In preparation for the next meet, the No. 11 Kent State gymnastics team will finally have a full week of practice to prepare for this weekend’s competition at Michigan.

“The last two weeks we’ve literally had about two-and-a-half days where we could really practice,” said Brice Biggin, Kent State’s coach. “I think the biggest thing is that we are in a stretch where we are going to get a chance to train the way we would like to train.”

Biggin said the team will start its rotation on the beam event in Michigan, so with Kent State competing in that event, the athletes will begin their training on beam this week at practice.

Biggin said that starting on beam is not necessarily harder, but the focus has to be there.

Senior Christine Abou-Mitri said the team knows what it needs to do in preparation for the meet.

“The girls know it’s going to be a tough competition so we have to be at our best for every event,” she said.

In addition to adding another win to the team’s resume, assistant coach Tom Ward would like to see consistency in all four events.

“If we are hitting our routines on all four events, we will be happy,” Ward said.

Abou-Mitri thinks the gymnasts will win if they simply compete how they do in practice.

The Flashes (4-0-1) will travel to Michigan for the tri-meet, which also includes Maryland and University of Illinois at Chicago. The meet starts at 6 p.m.

Contact Tyler Goddard at [email protected].