Team struggles to

place in top three

The Kent State gymnastics

team fell to Southern Utah

193.625 to 195.275 in what the

team hoped to be a redeeming

competition from last week’s

display.

The Flashes struggled on all

events Saturday night, especially

on bars and beam. The

team counted multiple falls on

both events and only one Kent

State gymnast placed in the top

three.

On bars, freshman Lindsay

Runyan (9.8) placed first, getting

her first event win of her

collegiate career.

No Kent State gymnast

placed in the top three on beam

or floor, and junior Christina

Lenny was the only gymnast to place on vault with a 9.85 thirdplace

finish.

In the all-around competition,

junior Christine Abou-Mitri

placed second with a score of

38.95, and Lenny came in third

(38.30).

Kent State coach Brice Biggin

was reluctant to shed any positive

light on the competition,

speaking instead about how

disappointed he was.

“Remember, I said last week

that we’d get our butts kicked

if we performed like that,” Biggin

said. “Well, we did. They’re

just not doing the job they are

capable of doing.”

Biggin said the gymnasts

are becoming less competitive

in every meet and fail to pull

together as a team when they

need to the most.

“I’m getting tired of watching

them underachieve,” Biggin

said. “We’re in trouble because

it doesn’t get any easier.”

Assistant coach Sharon Sabin

had similar sentiments on the

gymnasts’ performance, saying

the mental toughness needed for

success is lacking.

“We need six kids who are

tough enough to stay on the

beam,” she said. “We’ll go back

in the gym on Monday and find

kids who want to hit.”

Both coaches were confused

about Abou-Mitri’s beam score

of 9.75, feeling that it did not

reflect her execution.

“A judge’s subjectiveness is

sometimes very frustrating,”

Sabin said. “But when you have

kids in the middle of the lineup

fall, you lose momentum.”

Overall, Biggin felt the meet

was a waste of time, saying the

Flashes don’t believe in themselves

and fail to fight.

“They make the same mistakes

every time,” Biggin said.

“Why spend the time and money

when we can’t break 194?”

Contact sports reporter Katie Corbut

at [email protected].