MUNCIE, Ind. – A solid finish, three team season highs and plenty of positives for the Central Michigan gymnastics team.

The Chippewas posted a season-high team score of 194.650 finishing second in a non-conference three-way meet Sunday at Ball State. The host Cardinals were first with 195,850; Illinois State finished third at 194.525.

CMU posted season-high scores on floor exercise (49.250) and vault (48.925) in the third and fourth rotations, respectively. The Chippewas opened with a score of 47.700 on uneven parallel bars, then posted a score of 48.775 on balance beam.

“We put ourselves in a position where we had to fight back and we did,” the CMU coach said. Christine MacDonald noted. “I think they did a great job building one event after another and finishing strong. To have our season highs on floor and then on vault shows great courage and really good focus with this team.

“We haven’t crashed in the last three events. The work they do in the gym is starting to show; especially proud of our floor team and our vault team. Those are definitely two big scores for those groups . “

junior CMU Ashley Veglucci tied for first on floor with a score of 9.875, which tied his best season in the event.

The Chippewas Hannah Demers finished second on bars (9.775), tied for second on beam (9.850) and won the all-around with a total of 39.275. She finished third on floor (9.850) and sixth on vault (9.800).

“Right now, Hannah has the highest score on the MAC,” MacDonald said. “She definitely consolidates her position as an all-rounder.”

CMU’s 49.250 on floor is tied for the highest by a MAC team this season and sits just outside the national top 10.

CMU Taylor Pitchell and Sierra DeMarinis tied for third, with DeMers, in the 9.850 event, giving the Chippewas four of the top six on floor in the meet.

“It’s time for the task and the confidence as we continue to build week after week,” MacDonald said. “Seeing the work we do in the gym show up on competition days fuels that confidence and gives us that competitive edge. The shining moments come out on competition days.”

Katie Kowalski (9.850) was CMU’s top finisher, third, on vault.

The Chippewas (1-3) are scheduled to compete on a non-conference team with Illinois and Georgia at Kentucky on Friday, Feb. 4.

“It’s a short time this week and there’s a lot of work ahead of us, but we definitely have a lot to build on,” MacDonald said.