Gymnast Scorecards

MOUNT PLEASANT — The Central Michigan gymnastics team gets a look at the facility that hosts the Mid-American Conference Championships when it closes out the regular season at Bowling Green on Sunday at 2 p.m.

Sunday’s meet will be the first of two consecutive weeks the No. 26 Chippewas (11-2, 4-1 Mid-American) spend in Bowling Green, Ohio. CMU heads back six days after Sunday’s dual when it competes in the 2010 MAC Championships on March 27.

Central is won four straight dual meets and sports a top Regional Qualifying Score (RQS) in the MAC at 194.745, the 26th-best total in the country. During its win streak, the Chippewas have scored 194.325 or above four times and have eclipsed 195 points twice in that span.

“It is definitely an advantage to compete at Bowling Green the last dual of the season,” head coach Jerry Reighard said. “In fact, it was a scheduling decision that I made. I wanted us to get comfortable with the arena and the equipment so that when we get to the championships setting, we don’t even have to look around to find out what’s available and where the equipment is set up.”

Bowling Green is 5-6 this season and tied with Central for second place at 4-1 in MAC duals. The Falcons have dropped their past four duals and have not scored more than 191.550 points since Feb. 21. BGSU’s 192.305 RQS ranks fourth in the conference.

The Chippewas are 35-14 all-time against the Falcons.

Live stats will be available for the dual, courtesy of bgsufalcons.com. Results and a recap will be available on cmuchippewas.com following the competition.

News and Notes

Holding the Floor — The Chippewas had a phenomenal finish to their final dual in Rose Center with a season-best 49.125 on the floor exercise. The mark improves CMU to RQS in the event to a MAC-best 48.980, which ranks 20th in the country.

Flying High — The vault has been a strength for the Chippewas all season long. CMU owns the top three scores on the apparatus in the conference with a 49.200 (third-best in school history) against Denver and BYU and a 49.100 against both Northern Illinois and Arizona State. Central is 21st in the country in the event with an RQS of 48.975.

Crowded at the Top — Andrea de la Garza and Katie Simon were both sharp in the Chippewas’ victory over No. 23 Arizona State last Friday. De la Garza and Simon shared the all-around title with identical 39.275 scores. Simon’s performance was highlighted by a season-best 9.875 on balance beam (the best in the MAC this season) while de la Garza scored 9.800 or higher in all four events for her best all-around score since 2008.

Balanced Efforts — CMU’s near top-25 ranking has been aided by solid efforts in all events. The Chippewas boast the conference’s top RQS in vault (48.975), beam (48.355) and floor (48.980). CMU is second in the MAC on bars with a 48.615.


Leading the Way — Katie Simon is displaying some of the poise that made her the 2009 Mid-American Conference all-around champion. Simon’s top scores rank in the top five among all MAC gymnasts in every event. Simon is tied for the conference lead on beam (9.875), is second on bars (9.900), vault (9.875) and all-around (39.350) and is tied for seventh on floor (9.850).

Three for 49 — The Chippewas had their best all-around performance of the season at Northern Illinois with a score of 195.850. The breakout night was aided by three team event scores of 49 or better. The Maroon and Gold scored 49.100 on vault, 49.050 on floor exercise and 49.000 on balance beam.



Instant Impact — A roster comprised of eight freshmen would be a concern to some teams, but the Maroon and Gold have shown a knack for developing newcomers into instant contributors. A Central Michigan gymnast has been named MAC Freshman of the Year in each of the past three seasons. Katie Simon claimed the award in 2007, Andrea de la Garza took it in 2008 and Kristin Teubner made it three in a row last season. This season, Britney Taylor sports the conference’s sixth-best all-around score (39.125), is tied for second in the league lead on vault (9.875) and is tied for fourth on beam (9.850).



Classic Win — Central’s victory in the 18th annual State of Michigan Classic broke a long drought in the statewide competition. CMU scored a season-best 194.975 to beat No. 21 Michigan State, Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan to capture its first win in the competition since 1999.