Gymnastics Wraps Up Season at NCAA Regionals

Final Results

ATHENS, Ga. – The Central Michigan gymnastics team finished fourth on Friday in the NCAA Regional Championships at Georgia's Stegeman Coliseum.

The Chippewas bettered their season average team score with a 195.575. Top-ranked Florida (197.950) won the quad and advanced to Saturday's four-team final along with second-place North Carolina State (196.775). Illinois was third.

"Very, very proud of a total team effort today," CMU coach Christine MacDonald said. "We knew it was a learning experience, we knew we were going in with a lot of first-timers, and they really did a great job of staying focused and staying within their bubble and, at the end of the day, they really put out a solid team effort.

"It was exactly the experience we needed."

CMU sophomore Hannah DeMers finished second in the session in the all-around with a 39.500 score. She tied for third on the vault (9.875), finished fourth on the uneven parallel bars (9.925) and was sixth on balance beam, equaling her career best with a 9.875.

CMU also got top-10 finishes from junior Morgan Tong and from senior Nora Fettinger. Tong placed fourth on the balance beam with a career-best 9.925, while Fettinger tied for 10th on the floor exercise with a 9.850.

Both DeMers and Tong could advance to the NCAA Championships in two weeks in Fort Worth, Texas, if their respective scores end up as the best among gymnasts on non-national-qualifying teams.

"They went head-to-head with the No. 1 team in the nation and finished right there with them," MacDonald said. "I think that speaks volumes about their gymnastics and their ability to compete at the highest level. They've worked really hard in the gym and they've continued to put themselves in that position to be successful."

The Chippewas posted a 49.000 score in their opening rotation, the floor exercise, and then followed with a 48.825 on vault, a 48.475 on bars, and then closed with a 49.000 – their season best – on balance beam.

"We showed a lot of fight through the first rotation and we took that into the rest of the meet," MacDonald said. "They had that fight from start to finish.

"They just showed great resilience and fight in everything this year. We talked about that, never letting down and continuing to put your best foot forward and they really did that from start to finish. They never looked back and they just kept fighting.

"And I think that we take that lesson into next year; that no matter what adversity comes our way, no matter the situation that's out of your control, you can still do your best by putting your best out there."

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Players Mentioned

Hannah DeMers

Nora Fettinger

Morgan Tong