The Kent State Gymnastics team remains undefeated for the season, as they secured a win over Mid-American Conference opponent Western Michigan in a home meet Sunday afternoon.
The win boosted its record to 5-0 overall and 2-0 in the MAC.
“We take a lot of pride in winning MAC meets,” coach Brice Biggin said. “With Western Michigan being the defending tournament champion, we knew that they were going to be good coming in, so we’re happy with the end result.”
Competition opened for the Flashes on vault, where junior Charlie Behner won the event with a score of 9.850.
Sophomore Nene Alvine just trailed the podium, placing fourth with a score of 9.775.
During the second event on bars, juniors Heidi Schultz and Nastia Rudnitskaya tied for third place with scores of 9.825.
Even with two Flashes on the podium, Biggin said bars were the team’s weakest event.
“Our top three on bars did good routines, but a couple girls missed some points, which affected their score and hurt the team score,” Biggin said. “We need to work on improving our consistency.”
Event three, on beam, proved to be KSU’s best event of the day.
With scores of 9.875, senior Alyssa Guns and Schultz tied for first place.
Four other Flashes competed in the event, all placing scores of 9.650 and above.
“I’m really happy with the beam team right now,” Biggin said. “They’ve been rock solid for us all year and are a squad that I trust and feel can get the job done consistently.”
The Flashes ended the meet on floor.
They received the top two podium spots with Guns scoring 9.900 to secure another win and sophomore Gabby Riley following with a score of 9.850 for second place.
Guns has been a consistent force in the event throughout the season, but Biggin wants the rest of the team to follow suit.
“Guns shows up every week and is able to get the job done no matter what the situation is,” Biggin said. “But floor used to be our best event, and we’ve taken huge strides backwards. I know that they can do the skills, they just need to be a little more confident.”
Overall, the Flashes still managed to come out on top. They earned a team score of 195.275, beating Western Michigan’s 194.650.
Despite their undefeated season record, Biggin believes there is still a lot of work to be done.
“Even though we won yesterday and it was a decent score, we didn’t finish the meet the right way,” Biggin said. “Early in the season, it can be hard to be consistent on all four events. We haven’t gotten into that groove yet, and we need to soon.”
Friday, the Flashes face off in their third MAC dual meet of the season against Northern Illinois in DeKalb, Il.
Biggin views MAC teams as important opponents but wants his team to realize their biggest competition is actually themselves.
“We focus on our meets one at a time,” Biggin said. “But it’s about competing against ourselves, not the other team. If we go out and compete in a way we feel capable of and confident in, I don’t think anyone beats us.”
Biggin is proud of the team’s success so far this season, but knows that its ceiling is far away.
“We all have to keep our minds focused and keep working hard, then I think we’ll see great things from this team,” Biggin said.
Kailyn Tibolla is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected].