With a talented group of senior gymnasts leading the way last season, Western Michigan edged Kent State to win the Mid-American Conference tournament championship.
That's the good news.
However, 12 of the 24 routines the Broncos used in the MAC tourney aren't back, which means head coach Penny Jernigan has some replacing to do.
''It's a high bar to replace those veterans,'' Jernigan, who is entering her 12th season as head coach at WMU, said. ''However, this new class of seniors has had an awesome fall and I've been really pleased with the way they have responded to leading the young people.
''Now it's time to get the younger athletes some experience and they have great leadership from the upperclassmen.''
Graduate student Sarah Moravansky and seniors Halle Faulkner and Ally Schaupp are the team's captains. The rest of the senior class consists of Cassie St. Clair, DonnaKathryn Roy, Gigi Singh and Molly Freeman.
It was Faulkner who nailed the final vault on the final event last season for the Broncos to win the MAC tournament.
''I knew the team score was going to be really, really close because I watched Kent's vault rotation and it had broken its school record,'' Jernigan said. ''Ball State had just finished and had a great rotation so I knew it would be super close, but I knew what we were capable of.
''The turning point was when our second vaulter nailed it and we went on from there. Halle was our final vaulter, and as a freshman, she had won the MAC vault championship. I found out afterward she needed a 9.85 for us to win and she did it. It was a really wonderful day for the Broncos.''
With five seniors graduating, there are holes to fill from the current roster which includes juniors Makenna King, Agenais Abeyta and Sidnei Heubach; sophomores, Brooke Gelesko, Julie Korfhage, Emily Krzciok, Hannah Milton and Reese Samuelson; and freshmen, Reilan Garvey, Kennedy Cooper, Estee Goltsman, Tricia Mills and Kyler Webster.
''Some of those 12 new routines are from sophomores who didn't compete last year so it's like they are freshmen, also,'' the head coach said. ''Reese was injured and out all year and she was one of our best freshmen when she came in.
''Hannah is adding an event she didn't do last year and Brooke is another sophomore who is adding vault with a new vault she learned. Reilan is an all-arounder and Tricia will be competing between one and three events as she progresses back from an injury. She was a national champion in vault and beam as a high schooler.
''The newcomers are all talented, just very young.''
They may be young, but they look like veterans already in the classroom. Of the 20-member team, 12 of the athletes had perfect 4.0 grade-point-averages, including all the sophomores. The 12 4.0s are a team record.
''The team crushed it academically and I could not be prouder,'' Jernigan said. ''It was an outstanding fall for us, both academically and training-wise.''
WMU opens the season on Saturday with a meet against Michigan State in East Lansing. The Spartans are picked to win the Big Ten. The first home meet is Jan. 19, a non-conference competition against New Hampshire and Fisk. The Broncos open MAC action on Jan. 26 at Ball State.
A preseason meet on Dec. 6 gave the Broncos a chance to show their progress. At Michigan, WMU finished behind the Wolverines and ahead of Eastern Michigan.
''The new athletes are so young, but they had so much preparation and were very familiar with what they were going to experience and I'm very pleased with that,'' Jernigan said. ''I'm pleased with how the schedule worked out because it gives us a couple of nonconference meets on the road to get our feet wet and understand what we need to dial in on before our first MAC meet.''
At Michigan, Garvey was second in the all-around with a score of 38.70. Samuelson and King tied for second on bars with scores of 9.75, St. Clair was third in floor exercise at 9.85 and Schaupp tied for fifth on beam at 9.80.
Last season, St. Clair was a NCAA regional qualifier on the vault and was MAC co-champ on floor.
As far as the MAC goes, ''Every year the parity is amazing,'' Jernigan said. ''Central Michigan is hosting and I think they are going to have a great year.
''We saw Kent State online in a preseason meet and it looked great. Ball State is always very good. Our goal is to be a top contender in the MAC again this year. We have the talent to do that, it's just how quickly they learn."
