Sunday, January 9
Mount Pleasant, Mich.
1 p.m.
Central Michigan University
193.425
vs
194.325
Illinois
Photo by: Jack Reeber '23,M'25 - @jackreeber.raw
Gymnasts Drop Season Opener
1/9/2022 4:12:00 PM | Gymnastics
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – As openers go, this one was typical: some highs, some lows, plenty of room for improvement, plenty of building blocks.
The Central Michigan gymnastics team got individual wins from Katie Kowalski (vault) and Ashley Veglucci (floor exercise) on Sunday in falling to Illinois in a nonleague dual at McGuirk Arena.
Illinois, which was also competing for the first time this season, finished with 194.325. The Chippewas posted a 193.425 total.
"I think they did a really good job of adapting to different situations and continuing from routine to routine which was very important for us," CMU coach Christine MacDonald said of her athletes. "Our underclassmen learned a lot today and I feel like that's the value in today's meet, and we'll take it into next week."
The Chippewas and Illini tied for first on vault at 48.775. Illinois took the uneven parallel bars, beam and floor.
Kowalski posted a 9.825 score in winning the vault, while Veglucci posted a 9.875 in taking the floor.
"She showed why she's our anchor," MacDonald said of Kowalski, who won the vault in four meets last season and earned First Team All-Mid-American Conference honors. "She just did a tremendous vault and really just picked up where she left off last year.
"Ashley really worked to change her floor routine this year. Last year she had a two-pass routine and this year she has a three-tumbling-pass routine, and she just did a great job today. Very excited for her and the hard work that she's been putting in."
CMU teammates Aleysia Kolyvanova, Adriana Bustelo and Kowalski tied for third on beam with a 9.800 score and Bustelo was third (9.800) on bars. CMU's Sierra DeMarinis was third on floor (9.750).
"We have some new faces on the beam lineup and they did a great job," MacDonald said. "Aleysia Kolyvanova, that was her first college meet and I thought she had an outstanding day on both beam and floor.
"Adriana Bustelo, on bars, really set the tone. She had a great start."
The Chippewas are scheduled to go to Eastern Michigan on Friday, Jan. 14. It is CMU's MAC opener.
"We take the approach of failing forward," MacDonald said. "We're going to learn from this. We take the positives and there were a lot of highlights today.
"They're really excited about getting back in tomorrow and starting the work. We know the changes now, we've lived it, and they'll take that and run with it."
The Central Michigan gymnastics team got individual wins from Katie Kowalski (vault) and Ashley Veglucci (floor exercise) on Sunday in falling to Illinois in a nonleague dual at McGuirk Arena.
Illinois, which was also competing for the first time this season, finished with 194.325. The Chippewas posted a 193.425 total.
"I think they did a really good job of adapting to different situations and continuing from routine to routine which was very important for us," CMU coach Christine MacDonald said of her athletes. "Our underclassmen learned a lot today and I feel like that's the value in today's meet, and we'll take it into next week."
The Chippewas and Illini tied for first on vault at 48.775. Illinois took the uneven parallel bars, beam and floor.
Kowalski posted a 9.825 score in winning the vault, while Veglucci posted a 9.875 in taking the floor.
"She showed why she's our anchor," MacDonald said of Kowalski, who won the vault in four meets last season and earned First Team All-Mid-American Conference honors. "She just did a tremendous vault and really just picked up where she left off last year.
"Ashley really worked to change her floor routine this year. Last year she had a two-pass routine and this year she has a three-tumbling-pass routine, and she just did a great job today. Very excited for her and the hard work that she's been putting in."
CMU teammates Aleysia Kolyvanova, Adriana Bustelo and Kowalski tied for third on beam with a 9.800 score and Bustelo was third (9.800) on bars. CMU's Sierra DeMarinis was third on floor (9.750).
"We have some new faces on the beam lineup and they did a great job," MacDonald said. "Aleysia Kolyvanova, that was her first college meet and I thought she had an outstanding day on both beam and floor.
"Adriana Bustelo, on bars, really set the tone. She had a great start."
The Chippewas are scheduled to go to Eastern Michigan on Friday, Jan. 14. It is CMU's MAC opener.
"We take the approach of failing forward," MacDonald said. "We're going to learn from this. We take the positives and there were a lot of highlights today.
"They're really excited about getting back in tomorrow and starting the work. We know the changes now, we've lived it, and they'll take that and run with it."
Players Mentioned
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