Bowling Green State University Athletics
Mary Beth (Friel) Bylsma: BGSU Hall of Fame Inductee
September 03, 2004 | Gymnastics
Sept. 3, 2004
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University Athletic Hall of Fame will welcome seven new members on Friday, Sept. 10. The 2004 class will be inducted during a formal dinner on the BGSU campus.
The class of 2004 includes women's basketball standout Lori Albers, men's track/cross country great Todd Black, gymnast Mary Beth (Friel) Bylsma, volleyball standout Lisa (Mika) Huston, swimmer Josie McCulloch, men's lacrosse player Chuck Winters and football Falcon Andre Young.
The official induction ceremony will take place Friday, Sept. 10, in the grand ballroom of BGSU's Bowen-Thompson Student Union. The social hour begins at 6:00 p.m. with dinner served at 7:00 p.m. and the program starting shortly thereafter.
In addition, the class will be introduced at halftime of the Sept. 11 BGSU-Southeast Missouri football game at Doyt Perry Stadium. The game begins at 6:00 p.m. and is designated as Varsity BG & Hall of Fame Night.
Tickets for the Sept. 10 dinner are $35 and advance reservations are required. Tickets can be reserved by calling the Falcon Club office at (419) 372-7063 before the close of business on Wednesday, Sept. 8. Football game tickets can be purchased through the BGSU athletics ticket office by phone, at 1-877-BGSUTICKET (1-877-247-8842) or (419) 372-0000, or on the web here at BGSUFalcons.com.
The following is the third in a series of biographical sketches profiling each of the 2004 inductees:
MARY BETH (FRIEL) BYLSMA
Native of Hoffman Estates, Ill. ... one of the premier gymnasts in the region during her time at BGSU ... earned All-MAC honors in three of her four seasons, winning the MAC title on the balance beam as a junior in 1991 ... her score of 9.7 on the beam at the NCAA regionals that year earned her all-star recognition and tied her own school record set earlier in the year ... also earned all-league honors on the beam as a freshman and a senior ... as a sophomore, earned team MVP honors for the second-straight season after placing 15th at the NCAA regional meet in the vault ... was the first BG gymnast to earn all-conference honors in three different seasons (Marny Oestreng is the only other Falcon gymnast to do so) ... one of only five gymnasts to earn all-league honors at least three times ... at the time of her graduation, held school records in the all-around (37.80), balance beam (9.70) and floor exercise (9.70).
