Third place gymnastics to send three to NCAA national championships
When senior Emily Heinz’s balance beam score was displayed as a 9.85, gymnastics head coach Jerry Reighard was furious.
“It’s a little ironic because when Emily Heinz dismounted, she just drilled her double back dismount and it was by far the best routine of the day,” Reighard said. “When her score came up at 9.85, I was all over the meet referee. As it turns out, had she been a quarter tenth higher, she’d have been the only one going (to nationals).”
In hindsight, he doesn’t mind the score at all.
Heinz was one gymnasts in Saturday’s Athens regional to score an event-high 9.85 on beam, including Chippewa juniors Taylor Noonan and Halle Moraw. All six will be advancing to the NCAA national championships April 18-20 in Birmingham, Ala.
While CMU as a whole did not advance in the regional, coming in third behind No. 7 Michigan and No. 6 Georgia, the team will send gymnasts to compete at nationals for the individual championships for the first time since 2004.
The Chippewas fell behind early, as Michigan, Ohio State and Georgia were neck-and-neck for the two national spots. CMU finished sixth of six on vaulting and fourth on bars, and had its first gymnast on balance beam fall. From there though, the team fought its way back into contention.
“There was true grit and perseverance on beam and floor and it showed in our scores,” Heinz said. “We went up there and owned it and performed for the crowd and just had fun and it was amazing.”
Back-to-back-to-back 9.85 scores to finish off beam put CMU at a 49.000 for the event, the best of the six teams. The Chippewas 49.225 on floor was second of the six teams and helped them jump over Ohio State to third in the final standings.
“A lot of other teams, they try to just stay on the beam,” Moraw said. “We expect to stay on the beam and we expect to perform to the judges, which I think really sets us apart from the other teams.”
Reighard said the level of difficulty of CMU’s beam routines is another component that sets the team apart.
“We work on toe. It’s much more difficult and the judges appreciate that and recognize that as being different from everyone else,” Reighard said. “Everyone else is flat-footed because it makes the landing, the staying on the feet that much easier. Emily Heinz dismounts with the double back, she didn’t move even her little toe. Taylor Noonan and Halle were steady as rocks.”
CMU has sent six gymnasts to nationals in program history, with three going in 2003. While the whole team will continue to practice for the next two weeks, only Heinz, Noonan and Moraw will travel to nationals.
“I’ve competed alone before and it’s not nearly as fun as when you’re with your best friends,” Noonan said. “I am blessed that I’m going to be with two of my best friends in Alabama.”
The three will have a chance to do something no Chippewa gymnast has done before: Become an All-American. The top gymnasts out of the approximate 80 gymnasts at each event at nationals earn All-American status.
“I think the motivation is extremely high,” Reighard said. “I think the fact that we actually won beam and had three people win beam (individually) puts us in a good position for one or all three of them to be All-Americans.”
Final standings:
Michigan: 196.750
Georgia: 196.375
Central Michigan: 195.600
Ohio State: 195.100
North Carolina State: 194.550
Rutgers: 193.750
