Eagles notch second highest team total on Ebeyer's senior night

In her final meet at the Convocation Center, Eastern Michigan senior gymnast Kimberly Ebeyer contributed to the Eagles’ second highest team score in program history with a 196.250 Thursday night.

The Eagles (15-3-1, 5-1 MAC) competed against conference rival Central Michigan University and Southeast Missouri State. CMU finished with a 194.125 and SE Missouri State finished with a 191.800.

“I feel really good. They really bounced back,” EMU coach Jay Santos said. “We talked a lot about how we seemed to lose our focus a little bit and that's where it got away from us last week. All week long, we've been talking about making sure that we weren't just keeping it high energy, but also focusing on the right things at the right times.”

For lone senior Ebeyer, she finished with a 9.800 on the balance beam, 9.625 on floor and a 9.725 on the vault.

“I just came out here knowing that I needed to do what I do everyday in practice,” Ebeyer said. “I came out and enjoyed every second.”

The Eagles played a montage of photos and video clips documenting her career as a gymnast after the meet.

“She’s so much fun to have around,” Santos said. “She rarely has a down day and she’s always the person picking you up.”

The Eagles also had a career-high day for sophomore Catie Conrad, who competed all-around and scored a 39.350.

Conrad saw career highs on the uneven bars and the balance beam with a 9.9 and 9.875, respectively.

Now that the regular season is over, the Eagles have the Mid-American Conference championship meet on Saturday in Muncie, Ind.

“We’ve been pretty successful with what we’ve done this year,” Santos said. “Don’t get outside the box because it’s MAC championships, keep focus on what we’ve been doing and have a night like tonight.”

Eagles Results per EMUEagles.com (*denotes career high, # denotes a program record)

Team 196.250

Vault 48.825

Kendall Valentin 9.8

Rachel Slocum 9.8

Catie Conrad 9.775

Kimberly Ebeyer 9.725

Ciara Gresham 9.725*

Julia Schwartz 9.7

Bars 49.225#

Kendall Valentin 9.9

Catie Conrad 9.9*

Natalie Gervais 9.85

Lacey Rubin 9.85

Sydney McEachern 9.725

Kirsten Gendron 9.725

Beam 49.150

Catie Conrad 9.875*

Lacey Rubin 9.85

Kendall Valentin 9.825

Kimberly Ebeyer 9.8

Natalie Gervais 9.8

Megan Hultgren 9.75

Floor 49.050

Ciara Gresham 9.85*

Rachel Slocum 9.85

Sydney McEachern 9.825

Catie Conrad 9.8

Natalie Gervais 9.725

Kimberly Ebeyer 9.625

All-Around

Catie Conrad 39.350*