Gymnastics coach Kerri Beach’s squad was so focused on getting the job done, they felt like they were the only team competing in the gym.
The Falcons energy was huge on Friday when they traveled to Illinois State to take on the Redbirds, but they had trouble finishing off their first non-conference meet of the season as they fell, 191.675-190.800.
“We were very mentally strong with the first two events,” Beach said. “Vault and bars proved to be an area we can depend on, but we had trouble finishing the meet off.”
The team opened up the meet with a strong performance on the uneven bars, winning the event and tying their season high team score of 48.275, which was set last weekend against Northern Illinois. This was their strongest event of the night as five of their six scores were a 9.575 or better.
Junior Breanne Guy recorded her first event win of the season on bars (fourth event win of the season) and had the help from Kasey Fillmore, Amber Brewer and Jholeen Ponce who finished fourth, fifth and six, respectively.
In the second rotation, the Falcons had a strong team performance on the vault with a 48.100. Three gymnasts finished in the top six overall, with each one finishing with a 9.375 or better.
After the second rotation, BG was ahead of the Redbirds, 96.375-95.800, getting ready to move on the floor exercise then finish the meet off on the balance beam.
Vault and bars have been a strong point this season for the team, but balance beam and floor still continue to give them problems.
“We’re practicing very well [with beam and bars], it’s just not carrying over to the meets,” Beach said. “We did see improvement in these areas, though.”
The Falcons will return to Mid-American Conference competition at Eastern Michigan next Sunday at 2 p.m.
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Contact sports reporter Chris Sojka at [email protected].
