Women's Gymnastics | March 31, 2017
Senior gymnasts Anna Corbett, Jessie Peszek and sophomore Rachel Underwood are headed to the NCAA Regionals April 1. For the three, this is the second year in a row they will make appearances at regionals and the third year in a row for Corbett and Peszek.
Corbett is looking forward to competing in her last Regionals as a college gymnast. Preparing for her third trip to regionals she feels little pressure this time around.
"I'm just happy to represent Western Michigan at Regionals and I'm trying to take it all in, enjoy it, and have the most fun," Corbett said. "I want to be great and whatever happens, happens."
In her sophomore season, Peszek placed third at the MAC championships on the uneven bars and competed at regionals for her first time. This was only the beginning. This season, Peszek scored a 9.925 on bars at Texas Woman's quad meet to tie the school record. Peszek finished the regular season with an RQS of 9.870 on bars and 9.865 on beam, both program records.
Peszek, the younger sister of an Olympic gymnast saw her sister's success as a physical example of what she herself could accomplish and used it as motivation.
This year Peszek was awarded the MAC Senior Gymnast of the Year award. An example of her hard work and desire to always be the best.
"I was so honored that my coaches nominated me," Peszek said. "It was a huge surprise."
Peszek set an unselfish goal to leave Western Michigan a better program than when they came in and to be a leader in the MAC. Peszek's leadership and near flawless performances will impact the WMU gymnastics program for years to come.
Underwood, the youngest of the group, experienced success early and qualified to compete at regionals as in her freshman year. Underwood expressed how thankful she was for upperclassmen like Corbett and Peszek for their leadership and comforting words, but Penny praised Underwood's high level of maturity. Having competed on a high school team Underwood already had a unique skill set.
"Being on a high school team for four years she already had experience under her belt of competing for a team and had the skill set to be able to respond under pressure in a team setting," Jernigan said.
Most athletes set big goals for themselves and their team, but not Underwood.
"I try to set little goals, I don't focus on the big picture like making it to Regionals," Underwood said. "I just focus on doing what I do in practice because I know if I hit my routine then those goals will come later."
So far Underwood's strategy has worked. This season she set a new WMU record at the MAC Championships with a 39.325 in the all-around, placing fourth, after scoring a 9.800 or higher on all four events.
Just as impressive as the broken records and high event scores are the grade point averages of the ladies which in combination with their difficult majors and busy schedules is no easy feat. Not only do they handle business on the mat, but in their studies as well. Corbett a nursing major holds a 3.88, Peszek studying biomedical sciences has a 3.79 and Underwood studying pre-occupational therapy has a perfect 4.0.
The team fell short of qualifying for regionals by just .015, a disappointment for a team who fought through season ending injuries from the beginning. On the other side of letdown is a proud overall feeling of what they accomplished and optimism that next year they can and will achieve their goal of reaching regionals.
"It's harder to know when you were so close," Peszek said. "We had a good year and we had a lot of good things to be proud of like breaking the 196 at the MAC championships, so if we were this close this year we can make it next year."
"We were so close to making it as a team, but I know that our class can leave having made a difference as a team," Corbett said.
