The Saline Reporter
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Hornets peaking after easy win over Hillsdale
Van Slambrouck confident headed into conference meet
By Jerry Hinnen, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: February 22, 2007
Three straight scores over the 133-point mark. Three straight comfortable victories. All just before the conference meet and the week before regionals.
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It's all "according to plan," head coach Paul Van Slambrouck said, for his Saline gymnastics team.
"This is exactly what we want," he said after the Hornets had dispatched Hillsdale 133.35-110.4 at home Monday night. "We're peaking at the end of the season, doing our best and getting our highest scores right before the league meet. We had some people who doubted us and it was tough to stay the course in the middle of the season. But now it's paying off."
Saline dominated in all four events against Hillsdale in a rare "Hornets vs. Hornets" match-up. Although the top gymnast for the visiting Hornets claimed the meet's all-around title, Saline's Karen Thompson, Paige Cederna and Brittany Holloway took second through fourth with scores of 33.2, 33.15 and 32.1, respectively.
"We've definitely improved a lot," said Cederna, who had won all-around honors at the Hornets' two previous meets. "We're confident and we're getting our big skills (executed)."
"What brings us up is our consistency," Van Slam-brouck said. "We consistently score well across all four events. We don't really have one event where we're a lot better or a lot worse than the others."
That consistency led to a whopping 22.95-point win against Hillsdale. Saline started on the beam, with Thompson (8.45), Holloway (8.3), Brooke Pleger (8.3) and Cederna (7.9) combining to give the Hornets a score of 32.95 in the event. Kara Williams (7.65), Moriah Grooms (6.45) and Ann O'Connell (5.75) also competed on the beam.
From there, Saline went to the floor exercise, where the Hornets were led by Pleger's 9.05. She was followed by Cederna (8.75), Williams (8.3) and Rachel Cole (8.2) for a total of 34.3. Thompson (8.1), Holloway (8.1) and Grooms (7.65) rounded out a strong Saline performance on the floor.
Thompson took the team's top score in the vault with an 8.65, followed closely by Cederna with an 8.55. Cole and Kristy Richart each posted a score of 8.4 for a team total of 34.0, with Williams (8.3), Holloway (8.05) and Grooms (7.9) posting solid scores, as well.
Pleger took her top team score of the night on the uneven bars with an 8.1. That was followed by Richart's 8.05, Thompson's 8.1, Cederna's 7.95 (for a team score of 32.1), Holloway's 7.65, Williams's 7.4 and Grooms's 6.1.
With the win, the Hornets' attention turned to the league meet Wednesday, where Saline looked to fend off challenges from Pioneer and Tecumseh for another conference title.
"They're going to pull out all the stops," Van Slambrouck said. "We'll need our highest level of focus and have our best performance of the year. But if we do stay focused and prepare correctly, I don't have any doubt we'll seal a victory."
Saline has defeated both Pioneer and Tecumseh this season, including a 133-126.5 win over the Indians last Saturday. Thompson (vault), Cederna (bars), Holloway (beam) and Pleger (floor) each won one event for Saline.
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