Gymnastics wins quad meet, Reighard hits win No. 400
Four hundred career wins.
Gymnastics head coach Jerry Reighard accomplished the milestone as his Chippewas dominated their Thursday quad meet with a final score of 194.875.
For Reighard, this achievement is something that was accomplished through the hard work of talented athletes and the support from the community.
“This is a great community which has given me great support over the years,” Reighard said. “I am very appreciative that I have been here as long as I have, which is sometimes a record in itself.”
The Chippewas (12-1, 5-0 Mid-American Conference) defeated Eastern Michigan (191.625), Alaska-Anchorage (188.90) and Southeast Missouri State (193.875) at McGuirk Arena.
Not only did the squad distance itself from the rest of the conference (5-0), Reighard put distance between him and other coaches within the university. With the win, Reighard moves into the second spot with the most wins by any active coach (Margo Jonker, women’s softball).
The Chippewas stormed out of the gate in their first rotation, posting a season-high score of 49.150, behind four scores of 9.850. Senior Andrea de la Garza, junior Kristin Teubner, Britney Taylor and redshirt freshman Megan McWhorter all tied each other on the vault. McWhorter continued her run on the vault, posting a 9.800 or higher in the past two meets.
The second rotation saw a slip in the Chippewas momentum as they posted the second lowest total of the season on the uneven bars with a 48.175. However, freshman Brittany Petzold did match a season-high with a 9.875 routine, matching her score from Jan. 30 against Northern Illinois. Teubner would finish behind her with a 9.750, and an all-around score of 38.725.
Following solid back-to-back all-around performances, Petzold said that the key to her strong freshman season has come down to the effort put forth in practice.
“I just have to work hard everyday in practice," she said. "Once I know I can do it in practice, I know I can do it in the meet."
Coming into the third rotation, CMU led the conference and ranked No. 15 nationally in the beam with an average of 48.536. However, that ranking is likely to fall as the team counted two falls by Teubner (9.300) and Conlin (9.200). The team would still finish the rotation with a total of 48.425 points. Leading the way was freshman Emily Heinz with a 9.850.
Reighard was surprised by his two upper-classmen’s struggles on the beam, something that he said hasn’t happened before.
“If you would have asked me if I could predict a mistake it wouldn’t have come from those two, especially not those two in the same night,” Reighard said.
The fourth and final run in the floor exercise saw the team rebound and post a 49.125 total score. The squad was led by Taylor's 9.850 score. Three other gymnasts (Teubner, de la Garza and Petzold) would tie for second place with scores of 9.825.
De la Garza would claim the top all-around score with a season high 39.200.
The Chippewas look to push their 12-1, 5-0 MAC record on Monday, March 7, when they take on New Hampshire at 7 p.m. in Durham, N.H. CMU will have one more regular season meet at home (Bowling Green) before they host the MAC championships on March 19.
