Central Michigan University Athletics
Friday, January 12
Normal, Ill. / CEFCU Arena
7 p.m.
Central Michigan University
194.000
at
195.750
Illinois State
Photo by: Sydney Kline '26 - @sydney.kline.photography
Individual Efforts Spark Gymnastics at Illinois State Quad; Chippewas 2nd of 4
1/12/2024 11:31:00 PM | Gymnastics
Chippewas best Texas Woman's University and Greenville University; Alvarado-Reid wins All-Around
Normal, Ill. — Central Michigan Gymnastics took to Illinois State's CEFCU Arena on Friday for its first quad meet of the season against the Redbirds, Texas Woman's University and Greenville University.
CMU finished second with an overall score of 194.000, besting TWU (193.775) and Greenville (185.600). A score of 195.750 put the hosting Redbirds on top.
The Chippewas registered a handful of impressive individual performances that Head Coach Christine MacDonald believes they can use to build from.
"We had a lot of individual highlights tonight," MacDonald said. "It was definitely a learning opportunity for us as a team."
Part of the learning process, MacDonald mentioned, comes in the form of a youthful roster. The Chippewas made last-minute lineup due to injury, which paved the way for some of her gymnasts to gain valuable experience in competition.
"Tonight we had to make some lineup changes due to some minor injuries," she said. "It goes to show how important depth is for us, which we had tonight. But for a lot of them, it was their first competition. So again, we saw a lot of new faces in the lineup and they really did a great job in those roles."
Sophomore Luciana Alvarado-Reid provided a spark for CMU's scoring with a career-high mark of 9.900 on her floor routine, giving her the event win and surpassing her previous career high of 9.875 which she posted at the MAC Championship last year. As a team, the Chippewas posted a score of 48.775 in the event - their first rotation of the evening.
Alvarado-Reid was one of three gymnasts in the meet to compete in the all-around, earning a meet-high score of 39.225 to place first. In addition to the floor rotation, she tied teammate Lia Kmieciak for first on uneven parallel bars with a score of 9.850.
"I think tonight was a really great statement for Lucy," MacDonald said of Alvarado-Reid. "She works really hard to put herself in a consistent place to score like she did tonight. She definitely found a great flow tonight. She's somebody who the team rallies around, her consistency really solidifies her role within the team.
Also registering an impressive performance on the floor was senior Hallie Hornbacher, whose score of 9.850 earned her a third-place finish in the event.
Following the floor routine, the Chippewas moved to the vault rotation, which featured freshmen Jenna Germond and Zoie Pelfrey. Senior Elizabeth Cesarone and Kmieciak led the way in scoring in the event for CMU with 9.775 and 9.750, respectively.
The Chippewas registered their highest event score of the night on uneven parallel bars with a mark of 48.975. In addition to Kmieciak and Alvarado-Reid's impressive scores, Germond tallied a career-high score of 9.800, while junior Quinn Skrupa and freshman Samantha Shannon followed closely behind with scores of 9.750 and 9.725.
CMU closed out the evening on the balance beam, where Alvarado-Reid again led the way in scoring for the Chippewas with 9.800. Senior Amber Mueller followed Alvarado-Reid among CMU's top scorers in the event with a score of 9.725.
A week from Friday, Central Michigan will have its first head-to-head matchup against a MAC opponent. The Chippewas will head to Ypsilanti on Friday, Jan. 19 to take on Eastern Michigan at the George Gervin GameAbove Center. The meet will begin at 6 p.m. ET.
"We're excited to get back to a normal week after having two meets this week," MacDonald said. "It will be good to get back to a normal flow.
"The message to the team is to just continue to work hard in the gym and to continue to trust the process."
CMU finished second with an overall score of 194.000, besting TWU (193.775) and Greenville (185.600). A score of 195.750 put the hosting Redbirds on top.
The Chippewas registered a handful of impressive individual performances that Head Coach Christine MacDonald believes they can use to build from.
"We had a lot of individual highlights tonight," MacDonald said. "It was definitely a learning opportunity for us as a team."
Part of the learning process, MacDonald mentioned, comes in the form of a youthful roster. The Chippewas made last-minute lineup due to injury, which paved the way for some of her gymnasts to gain valuable experience in competition.
"Tonight we had to make some lineup changes due to some minor injuries," she said. "It goes to show how important depth is for us, which we had tonight. But for a lot of them, it was their first competition. So again, we saw a lot of new faces in the lineup and they really did a great job in those roles."
Sophomore Luciana Alvarado-Reid provided a spark for CMU's scoring with a career-high mark of 9.900 on her floor routine, giving her the event win and surpassing her previous career high of 9.875 which she posted at the MAC Championship last year. As a team, the Chippewas posted a score of 48.775 in the event - their first rotation of the evening.
Alvarado-Reid was one of three gymnasts in the meet to compete in the all-around, earning a meet-high score of 39.225 to place first. In addition to the floor rotation, she tied teammate Lia Kmieciak for first on uneven parallel bars with a score of 9.850.
"I think tonight was a really great statement for Lucy," MacDonald said of Alvarado-Reid. "She works really hard to put herself in a consistent place to score like she did tonight. She definitely found a great flow tonight. She's somebody who the team rallies around, her consistency really solidifies her role within the team.
Also registering an impressive performance on the floor was senior Hallie Hornbacher, whose score of 9.850 earned her a third-place finish in the event.
Following the floor routine, the Chippewas moved to the vault rotation, which featured freshmen Jenna Germond and Zoie Pelfrey. Senior Elizabeth Cesarone and Kmieciak led the way in scoring in the event for CMU with 9.775 and 9.750, respectively.
The Chippewas registered their highest event score of the night on uneven parallel bars with a mark of 48.975. In addition to Kmieciak and Alvarado-Reid's impressive scores, Germond tallied a career-high score of 9.800, while junior Quinn Skrupa and freshman Samantha Shannon followed closely behind with scores of 9.750 and 9.725.
CMU closed out the evening on the balance beam, where Alvarado-Reid again led the way in scoring for the Chippewas with 9.800. Senior Amber Mueller followed Alvarado-Reid among CMU's top scorers in the event with a score of 9.725.
A week from Friday, Central Michigan will have its first head-to-head matchup against a MAC opponent. The Chippewas will head to Ypsilanti on Friday, Jan. 19 to take on Eastern Michigan at the George Gervin GameAbove Center. The meet will begin at 6 p.m. ET.
"We're excited to get back to a normal week after having two meets this week," MacDonald said. "It will be good to get back to a normal flow.
"The message to the team is to just continue to work hard in the gym and to continue to trust the process."
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