Marny Oestreng (2013) - Hall of Fame - Bowling Green State University Athletics

Marny Oestreng

Induction:
2013
Class:
2002

MARNY OESTRENG (gymnastics; 1999-2002)
Oestreng, a native of Trogsted, Norway, became an NCAA champion while at Bowling Green, and still holds the BGSU records in every individual event. Oestreng's school- and career-best score in the all-around while at BG was 39.600, and she also posted the program's best-ever scores in the floor exercise (9.975), uneven bars (9.950), vault (9.950) and balance beam (9.925).

Prior to coming to BGSU, Oestreng won four Norwegian junior all-around titles and then captured three Norwegian all-around titles. She competed in the European Championships in each of the five years before coming to BG.

As a freshman in 1999, Oestreng won the NCAA title in the floor exercise. She was the final competitor of the NCAA meet, and posted a score of 9.925 to win the title and earn All-American honors. Oestreng, the first-ever BGSU gymnast to even qualify for the national meet, had earned that trip to the NCAA meet by virtue of winning the floor at the NCAA Region 4 meet hosted by LSU. She posted a score of 9.950 to win that event at the regional meet, and finished 11th in the all-around at that meet with a score of 38.600. Oestreng also tied for third on the bars at the regional meet.

Oestreng was the dominant gymnast in the conference that year, winning the all-around title at the MAC Championships with a meet-record score of 39.600. She also won the league titles in vault (9.875), bars (9.900, tied the meet record) and beam (9.850, tied the meet record). No gymnast in MAC history had ever won more than three individual titles in a single league meet. Ironically, the only event she did not win at the 1999 MAC Championships was the floor exercise, where her score of 9.900 placed her second. She was named the MAC Gymnast of the Year as well as the MAC Freshman of the Year.

In that epic freshman season, Oestreng won the vault event in 10 of the 14 meets during the season, while winning the bars and the floor exercise nine times each, the beam on seven occasions and the all-around in 11 of 14 meets. Oestreng qualified for the World Gymnastics Championships in October of 1999 in China after capturing the all-around title at the Norwegian Championships in June.

As a sophomore in 2000, Oestreng finished fifth at the NCAA Regionals in the floor, eighth in the all-around and 10th in the bars. She captured the MAC all-around (39.450) and vault (9.875) titles, and finished second in the conference in the floor exercise (9.900). Oestreng's junior year saw her finish 12th in the NCAA Regionals in the all-around with a score of 38.275. She tied for top honors in the all-around at the MAC Championships (39.150) that year, and also tied for first on bars (9.875)

As a senior in 2002, Oestreng helped the Falcons to one of the most successful regular seasons in school history with a 17-1 mark (a school record for wins in a season). At that season's MAC Championships, she tied for first in both the all-around (39.175) and the floor (9.900), and deadlocked for second on the vault (9.875). She was named the MAC Senior Gymnast of the Year.

Oestreng, now Marny Østreng Unnli, resides in Trøgstad, Norway, with her husband, Aleksander, and their two daughters. She is a business architect at Vingcard Elsafe, a company that delivers hotel locks and safes worldwide.