The Eastern Michigan University gymnastics team had a busy spring break. They competed in three tournaments since Feb. 20, the first of which the over-all score broke an EMU record.
In every competition, they scored over 195, and several Eagles earned new career-highs.
“The team continues to show its mental toughness,” head coach Jay Santos said.
On Feb. 20, the Eagles headed to Kalamazoo to go against the Broncos. While the Eagles were unable to pull out a win, they finished with a new school record of 195.575. The old record was set in 2004 when the team scored 195.55 at the MAC Championship.
Carrina Lo Bello and Anna Willette competed in the all-around competition. Lo Bello took second place with a 39.15. The breakdown of her score is 9.8 on vault, 9.75 on bars, 9.85 on beam and 9.725 on floor. Willette was 0.05 points behind, and she placed third. Her scores were 9.8 on vault, 9.8 on bars, 9.825 on beam and 9.7 on floor.
Several Eagles set career-high scores. On beam, Lo Bello’s 9.85 and Kimberly Obeyer’s 9.8 earned both gymnasts new personal bests. Lacey Rubin finished with 9.775 on bars for a new career high. Kendall Valentin and Julia Schwartz earned personal bests on the vault. Valentin landed a 9.85, and Schwartz earned a 9.8.
Eastern hosted Ball State for senior day Feb. 22. The Eagles were able to keep a perfect home record this season after finishing their last home meet with a 195.275-193.875 victory.
In the all-around competition, Willette took first place with a combined score of 39.05. She scored 9.825 on vault, 9.725 on bars, 9.85 on beam and 9.65 on floor. Lo Bello finished with 38.75 points and earned second place. She scored 9.7 on vault, 9.725 on bars, 9.65 on beam and 9.675 on floor.
On the bars, the top five places went to EMU. Rubin came in first with a career-high of 9.825. Valentin finished in second with 9.8. Catie Conrad placed third with 9.775. Lo Bello and Willette tied for fourth with 9.725 points.
Another career high went to Taylor Young. She scored 9.775 on floor and took fourth place.
The Eagles came out on top when they traveled to Lindenwood, Montana for a quad-meet Saturday. EMU continued their streak of scoring more than 195 points with a total score of 195.125.
Eastern beat Illinois State University, who finished second with 194.125 points, for the third time this season. Lindenwood University placed third with 194 points. The Eagles defeated Illinois University — Chicago for the second time. IUC came in fourth with 191.3 points.
Willette took second place all-around. She earned 9.725 on bars, 9.6 on beam, 9.8 on floor and 9.85 on vault. She ended with a combined score of 38.975
Chantelle Loehner took first place on floor and tied her career-high of 9.9. Rachel Slocum and Young earned a new career high on floor. Slocum took second place with a score 9.875, and Young scored 9.775 for ninth place. On vault, Paulina Miller earned a personal best of 9.75 to tie for fifth place.
Next, EMU will visit East Lansing to compete in a tri-meet. They will face University of Arizona and Michigan State University. The competition begins at 6 p.m. Friday.
