The women’s gymnastics team is off to their best start since the 2009 team won the first two meets of the season.

The success of the team has improved since the entrance of head coach Sam Morreale, as he guided a team with solid pieces in place to one of the best performances in the MAC Championship in school history with tied for second best in points and placement.

While a lot of the big time performers from last season were not recruits of Morreale, they were gymnasts he worked with as an assistant, and his recruiting class has already been on display this year so far.

Freshmen Jaelyn Olsen and Lauren Africano have already been performing in the starting lineup and posting scores on both vault and bars, respectively.

While a big part of coaching lies with the ability to bring in talent, it’s also about what one is able to do with talent.

Under Morreale’s lead, newly minted sophomore gymnasts like Amanda Stepp and Shelby Davis have embraced increased roles and found a lot of success, as evidenced by the last meet against Ball State where Stepp posted three high scores, including a 9.675 on vault, a 9.700 on beam and a 9.775 on floor exercise.

With the amount of youth and performance thus far early in the season, there is ample room for growth and improvement throughout the course of the season.

The future of both the season and the program itself look strong with the possibility of a strong recruiting class coming in for next season.

The key will be for Morreale and the gymnasts to continue with what has brought them their success already. With a bigger stress on individual accountability and performance, Morreale has created a team and individual culture that is on the way of competing with the standouts of the MAC such as Central Michigan and Kent State.