Chippewa gymnastics gets past Western Michigan
CMU senior Sydney Williams sticks a landing off the parallel uneven bars against Western Michigan on Feb. 28 in McGuirk Arena.
Central Michigan started strong and finished strong.
The Chippewa gymnastics team took down Western Michigan, 196.075-194.950, Friday in McGuirk Arena.
CMU head coach Christine MacDonald said she was pleased with the outcome of the dual because she and the rest of the team knew the Broncos were a strong team and putting together an impressive season.
“Today was a great competition," MacDonald said. "(We) finally were able to put together I think a solid performance and have each other’s back through each routine from start to finish."
CMU opened on the vault and senior Denelle Pedrick scored 9.900, opening the dual with a lead. Freshman Hannah Demers notched a 9.875, sophomore Sierra Demarinis scored a 9.825 and junior Kennedy Johnson scored a 9.800.
Opposite CMU, the Broncos scored a 49.075 on the parallel uneven bars led by Alexis Oliver's 9.875.
During the second rotation, CMU was on the bars but shortly lost the lead after a fall from freshmen Savana Kotas, who was the first gymnast to compete for the rotation scoring 9.100. Demers led the Chippewas with a 9.950 while senior Sydney Williams put up a 9.875.
WMU scored a 48.700 on the vault, led by Josephine Thomas' 9.775.
After the second rotation, Western took the lead 97.775-97.750.
Demers said the team has stepped up to have each other's back as the season has gone along. In the dual against the Broncos, the Chippewas needed to bring each other up after the second rotation.
“We’ve always practiced working on building up each other like through each routine," Demers said. "We do that every day in the gym but today it really showed. That’s one of the most important things during a meet day to do that."
Going into the third rotation, sophomore Morgan Tong earned a near-perfect score on the beam with a score of 9.900. Central Michigan earned a team score of 49.025 to tie the meet at 146.775.
Pedrick notched a career-high 9.950 on the floor exercise. Williams put up a 9.900 to supplement the Chippewas. Demarinis and junior Nora Fettinger scored 9.850 and 9.825, respectively in the final rotation.
The Broncos competed on the beam in the final rotation and scored 48.175 as a team, led individually by Amelia Mohler and Thomas' with 9.800.
Williams said she knew the meet was tied heading into the final rotation and she said she was motivated even more than in a normal situation.
"It gives you even more of that adrenaline to do it for your team, it's more exciting," Williams said. "Getting the win at the end of that then it is being a lot of tenths ahead. It gives that routine that moment just that much glory."
The Chippewas' win was their second straight and moved them to 5-5 overall and 3-2 in MAC competition. WMU fell to 5-2, 4-1.
“It was a great team effort today,” she said.
Up next, CMU will compete against Illinois on Sunday in Champaign, Illinois. The Chippewas return home on March 15 for their season finale against Ball State.
