Bowling Green State University Athletics
BGSU Gymnasts Kickoff 2003 Season
January 06, 2003 | Gymnastics
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The Bowling Green Gymnastics team enters the 2003 season with many questions to answer. After losing four talented seniors to graduation, one of whom was an NCAA Champion, a question on the mind of seventh year head coach Dan Connelly is, "Who will step up?"
The 14 members of this year's squad include three seniors, three juniors, three sophomores and five freshmen. With the underclassmen outnumbering their elders, this season's team appears very young. But despite their age, the five Falcon newcomers are eager to fill the gaps left behind by the 2002 senior class.
Marie-Eve Boisvert, Jessica Bradley, Missy Bruch, Jessica Guyer and Erin McCollam are all new to the BG program but have a wealth of competitive experience.
Boisvert hails from Norway where she was the 2001 Senior Norwegian Champion and the Junior National Champion in 1996, 1997, and 1998. She also placed 30th in the 1998 European Championships and 81st in the 2001 World Championships.
Bradley is from Danbury, Connecticut where she placed second in the all-around during her first year at the Level 10 State competition. In the same season she took fifth on bars at the Level 10 Regionals.
Bruch comes to BG from Oshkosh, Wisconsin where she placed 17th on the beam at the 2001 Level 10 National Championship. She also qualified for regionals six times.
Guyer, a Columbus, Ohio native, was the 2000 Level 10 State bar champion and the 2000 Level 10 Regional all-around and bar champ. In 2001, she was the Level 10 State champ on bars, beam and the all-around and the 2001 Regional vault and floor champion. Guyer also placed second in the all-around at the 1999 Level 10 National Championship.
Rounding out the freshman class is McCollam, who comes to BG from Cincinnati. The southern Ohio native is a Level 9 National qualifier and a Level 10 Regional qualifier. Last season, McCollam finished 7th on the floor and 4th on the bars at State and took 7th on the floor at Regionals.
The nine returning letterwinners bring leadership and stability to this year's squad. Senior Ann Marie Kassouf and junior Melissa Popovich were selected as team captains. Kassouf is second in school history in the all-around while Popovich owns the second-best score in the floor for BG.
Other Falcons that will be looked to for significant contributions are junior Pia Sjovall, and sophomore Kari Elste. Sjovall is third all-time in the vault and fourth in the floor and will compete in both this season for the Falcons. Elste is third overall on the bars after her first season for the Orange and Brown and may compete in the all-around this year.
Seniors Rachel Hall and Kathy Emerson will look to make the most of their final year for BG. Hall will be competing in the floor and bars and currently holds the fourth-best score in the floor event. Emerson will be in the lineup on the beam and the vault, in which she holds the fourth-best score in school history.
Sophomores Breanne Metzger and Kristin DiPietro are coming back from injuries suffered last season and hope to make a return to the lineup. Metzger missed half of last season with a knee injury while DiPietro competed, but suffered from a stress fracture.
According to Connelly, the fate of the season depends on the health of the team. "If we can keep everyone healthy, we'll do all right. I don't see us as the same team as last year. We'll probably be spending the first part of the season just trying to get on track and working on getting these five freshmen some college experience, but I'm really excited about this year. I think there are a lot of things we don't know but it will make for a more exciting season...it definitely won't be boring."
