CMU gymnastics wins on the road against NIU
Central Michigan gymnastics travelled to Northern Illinois to face off against the Huskies and Eastern Michigan in a Mid-American Conference showdown Sunday.
EMU was the overall winner of the day with 195.700, the Chippewas came in second with 195.325 and Northern Illinois coming in last with 193.425.
“You know, it wasn’t a perfect day for us,” head coach Christine MacDonald said. “They really did a great job of resetting and making each event strong.”
The Chippewas started the meet on bars. Sophomore Luciana Alvarado-Reid tied for second place with Eastern Michigan’s Karie Lowe with a score of 9.825. The team scored an overall 48.850 on the event.
CMU performed on beam in its second rotation, an event it has struggled with to begin the season.
The struggles continued as beam was Central Michigan’s lowest scoring event with an overall score of 47.875. Freshman Karina Lankamer and Alvarado-Reid were in a three-way tie for third with Eastern’s Ella Chemotti with a score of 9.775.
“We saw a lot of changes thing that we were focusing on in practice and the details performed today which was nice to see them taking what we talked about in practice into the competition,” MacDonald said.
The Chippewas had their best overall score of the day on floor with a score of 49.400. All gymnasts scored a 9.8 or higher with their routines.
Senior Hallie Hornbacher tied for first with Eastern’s Raisa Boris with a score of 9.925.
Seniors Elizabeth Buttle, Elizabeth Cesarone and graduate student Ashley Veglucci all tied for third with a score of 9.875.
“Our floor team really had a solid performance today, they went 49.400, which is a solid event score for us and something that we have been missing the last couple of weeks,” MacDonald said.
Junior Lia Kmieciak had the best score of the day on vault for the Chippewas with a score of 9.900 helping aid CMU's final score of 49.000 for the event.
The Chippewas improve to 2-0 in the Mid-American Conference as the team beat Eastern Michigan Jan. 19.
CMU had a better overall score Sunday than NIU, since the Chippewas already matched up against Eastern, the meet does not count as a loss on their record.
The Chippewas will face off against MAC opponent Bowling Green and University of Wisconsin Osh-Kosh in a tri-meet at Bowling Green, OH at 2 p.m. Sunday.
