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CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – A supportive Houck Field House crowd saw the Southeast Missouri post a dazzling performance in its home opener on Friday night.
The Redhawks added one and a half points to their strong season-opener while defeating Centenary 193.700-189.150.
Taryn Vanderpool won her second-straight all-around title with a career-best 38.950 and was followed closely by teammate
Megan Fosnow's 38.925.
“I'm very proud of the team,” Southeast head coach
Kristi Ewasko said. “We made some minor changes from last week and what's exciting is we have more in the tank. Tonight was a great step going into next week. Taryn and Megan have really pushed it in practice. They've increased their difficulty on at least one event from last year. That's what we need out of our all-around competitors because we don't have large numbers on our roster.”
Southeast (2-0, 2-0 Midwest Independent) began the night on vault, where Fosnow tallied a season-best 9.750 to lead the team to a score of 48.000. Fosnow's score won the event while
Emma Garrett (9.675) and Vanderpool (9.650) placed third and fourth, respectively. Centenary countered with a 47.050 on bars, putting Southeast up nearly a point after one rotation.
The Redhawks were strong for the second-straight meet on bars in the next rotation. Vanderpool's second-consecutive 9.800 bars score won the event. The Redhawks posted the top five bars scores and all six competitors scored at least 9.625.
Taylor Westrick (9.750),
Taylor Penzien (9.725) and
Margaret O'Neal (9.700) each scored at least 9.700 or higher. Centenary posted a 47.175 on vault, giving Southeast a two-point cushion halfway through the meet.
In the third rotation, three Southeast gymnasts cracked 9.700 or higher, led by Vanderpool's career-high tying 9.775, which was good for first place. Fosnow posted a 9.725 while Penzien earned a 9.700 as the Redhawks scored 48.500 as a team. Southeast did not count a score lower than 9.625 in the rotation. Meanwhile, the Ladies scored 48.175 on floor as the Redhawks extended their lead to nearly three points.
Southeast notched a 48.575 on floor with four gymnasts scoring 9.725 or higher. Fosnow finished second overall with a career-best 9.825 while Penzien, Westrick and Vanderpool all posted a 9.725. Centenary finished up with a 46.750 on beam.
Southeast managed to threaten a 194 score despite not counting scores from the anchor spots on beam and floor.
“We don't talk much about scores because that's not something we control,” Ewasko said. “If we come into the gym and do our job we are happy. To be near a 194 not counting two of our anchors shows what this team is truly capable of.”
The Redhawks are back in action on Feb. 2 when they travel to DeKalb, Ill., to take on Northern Illinois.
