KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- In her return from a season-ending injury as a freshman, Western Michigan's
Payton Murphy opened her sophomore campaign by winning vault and balance beam while the Broncos dropped a close dual match to Northern Illinois in their first action since March 2020.
The Huskies, competing in their second eventof the season, took a 194.250-193.775 decision.
Ronni Binstock joined Murphy in capturing an event by winning floor exercise. Murphy,
Sarah Moravansky and
Dani Petrousek placed second, third and fourth, respectively, in all-around. Murphy was just .075 behind NIU's Tara Kofmehl. It marked the collegiate debut for both Moravansky and Petrousek.
Murphy matched her score on vault (9.800) and balance beam (9.850) from her only other collegiate meet at Michigan State in 2020. In that meet a year ago, Murphy won the all-around with a score of 39.175. She was just off that mark against NIU, with her 38.800 falling just shy of NIU's Kofmehl, who won the all-around with a score of 38.875.
| Penny's Thoughts
On competing for the first time in 321 days...
"It was great to get back out there. These kids, especially the Michigan kids, were off for six months and they just haven't been able to put in the amount of preparation they normally do. The overall stress over the last year has taken its toll, but we're so grateful just to be here and have the opportunity to get out here and do what we love to do. We got that first one under our belt, got the jitters out and we were a little rusty. I expect them to bounce back and be amazing next week."
On Murphy's return from injury...
"It was so inspiring to see her out there. We all got emotional watching her after such a severe injury last year, working so hard to get back and learn a brand new bar dismount. She's such an inspirational story. She's overcome so much between that injury and the disappointment after starting off with a win last year. She's just a fantastic kid. She's a 4.0 (grade-point average) and a nursing student and an incredible athlete."
On looking ahead to Central Michigan...
"We just need to do the same thing we've been doing. We've been looking really good in practice, we just needed to get out here and get this under our belts. We just need to fine-tune some things, clean up some details and come here ready to win next week."
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| Up Next
The Broncos return to action next Sunday, Jan. 31, when Central Michigan travels to Kalamazoo for a 1 p.m. dual meet. The action can be seen live on WMUBroncos.com.
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