KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- The Western Michigan gymnastics team captured its first dual meet win of the season, defeating rival Central Michigan on Sunday afternoon in University Arena.
The Broncos won by a margin of 195.425-194.075 over the Chippewas behind
Payton Murphy's win on the balance beam and
Ronni Binstock's tie for first in floor exercise. The Broncos finished second and third in all-around scores, with
Sarah Moravansky's mark of 39.075 finishing just behind CMU's Hannah Demers score of 39.200. Murphy placed third in all-around at 39.000.
Western Michigan got off to a strong start on vault, with
Stacie Harrison's score of 9.800 good for third, while
Josephine Thomas and
Sarah Moravansky tied for fourth at 9.775. Harrison and
Alexis Olivier then tied for second on the uneven bars at 9.825 before Murphy's career-high 9.900 captured the balance beam, followed by a tied for second between Thomas and
Charlotte Tishkoff at 9.850. Thomas' mark was a career-best, while Tishkoff matched her top mark. Binstock tied with two Chippewas on the floor at 9.875.
| Penny's Thoughts
Head coach
Penny Jernigan on the meet.
On defeating a rival after a tough loss last week...
"There was a lot that was new for us last week, especially from a COVID perspective, and I feel like we resolved all that this week. To start off on a strong event and have some huge vaults right off the bat was really good. They're a great team and have a great coaching staff. I'm so amazed that our kids did so well today and so proud of them. It was very close the whole time."
On the progress made from last week...
"Overall, both teams performed better than they did last week. (Last week) we were just getting out there, first meet of the year and it was a month later than normal. There was just a lot that felt different, so now it's becoming more normal for us. We're excited. We had a good day and know we can be even better."
On the team's first away meet next week...
"That'll be new. We haven't traveled under COVID protocols, so we're just grateful to have the opportunity. We'll be at a quad meet at Eastern Michigan with all MAC teams, so it'll be a really exciting meet. It'll be loud, it'll be fun and it'll be fast so we're really looking forward to it."
| Leaderboard
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| Up Next
Western Michigan returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 6, for a quad meet at Eastern Michigan. The Broncos and Eagles will be joined by Ball State and Kent State for the 4 p.m. meet.
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