MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich – Injuries. In one painful instance, they can derail every goal and objective for the season.
In the case of Central Michigan gymnastics, for the young and raw student-athletes who coach Jerry Reighard originally planned on training for the entire year in order to mold them into veteran collegiate gymnasts, are now starters, in place of the upperclassmen who are sporting crutches instead of a leotard.
Losing Kirsten Petzold and Miranda Wieczorek to season-ending injuries, along with last year’s seniors to graduation, has changed the mantra from soaring to a 196 score to improving 10th-by-10th, due to the new faces in the lineup.