The Eastern Michigan University gymnastics team dominated their meet Saturday against Bowling Green University. The Eagles led in every event and the final score was 195.25 to 192.425. This was the first time since 2004 that the gymnastics team scored more than 195 points. With this victory the Eagles are now 3-1 overall and 1-1 in conference.
“I’m really proud of the team tonight,” said head coach Jay Santos. “I keep preaching to them that we need to keep improving and each competition so far they keep responding. We followed last week’s performance of 24-for-24 routines by going 23-for-24 tonight. I’m really excited of the early success we are having. The team looks really confident right now; they are doing a terrific job of taking it one routine at time and just focusing on what they can control.”
Anna Willette took the all-around title again and improved her previous score of 39 to 39.175. This makes Willette only the fifth gymnast in EMU history to earn that score.
Willette finished second on vault with a 9.825. She scored 9.775 on bars and beam. She tied for first on the uneven bars and placed third on the beam. Her personal best on the floor, 9.8, took second place.
The Eagles ended with a 48.8 on the vault, 0.15 points higher than Bowling Green. To get there, Kendall Valentin had a career-high of 9.8 and took third place. Sydney McEachern, Paulina Miller and Julia Schwartz tied for fifth with 9.725. Willette took second but first went to the Falcons.
On the bars, EMU earned another 48.8 over the Falcons 47.625. Willette, Valentin and Carrina Lo Bello earned 9.775 and tied for first. Katie Conrad was right behind with 9.750. Nikki Paterson received a 9.725 and tied for fifth. McEachern completed her career-high of 9.65, but her score was not included in the team score.
Eastern led Bowling Green 48.65 to 47.95 on beam. Lacey Rubin led the Eagles with second place and her new personal best of 9.8. Willette followed behind in third place with 9.775, Lo Bello tied for fourth with 9.725. Natalie Gervais added a 9.7 and Conrad added a 9.65.
The Eagles scored best on the floor. Their combined score was 49, to the Falcons’ 48.2. The top five places all went to Eastern. Chantelle Loehner earned first place with 9.875. Willette and Rachel Slocum tied for second, earned career-highs and scored 9.8. Lo Bello came in fourth place with her personal best of 9.775. McEachern added a 9.75.
Next for the Eagles they head to Normal, Ill., to compete in the Michigan/Illinois Challenge. This tournament teams Eastern Michigan University and Central Michigan University against Illinois State University and the University of Illinois-Chicago. The teams will also be competing against each other. The competition starts at 4 p.m. Saturday.
