Gymnastics heads to California for nonconference tri-meet
Now that the Mid-American Conference regular season is finished, the gymnastics team heads to the West Coast this weekend, attempting to fine tune its skills in preparation for the MAC championships next month.
The Chippewas will take on University of California Davis, Sacramento State University and the University of Iowa at 10 p.m. Friday in Davis, Calif.
UC Davis boasts a solid vaulting rotation. In recent action against Seattle Pacific, the Aggies took first through fifth place as they rolled to a victory managing a team score of 195.175. UC Davis used a total of three all-arounders in that win.
SSU met UC Davis in mid-January and won handily, but by the smallest possible margin. SSU freshman all-arounder Lauren Rice scored 39.050 against the Aggies.
The top team in Friday’s meet is No. 24 Iowa. Averaging more than 195 a meet, the Hawkeyes have been the front runner for the Big Ten title most of the season.
The only team scoring close to the Hawkeyes is CMU.
Iowa’s highest team score of the year is 196.37, a mark CMU cleared during last week’s win over Bowling Green.
UI sophomore Angel Metcalf scored a 39.4 in the Hawkkeyes’ defeat to Illinois, which falls behind the CMU school record of Kara Reighard’s 39.625.
The quad meet will be in a championship rotation. All teams will compete simultaneously.
The Chippewas will arrive in Davis coming off two straight victories scoring higher than 196 and knocking off two conference opponents in the process.
“I think it’s an advantage to us to be able to do that away at Kent and home against BGSU,” said Head Coach Jerry Reighard. “Having our six seniors contributing is great. You win with experience, I don't care what sport it is and we have our experienced people in.”
The Chippewas sit in first place in the MAC standings.
“We need to stay in our bubbles, doing our routines, getting that big score again and the wins,” said senior Becca Druien.
Senior Halle Moraw has received MAC Gymnast of the Week for the second time in a row while Junior Karlee Teet received MAC Specialist honors.
