Gymnastics wins over Bowling Green at home in non-conference meet

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Central Michigan Gymnastics returned to its winning ways on Friday night, as the Chippewas defeated Bowling Green 195.625-191.475 in McGuirk Arena.

The Chippewas were a bit short handed on the night, causing them to have to slightly shuffle their lineups.

"We have some individuals who've been fighting some sickness this week," coach Christine MacDonald said. "We had some lineup changes that were made and the individuals that stepped in today did a great job."

Despite this, MacDonald was impressed with her team's consistency in the face of adversity.

"They're a very consistent group at practice," she said. "From the start of the season, that's something we've seen in practice and it's nice to start to see it come out on a competition day as well. We had some high scoring routines, and that's something we're going to continue to build off of. That's definitely a product of their efforts throughout not only this week, but this whole season for sure."

CMU held a healthy advantage from the start. The Chippewas capitalized on a couple mishaps from the Falcons in their rotation, jumping out to a 48.900-46.150 lead with CMU on vault and BGSU on bars.

A Chippewa gymnast claimed victory in each event, starting with senior Elizabeth Cesarone. Her 9.825 ranked her first in the event standings, followed by freshmen Jenna Germond, Zoie Pelfrey and sophomore Luciana Alvarado-Reid - who each scored 9.775.

Alvarado-Reid claimed a pair of victories on the uneven parallel bars (9.875) and the balance beam (9.825). She was also one of two gymnasts to compete in the all-around, finishing atop the category with 39.025.

Behind Alvarado-Reid, freshman Samantha Shannon finished second in the uneven parallel bars with a score of 9.800. Senior Adriana Bustelo (9.775) and graduate student Ashley Veglucci (9.725) finished in fourth and fifth place respectively, as the Chippewas registered a score of 48.725 for the event.

On balance beam, Bustelo placed second with a score of 9.800. Meanwhile, Shannon and Veglucci tied for third with 9.775. CMU finished the rotation with a score of 48.900.

The floor exercise saw a handful of personal bests for the Chippewas. Seniors Elizabeth Buttle (9.900), Cesarone (9.875) and Hallie Hornbacher (9.925) competed in spots 2-4 in CMU's lineup and each tied their career high marks. The Chippewas scored 49.100 in the event and Hornbacher earned the win.

"Super proud and just happy for them," MacDonald said of their performances. "They've put the work into the gym. It's not a surprise when we see those scores because they score them in the gym when we do our mock meets."

CMU will close out its stretch of three consecutive home meets next Saturday, Feb. 24 at 2 p.m. ET, when the Chippewas host Kent State in McGuirk Arena.

Gymnastics wins over Bowling Green at home in non-conference meet

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Players Mentioned

Luciana Alvarado-Reid

Adriana Bustelo

Elizabeth Buttle

Elizabeth Cesarone

Jenna Germond

Hallie Hornbacher

Zoie Pelfrey

Samantha Shannon

Ashley Veglucci