Eastern Michigan Athletics
Photo by: Steve King/KingStudios
Gymnastics Sees Scoring Improvements Throughout 2013 Season
4/9/2013 3:42:00 PM | Gymnastics
Eagles see drastic increases in team average and individual marks over 9.700
YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The win-loss record does not show the areas of improvement that the Eastern Michigan University gymnastics team captured throughout the 2013 season. The Eagles finished the season with a 5-10 record, down from a 10-9 showing during the 2012 campaign. However, the team's average score spiked to 193.716 compared to just a 192.368 mark a season ago. EMU recorded team scores higher than its 2012 season-high in six of its 11 meets, including a a season-best score of 194.675 against Southeast Missouri State, March 3. The Green and White also traveled nearly 4,000 miles to earn a victory over the University of Alaska Anchorage Seawolves, 193.350-192.850, Feb. 17.
“It was a great growing year for the EMU gymnastics team, improving by nearly 1.5 in team score average and eclipsing 150 individual scores of 9.700,” noted EMU Associate Head Coach Andrea Siik.
The mark of 9.700 was the bar that EMU Head Coach Steve Wilce wanted his gymnasts to hit on every routine. For the most part they did, as the over 150 individual scores of 9.700 are more than double the amount of scores above that mark last year.
The Green and White started off the season on a high note despite losing, 194.975-194.475, to Western Michigan, Jan. 20. The impressive score 194.475, the highest season-opening mark in school history, ranked the Eagles No. 25 in the NCAA National Rankings for the week of Jan. 21, released by GymInfo, making it the first time the Eagles have been ranked in the top-25 since the 1997 season. At the time, the score was the team's highest since the 2007 season , where the EMU gymnasts took home the Mid-American Conference Championship with a score of 194.525, March 31, 2007.
To add to the solid start to the season, freshman Khadijah Hudson was named Mid-American Conference Specialist of the Week for her performances at WMU. The Hebron, Ky. native led EMU on the vault and the floor exercise, scoring a 9.800 in each event in her collegiate debut. Both scores were good enough for runner-up finishes in the respective events.
As mentioned, the season-high score for the Eagles came against Southeast Missouri State as the Green and White tallied a 194.675. Against SEMO, Hudson won the all-around competition with a 39.175, tying for the third-best mark in EMU history. The judges awarded Hudson a career-high 9.875 on the floor for a third place finish and the 10th highest mark in school history while also leading the Eagles on the bars with a 9.800, a career-high. The freshman phenom also tallied a 9.825 for a third-place tie on the vault, a mark that also tied her personal best. The overall performance was good enough for Hudson to be named MAC Gymnast of the Week, her second weekly conference award for the year.
Eastern swept the MAC weekly awards for the period ending, March 3. Senior Amanda Fuller had an impressive weekend on the vault and floor exercise for the Eagles. Fuller recorded a 9.800 or better in each of the four events she competed in. Against Northern Illinois, March 1, she tallied scores of 9.800 to finish runner-up and third place on the floor and vault, respectively. The Hamilton, Ontario native stepped up her routines, March 3, against Southeast Missouri State, recording 9.825 in each event.
Hudson led the Eagles all season long. She earned Second Team All-MAC accolades along with the top vaulter in the MAC, sophomore Anna Willette. “Anna Willette and Khadijah Hudson did an outstanding job of being consistent underclassmen, and we are excited for the future with this young group,” mentioned Coach Siik.
Willette averaged a 9.831 on the vault throughout the year, and the sophomore sensation recorded a career mark against Southeast Missouri State University, March 3, winning the vault with a 9.875 while tying for fifth all-time in EMU laurels. Willette had seven victories, including five first-place finishes on the vault along with two on the beam. On bars, she recorded four runner-up finishes.
Hudson also represented EMU at the NCAA Regionals, April 6, qualifying as the individual event specialist on the floor with a Regional Qualifying Score of 9.845. Throughout the year, she averaged a 9.833 from the judges, including career highs of 9.875 on three separate occasions, most recently at the MAC Championships, March 23. At the regional competition in Tuscaloosa, Ala., Hudson tallied a 9.800 to finish in 22nd to round out the Eagles' 2013 campaign.
In the friendly confines of Bowen Field House, the Eagles went 2-3, including a score of 194.575 and a second-place finish at the four team Eagle Invitational, March 9, just behind MAC regular season champion Kent State. The Eagle Invitational was the final meet for the four seniors on the team: Brittany Cassar, Camille Cicchini, Amanda Fuller and Kristina Kurkmilis.
All four seniors competed in every meet for the Green and White in their final season. Cassar recorded career-highs of 9.775 on vault and 9.825 on the floor while also adding a season-high 9.725 on the beam. Cicchini served as a specialist on the bars, receiving a career-high 9.800 from the judges at Bowling Green, Jan. 26.
Fuller made 21-of-22 routines during the season, with 12 of them at the 9.800 mark or better, including a personal-best 9.850 on the floor in her final home meet as an EMU gymnast at the Eagle Invitational. She had two victories on the season with one each on the floor and vault, along with posting nine top-three finishes throughout the season. The redshirt senior recorded a career-high 9.825 on the vault three times in 2013, including the score against Southeast Missouri State that paved the way to her being named MAC Specialist of the Week, March 6.
Kurkmilis, like her teammate Fuller, recorded her highest score in her career on the floor in her final meet in Bowen Field House, a 9.850, at the Eagle Invite, March 9, along with a personal-record 9.825 on the vault against Southeast Missouri State, March 3.
“We will miss our seniors: Camille, Brittany, Kristina, and Amanda,” commented Coach Siik. “They were a very important part of our growth this year, and we will miss their consistency and leadership. “
Although the four EMU seniors will be missed, the 2014 season looks promising for the Eagles as Hudson and Willette return as All-MAC honorees to lead a squad that will feature a few incoming recruits that will look to fill the spots left by the seniors. The season will be even more important and exciting as Eastern Michigan will host the 2014 Mid-American Conference Gymnastics Championships.
“It was a great growing year for the EMU gymnastics team, improving by nearly 1.5 in team score average and eclipsing 150 individual scores of 9.700,” noted EMU Associate Head Coach Andrea Siik.
The mark of 9.700 was the bar that EMU Head Coach Steve Wilce wanted his gymnasts to hit on every routine. For the most part they did, as the over 150 individual scores of 9.700 are more than double the amount of scores above that mark last year.
The Green and White started off the season on a high note despite losing, 194.975-194.475, to Western Michigan, Jan. 20. The impressive score 194.475, the highest season-opening mark in school history, ranked the Eagles No. 25 in the NCAA National Rankings for the week of Jan. 21, released by GymInfo, making it the first time the Eagles have been ranked in the top-25 since the 1997 season. At the time, the score was the team's highest since the 2007 season , where the EMU gymnasts took home the Mid-American Conference Championship with a score of 194.525, March 31, 2007.
To add to the solid start to the season, freshman Khadijah Hudson was named Mid-American Conference Specialist of the Week for her performances at WMU. The Hebron, Ky. native led EMU on the vault and the floor exercise, scoring a 9.800 in each event in her collegiate debut. Both scores were good enough for runner-up finishes in the respective events.
As mentioned, the season-high score for the Eagles came against Southeast Missouri State as the Green and White tallied a 194.675. Against SEMO, Hudson won the all-around competition with a 39.175, tying for the third-best mark in EMU history. The judges awarded Hudson a career-high 9.875 on the floor for a third place finish and the 10th highest mark in school history while also leading the Eagles on the bars with a 9.800, a career-high. The freshman phenom also tallied a 9.825 for a third-place tie on the vault, a mark that also tied her personal best. The overall performance was good enough for Hudson to be named MAC Gymnast of the Week, her second weekly conference award for the year.
Eastern swept the MAC weekly awards for the period ending, March 3. Senior Amanda Fuller had an impressive weekend on the vault and floor exercise for the Eagles. Fuller recorded a 9.800 or better in each of the four events she competed in. Against Northern Illinois, March 1, she tallied scores of 9.800 to finish runner-up and third place on the floor and vault, respectively. The Hamilton, Ontario native stepped up her routines, March 3, against Southeast Missouri State, recording 9.825 in each event.
Hudson led the Eagles all season long. She earned Second Team All-MAC accolades along with the top vaulter in the MAC, sophomore Anna Willette. “Anna Willette and Khadijah Hudson did an outstanding job of being consistent underclassmen, and we are excited for the future with this young group,” mentioned Coach Siik.
Willette averaged a 9.831 on the vault throughout the year, and the sophomore sensation recorded a career mark against Southeast Missouri State University, March 3, winning the vault with a 9.875 while tying for fifth all-time in EMU laurels. Willette had seven victories, including five first-place finishes on the vault along with two on the beam. On bars, she recorded four runner-up finishes.
Hudson also represented EMU at the NCAA Regionals, April 6, qualifying as the individual event specialist on the floor with a Regional Qualifying Score of 9.845. Throughout the year, she averaged a 9.833 from the judges, including career highs of 9.875 on three separate occasions, most recently at the MAC Championships, March 23. At the regional competition in Tuscaloosa, Ala., Hudson tallied a 9.800 to finish in 22nd to round out the Eagles' 2013 campaign.
In the friendly confines of Bowen Field House, the Eagles went 2-3, including a score of 194.575 and a second-place finish at the four team Eagle Invitational, March 9, just behind MAC regular season champion Kent State. The Eagle Invitational was the final meet for the four seniors on the team: Brittany Cassar, Camille Cicchini, Amanda Fuller and Kristina Kurkmilis.
All four seniors competed in every meet for the Green and White in their final season. Cassar recorded career-highs of 9.775 on vault and 9.825 on the floor while also adding a season-high 9.725 on the beam. Cicchini served as a specialist on the bars, receiving a career-high 9.800 from the judges at Bowling Green, Jan. 26.
Fuller made 21-of-22 routines during the season, with 12 of them at the 9.800 mark or better, including a personal-best 9.850 on the floor in her final home meet as an EMU gymnast at the Eagle Invitational. She had two victories on the season with one each on the floor and vault, along with posting nine top-three finishes throughout the season. The redshirt senior recorded a career-high 9.825 on the vault three times in 2013, including the score against Southeast Missouri State that paved the way to her being named MAC Specialist of the Week, March 6.
Kurkmilis, like her teammate Fuller, recorded her highest score in her career on the floor in her final meet in Bowen Field House, a 9.850, at the Eagle Invite, March 9, along with a personal-record 9.825 on the vault against Southeast Missouri State, March 3.
“We will miss our seniors: Camille, Brittany, Kristina, and Amanda,” commented Coach Siik. “They were a very important part of our growth this year, and we will miss their consistency and leadership. “
Although the four EMU seniors will be missed, the 2014 season looks promising for the Eagles as Hudson and Willette return as All-MAC honorees to lead a squad that will feature a few incoming recruits that will look to fill the spots left by the seniors. The season will be even more important and exciting as Eastern Michigan will host the 2014 Mid-American Conference Gymnastics Championships.
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