That’s the title the Central Michigan gymnastics team can tout around the Mid-American Conference and nation as it completed a rare repeat on Saturday at McGuirk Arena.

Posting a season-high 195.600, the Chippewas made their mark on this season's MAC tournament title, winning their 12th conference title, and claimed individual winners in the balance beam, floor exercise, uneven bars and the all-around categories.

Ousting league rival Kent State (195.050) by .055 points, the Chippewas would sweep all competitors to claim the title.

Western Michigan (194.150), Ball State (193.175) and Bowling Green (192.900) would round out the top-five finishers on the day.

Junior Kristin Teubner led CMU with three titles, winning the beam (9.990) and the all-around (39.325) outright. Teubner split the floor title (9.875) with senior Cheryl Conlin and Ball State's Nicole Allen. Freshman Brittany Petzold won the bars with a 9.850 and finished third in the all-around.

For head coach Jerry Reighard, the overall team victory on Saturday was a culmination of hard work.

“I am just really pleased with the effort that my team put forth this entire year," Reighard said. "No one knows what they have gone through. We set some goals early in the season, and we’re starting to attain those goals now.”

After starting the meet with a first-rotation bye, CMU posted a 48.850 on the vault. Senior Andrea de la Garza led the squad with a score of 9.800, good enough for sixth overall, while Teubner and Meaghan McWhorter posted matching 9.775’s. Nicole Allen (Ball State) and Christina Lenny (Kent State) tied for first in the event with a 9.900 score.

CMU then moved to the bars, where it posted a 48.975 overall score to take a .535 point lead on KSU. Four Chippewas earned top finishes, as Petzold took first, freshman Alyssa Wilson and de la Garza tied for second with a 9.800. Teubner finished at No. 6 with a 9.775.

For Petzold, the key to the bars event and the meet in general came down to a simple formula for scoring points.

“I think we hit everything and did everything that we did in practice and nailed it,” Petzold said.

The third rotation of the day was the balance beam, where CMU posted a season-high mark of 49.025. Behind Teubner's career-high 9.900 score, she paced a beam lineup that had three of her fellow gymnasts place in the top three (de La Garza, Conlin and Taylor). Second place went to de la Garza (9.825), while Taylor and Conlin tied for third with a 9.800.

Despite counting a fall by freshman Emily Heinz, Taylor was able to post a score that kept them in the running event. Eventually proving to be a crucial rotation for the squad, the aspect of blocking out the fall was one that Reighard said is difficult to accomplish.

“She (Taylor) just didn’t do it, she did it with style, she did a great routine for us with one of the hardest dismounts in the whole conference meet,” Reighard said. “And really got us got off thinking about the fall and back on thinking about what we needed to do.”

Teubner, who followed shortly after the fall, said that one of the hardest things to do in gymnastics is regain your mental focus after a fall. She said her teammates did a great job of blocking out that pressure.

“The pressure is immense, you see that fall and you know you have to hit now,” Teubner said. “You just really have to take some deep breaths and calm yourself and really remember it's just one routine you have been doing all year long.”

Because of Taylor's 9.800 and subsequent following scores, the Chippewas were able to jump to nearly a full point lead going into the final rotation.

In a tie for first place, Conlin and Teubner posted matching 9.825 scores to share the title. The team would go on to finish the event with a 49.050. Petzold would finish at No. 6 overall with a final score of 9.825.

Teubner’s total of 39.325 also claimed the all-around MAC championship, as the junior scored a season high in the meet.

The Chippewas now move their record to 23-1 this season and await their assignment for the NCAA Regional Championships, scheduled for April 2. CMU will find out on Monday where it will be competing.

Reighard is excited about the next few days and upcoming post season, but said that his junior gymnast hit it right on the nose when she said that there are still some areas the team needs to clean up before regionals.

“As Kristin said, we’re not done growing," Reighard said. "We have two weeks to get better than we were today, and I think that with this group it’ll actually happen"