CMU gymnastics drops first home meet to Ball State
McGuirk Arena was filled with the cheers of Central Michigan gymnastics fans for the first time since last February against Ball State on Friday.
The stakes were high coming into the competition as both squads came into the meet undefeated and at the top of the Mid-American Conference standings.
The Chippewas fell to the Cardinals 196.000-195.325 in their home opener and were handed their first conference loss of the season.
The Chippewas move to 3-1 in MAC competition and 6-4 overall.
“We’re very impressed with all the athletes in our conference, and I really think it’s just raising the level of gymnastics,” MacDonald said.
CMU began the meet on vault where senior Elizabeth Cesarone had the highest score of the day with 9.850.
After the first rotation, the Cardinals took a narrow lead and never looked back with an overall 49.100 on bars while Central Michigan scored 48.975 on vault.
“Our team really has a lot of fight,” MacDonald said. “Today we worked, and there are some things that were really consistent and some things that we really had to fight for.”
The Chippewas competed on bars for their second rotation. Sophomore Luciana Alvarado-Reid had the team’s highest score for the event with 9.875. Junior Quinn Skrupa was the Chippewas next highest scorer with 9.800 helping aid CMU to an overall score of 48.925 on the rotation.
“I really am proud of the energy that they brought from start to finish,” MacDonald said.
The third rotation was the Chippewa’s lowest scoring event on average with beam. Overall, the team score was 48.425, their second lowest overall score on the event this year. Senior Amber Mueller had the highest score on the event with 9.825.
Central Michigan ended the day on its strongest event on average, floor. The team cracked 49.000 overall on the event for the first time in the evening, getting fans in McGuirk loud. Four Chippewas had a score of 9.800 or higher with seniors Hallie Hornbacher and Cesarone each posting a 9.825.
“I thought the crowd was amazing,” head coach Christine MacDonald said. “…They really came in and had the chants going, the cheers going, they were all around the gym and, again, it’s just really fun for us.”
Graduate student Ashley Veglucci and Alvarado-Reid each had scores of 9.800 on floor.
CMU is back in McGuirk Friday at 6 p.m. against Bowling Green State University.
‘We’re actually going to have a full week of practice because we had a very short week this week,” MacDonald said. “…You’re going to have more opportunities in the gym to have some more challenges for lineups because we are still working on our lineup decisions and trying to make the best choice. And we have some depth and some young ones that are definitely knocking on the door ready to get into their spots.”
