "She sits in a good place competitively.

"They are there because of how good they are. To go as an individual, you have to be the best of the best and I think it really speaks to their consistency and to their composure. I'm really excited for them to have this opportunity."

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Players Mentioned

Hannah DeMers

Denelle Pedrick

Morgan Tong