Monday, January 8
Tempe, Ariz. / Desert Financial Arena
7 p.m. MST / 9 p.m. ET
Central Michigan University
195.125
at
195.175
Arizona State
Photo by: Sydney Kline '26 - @sydney.kline.photography
Gymnasts Make Strides at Season-Opening Arizona State Meet
1/9/2024 12:03:00 AM | Gymnastics
CMU posts best season-opener score in three years
TEMPE, Ariz. — A brand new season, and lots of opportunity to come with it.
Central Michigan Gymnastics opened its season on Monday in a head-to-head competition at Arizona State, where the Chippewas had their best season-opening performance in three years at Desert Financial Stadium.
Both donning maroon and gold, the visiting Chippewas finished just short in the 195.725-195.125 competitive matchup with the Sun Devils, who were slated fifth in the PAC-12 preseason polls. Despite the outcome, the Chippewas' score places them 24th nationally.
"We're really excited about our start (to the season)," said fifth-year Head Coach Christine MacDonald. "It was our highest starting score in the last three years and the highest first meet week ranking in the past three years as well."
"We definitely have a lot of room to grow, we counted some falls this time but we are definitely moving in the right direction. For us, it was a great meet and there are a lot of positives and highlights from this opportunity."
Chippewa freshmen Jenna Germond, Samantha Shannon, Karina Lankamer and Gabrielle Johnson made their official collegiate debut, spanning all four events.
"We had freshmen in every lineup which is exciting," MacDonald said. "We started three freshmen on bars, two on vault, one on floor and one on beam, all had great performances in their first official collegiate meet.
"The top freshman performer of the day was Karina Lankamer who tied for first on our team with Adriana (Bustelo), which is very exciting to see such a great performance from a young squad."
Junior Lia Kmieciak highlighted the Chippewas' first rotation of the evening on the uneven parallel bars with a career high 9.90, the highest score of the meet. She had tied her previous career best, 9.875, four times in the 2023 season.
"Lia has been striving for that perfect score on both vault and bars," MacDonald said. "9.90 is her career high, but she knows that she is capable of that perfect 10.
"It's really nice to see her not only be the bar anchor in the first event and be able to do what she's been doing consistently in the gym. She really has worked to bring that performance every time and she did a beautiful job today."
Also with a strong first performance of the year was 2023 MAC Freshman of the Year Luciana Alvarado-Reid, who posted a 9.850. Ashley Veglucci and Germond both scored 9.775.
Kmieciak and Alvarado-Reid led the way on vault, each with a 9.850. Hallie Hornbacher pitched in a 9.800 and Shannon scored 9.775 on the event.
In the floor event, CMU's highest-scored event of the evening with a 49.075, Hornbacher, Alvarado-Reid and Veglucci each scored 9.850 to tie for second.
The Chippewas concluded the evening on the beam, where Adriana Bustelo and Lankamer each posted a score of 9.825 and Quinn Skrupa tallied a 9.775.
CMU will head to Illinois State on Friday, Jan. 12 (7 p.m. ET) for a quad meet with the Redbirds, Texas Woman's University and Greenville University.
"We're looking to capitalize on the opportunity that we have on Friday, which is another opportunity to showcase our great gymnastics," MacDonald said. "We are going to come back to school hungry and ready to work."
Central Michigan Gymnastics opened its season on Monday in a head-to-head competition at Arizona State, where the Chippewas had their best season-opening performance in three years at Desert Financial Stadium.
Both donning maroon and gold, the visiting Chippewas finished just short in the 195.725-195.125 competitive matchup with the Sun Devils, who were slated fifth in the PAC-12 preseason polls. Despite the outcome, the Chippewas' score places them 24th nationally.
"We're really excited about our start (to the season)," said fifth-year Head Coach Christine MacDonald. "It was our highest starting score in the last three years and the highest first meet week ranking in the past three years as well."
"We definitely have a lot of room to grow, we counted some falls this time but we are definitely moving in the right direction. For us, it was a great meet and there are a lot of positives and highlights from this opportunity."
Chippewa freshmen Jenna Germond, Samantha Shannon, Karina Lankamer and Gabrielle Johnson made their official collegiate debut, spanning all four events.
"We had freshmen in every lineup which is exciting," MacDonald said. "We started three freshmen on bars, two on vault, one on floor and one on beam, all had great performances in their first official collegiate meet.
"The top freshman performer of the day was Karina Lankamer who tied for first on our team with Adriana (Bustelo), which is very exciting to see such a great performance from a young squad."
Junior Lia Kmieciak highlighted the Chippewas' first rotation of the evening on the uneven parallel bars with a career high 9.90, the highest score of the meet. She had tied her previous career best, 9.875, four times in the 2023 season.
"Lia has been striving for that perfect score on both vault and bars," MacDonald said. "9.90 is her career high, but she knows that she is capable of that perfect 10.
"It's really nice to see her not only be the bar anchor in the first event and be able to do what she's been doing consistently in the gym. She really has worked to bring that performance every time and she did a beautiful job today."
Also with a strong first performance of the year was 2023 MAC Freshman of the Year Luciana Alvarado-Reid, who posted a 9.850. Ashley Veglucci and Germond both scored 9.775.
Kmieciak and Alvarado-Reid led the way on vault, each with a 9.850. Hallie Hornbacher pitched in a 9.800 and Shannon scored 9.775 on the event.
In the floor event, CMU's highest-scored event of the evening with a 49.075, Hornbacher, Alvarado-Reid and Veglucci each scored 9.850 to tie for second.
The Chippewas concluded the evening on the beam, where Adriana Bustelo and Lankamer each posted a score of 9.825 and Quinn Skrupa tallied a 9.775.
CMU will head to Illinois State on Friday, Jan. 12 (7 p.m. ET) for a quad meet with the Redbirds, Texas Woman's University and Greenville University.
"We're looking to capitalize on the opportunity that we have on Friday, which is another opportunity to showcase our great gymnastics," MacDonald said. "We are going to come back to school hungry and ready to work."
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