The Eastern Michigan University women’s gymnastics team was able to gather its first win of the season against Texas Women’s University but came up just short against their MAC rival Central Michigan University on Friday.
The score stayed close throughout the night; after the first three rounds, the team was down by just .6 points. The team kept up the intensity, but was not able to claw its way back and lost by a small margin, 192.750 to 193.325.
The score was so close, coach Steve Wilce even used the team’s video so the judges could decide the final points of the night.
“It was real close at the end there and we are allowed just one video review for one routine,” Wilce said. “We used it and the judges took their time but they ruled against us and we lost the review. If we had won that review we would have gone up by three tenths of a point and won.”
Central was the defending MAC champion in women’s gymnastics, and despite the loss coach Wilce was proud of his team’s performance.
“This was our conference counter, and this team won the MAC last year and a year ago was beating our team by a couple points. It was very close tonight and I thought we should have won,” Wilce said.
Two of the top performers for the Eagles were freshman Jamie Radermacher, who came in third on the beam, and sophomore Miranda Jarvis, who tied for first on her floor routine.
Despite the loss, the team will still have a chance to pick up a win against Central, as the team will get a rematch this Friday.
“We just need to stay tighter and be more confident and just have more fun,” Radermacher said.
“We need to keep the energy levels up throughout the whole competition and stay tighter and get those big landings,” Jarvis added.
The team will have their change for revenge this Friday, competing at Bowen Field House at 7 p.m. against Illinois State University, Illinois-Chicago University and CMU.
