The Western Michigan gymnastics team begins its 2016 season on Saturday, Jan. 9 against Illinois-Chicago. This will be the third season under head coach Penny Jernigan and the Broncos hope this season ends in the first NCAA Regionals berth for Western Michigan as a team in program history.
The Broncos return 11 gymnasts from last year including the 2015 MAC All-Around Champion, Anna Corbett, who had a score of 39.125 over all four events at the MAC Championships. Finishing just behind her was Kayla Weber who totaled 39.050. The team set numerous team records a year ago including the individual meet record with a total of 196.175 against Eastern Michigan. The team also had the highest Regional Qualifying Score all-time with a 195.06.
All four Broncos who earned a spot to the NCAA Regionals as individuals return including Corbett, Kelsey Hood, Jessi Buis and Jessie Peszek. Hood was named the WMU Freshman of the Year, competing all-around in every meet in 2015. She achieved the third highest all-around score in school history with a 39.20 against Eastern Michigan, which included a 9.90 in her floor exercise, also the third highest score posted in school history in that event.
Buis finished the regular season ranked first in the MAC in vault with a 9.855 Regional Qualifying Score and a season average of 9.80. She won vault titles in four of the five MAC dual meets and earned All-MAC First Team honors.
Peszek was an All-MAC Second Team selection in 2015 after winning bars titles in seven meets. She had a Regional Qualifying Score of 9.820 and a season average of 9.803.
The Broncos will be boosted by new gymnasts such as Rachel Binkley, Rachael Underwood and Katie Jennings. Binkley will compete in beam and floor. Last season in high school she placed fifth all around at the JO National Championships which included a tie for first on the beam. Previously she won back-to-back all around titles at the 2015 Valley of the Sun Challenge and Chris Wallers Heart of a Champion event.
Underwood comes from a family of athletes. Her father played football at Valparaiso, her brothers Jake and Nick played football at Drake and her brother Michael was a wrestler at Rutgers. Rachael comes to the Broncos after finishing first in her floor exercise and last year finished first all around at the Illinois State Championships and placed third all around at the Regional Championships which included a second place finish on the beam.
Jennings comes to Kalamazoo from nearby Rochester, Mich. Her strength in vault where she earned six titles during her prep days including back-to-back vault titles at the 2014 Michigan State Championships and then the Regional Championship. She also demonstrated a knack for the floor exercise where she won the title at the 2014 Christmas Classic.
Aside from the goal to earn the first spot as a team at NCAA Regionals, Jernigan said the team's other two main goals were to win the MAC regular season and conference championships along with finishing first academically in the country. Last year the Broncos finished third in both the regular season and MAC Championships. At the MAC Championships, Western Michigan had its highest ever team score at the event with a score of 195.525.
Academically, the team finished with the eighth highest grade point average nationally with a mark of 3.6075. This year the team is already off to a good start, with a fall semester average of 3.76.
This year the Broncos have five home meets at University Arena, with four of them coming in the next five weeks. Saturday's meet against Illinois-Chicago will be broadcast on ESPN3.
