KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- The Western Michigan gymnastics team makes its second consecutive NCAA Regional appearance on Wednesday, March 30, when the Broncos face Iowa State in the opening round of the 2022 NCAA Gymnastics Championships. The teams square off in a dual meet at 3 p.m. CT/4 p.m. ET in Auburn, Ala., looking to earn the right to advance to the second round quad meet.
Head coach
Penny Jernigan has piloted WMU to an NCAA Regional for the second time in the modern era. Western Michigan fell short in the regional last season against the North Carolina State Wolfpack, but made history as the first WMU Gymnastics team selected for an NCAA Regional.
Scouting the Broncos
WMU enters the NCAA Regional equipped with a trio of MAC All-Tournament Team members, and two of the three come into NCAA Regionals off of individual crowns last week at the MAC Gymnastics Championship. Junior
Payton Murphy claimed the trophy on beam and was co-champion on the floor, while freshman
Halle Faulkner claimed her spot as co-champion in the vault.
The historic season for WMU has seen the Broncos score over 196 as a team a whopping eight times, including a program record 196.725 against Michigan State back at the beginning of March. Western Michigan also scored a quad meet win at Eastern Michigan over the Eagles, as well as Wisconsin-Oshkosh and Ball State. The Broncos also registered dual meet wins over Ball State and Eastern Michigan, as well as two head-to-head wins over Bowling Green.
Individually, Murphy set the school record for all-around score (39.4) while
Amanda Gruber tied the program record on beam (9.95).
Scouting the Cyclones
Iowa State comes into Auburn tomorrow for its 14
th Regional appearance in 15 seasons after taking fourth place at last week's Big 12 Gymnastics Championship, posting a score of 196.100 as a group. Maddie Diab earned a share of the Big 12 floor title with a 9.950, while Hannah Loyim posted a season-high all-around score of 39.050 last week. The Cyclones and Broncos squared off earlier this season at the Northern Illinois quad meet, where Iowa State emerged victorious with a team score of 196.275.
| 2022 Top Cyclones |
| Vault |
Sophia Steinmeyer |
9.925 |
| Bars |
Ariana Orrego |
9.925 |
| Beam |
Meixi Semple |
9.900 |
| Floor |
Andrea Maldonado |
9.975 |
| All-Around |
Hannah Loyim |
39.050 |
| Team |
|
196.875 |
On Deck
The winner of tomorrow's meet will advance to face Florida, Denver, and Ohio State in a quad meet on Thursday, April 1, beginning at 1 p.m. Thursday's meet will be available for streaming via ESPN+, with live scoring available as well. Links to both the stream and live scoring are listed above.
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