Reighard challenges team to match Teubner's perfect 10 score
Three of the four whiteboards in the gymnastics practice room have a simple saying on them.
"10.00: what can you do?" This mantra is something head coach Jerry Reighard adopted following one judge granting junior Kristin Teubner a 10.00 score in Sunday’s meet against Kent State.
“Teubner was an example," Reighard said. "She convinced one judge last weekend, so I am hopeful that incident where she got one judge to commit to the 10 will carry on."
Achieving the perfect 10 score is something that Reighard wants his gymnasts to know is attainable, and that the number is isn’t as elusive as it seems.
“We’re trying to become more perfect," he said. "The challenge to my group right now is why can't you score a 10, what’s so elusive about that?”
Respectively, there has only been one 10.00 score this season, (Kylee Botterman of Michigan). CMU has had eight perfect scores in its 37-year history, with their last coming ion 2005 from Kara Reighard.
Reighard’s squad will look to build upon that momentum following last weekend’s win when they take on Western Michigan at 1 p.m. Sunday in Kalamazoo. The Chippewas will bring their 10-1 overall record and conference leading 3-0 record to University Arena, where they have posted a 3-1 record since 2007.
Hard at work
Riding a wave of momentum following the win against Kent State last weekend, Reighard said that the team has been hard at work this week during practice to ensure that there will be no setbacks.
“When you get complacent, which we’re not, that’s when the upsets take place," he said. "So my job is to keep challenging this team."
The real challenge of the weekend may be on how the Broncos are able to compete against a CMU squad which ranks first in the MAC in both the balance beam (48.9) and floor exercise (49.125). Nationally, the Chippewas rank 20th on the beam with a 48.504 average.
Reighard pointed to his team's work from the beginning of the summer as to the reason why the routines are so polished.
“Our beam routines are as difficult as anybody that we compete against — there’s nothing in our beam routines that are easy,” Reighard said. “So the judges instantly stand up and take notice of the high difficulty level in those routines.”
Teubner, who has posted a season-high 9.775 score on the beam, said the reason the beam rotation has been so successful is because of the performances of her fellow gymnasts.
“We’re very happy with our beam line-up right now," she said. "I think it is that we're very confident in each other, and if you're confident with the person in front of you than it makes your job a lot easier."
One of those fellow gymnasts, senior Andrea De La Garza, holds the second spot in the league on the beam with a high score of 9.85. Freshman Emily Heinz has also posted a meet high of 9.850 against Northern Illinois.
Teubner takes another award
Teubner was awarded her second MAC Gymnast of the Week award on Thursday, following wins in three events, including the all-around (39.250) in Sunday’s meet against Kent State. Teubner posted career highs on both the vault (9.925) and beam (9.775).
Teubner also earned Gymnast of the Week honors on Jan. 17 after winning three events at Ball State. She has received MAC honors a total of four times, including Gymnast of the Week in 2009 and the Specialist of the Week in 2010.
