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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
Kent State
Golden Flashes Outshine Falcons
February 18, 2007 | Gymnastics
Feb. 18, 2007
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -
Feb. 18, 2007
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University gymnastics team recorded their second highest team score on the season on Sunday, however that wasn't high enough as they were edged out by Kent State, 193.700-192.225.
Nonetheless, head coach Dan Connelly was pleased with his team's performance. "We improved this week, however in this meet we had an opportunity to score much better then a 192.225. We hurt ourselves on beam, and the bars were weaker then what we are use to doing. Jholeen did a great job for us tonight on bars, and so did Sak who put up a good score of 9.775."
The Orange and Brown opened the meet with a high note on vault. Junior Jacque Bernhardt was the fifth to go and she thrusted off the trampoline to land a 9.800 winning her the event. Following her was sophomore Jenna Wirtanen, who set a new career best with a 9.725 and finished, tied for third. Junior Jholeen Ponce scored a 9.650 along with teammate Ashlee deLeeuw, tying them for eighth.
BGSU recorded their worst bars performance in two weeks with a team score of only 47.675. However, senior co-captain Sakura Tomita continues to be a leader as she tied her previous career best at 9.775, placing her tied for second. Ponce was the next Falcon to place, as she scored a 9.650, a new season high. Freshman Morgan Balzer and sophomore Katie Follett both tied for ninth with scores of 9.450. With the meet half over, the Orange and Brown found themselves trailing the Flashes by 1.425.
This past week assistant head coach Kerrie Beach has been practicing with her beam performers on hitting six for six. While they did not accomplish this goal, they did put up the second highest team score on the season at 47.650. Senior Bethany Kenel led the team for the third straight week with a score of 9.775. However, this score was only good enough for third as KSU's Jill Kowalski put up a 9.825, and even received a 9.9 from one of the judges. Follett put up a new career high, crushing her previous 9.650 with a 9.750. Following her in fifth place was freshman Megan Chronister, who also set a new career best with a 9.650.
The team marked their highest score of the season at 48.500 on the floor. Senior co-captain Allison Swafford, who tied her season best at 9.750, led the team and finished second. In warm-ups, Bernhardt had difficulty landing any of her floor passes, but when it really counted she was flawless. She nailed every flip and scored a new season high of 9.725. Balzer, Chronister and Kenel all tied for sixth with scores of 9.675. Rounding out the excellent floor performances was freshman Rachel Gourley who scored a 9.625.
"Overall it is an improvement, and I can't complain. We are also happy that we are done with MAC meets. Now we are looking at taking some time off to rest our injuries. We need to continue to improve, and really need to focus on hitting on beam in these non-conference meets," Connelly said.
The Falcons now head out a month long road trip. They will first compete at Missouri on Feb. 23. The meet is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m. On Saturday there will be an individual meet where the top individual performers from the previous day will compete. That is also scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m. The Orange and Brown will then take the week off before heading to Texas to compete at Texas Women's University. That meet will begin on Saturday, March 10, at 7:00 p.m. Finally, the team will return home to host the All-Ohio, where they will see Ohio State and Kent State. The meet will be on Saturday, March 24, at 7:00 p.m. The meet will also honor senior Jessica McArthur, who was forced to miss the season as a result of a kidney replacement. More information can be obtained on the bgsufalcons webpage under gymnastics' stories.
Connelly has high hopes for his team looking ahead to the Mid-American Conference Championships. "If we had hit on beam it would have put more pressure on Kent to hit on floor. Instead they knew that they had a gap to work with. If we want to do something significant at the MAC Championships we have to start hitting beam and bars a little better. Next week is a fun meet. Then we have a week off and it gives us a chance to rest up and work on the details."
Bowling Green State University
Final Team Score - 192.225
Vault
Balzer 9.575
Ponce 9.650
Swafford 9.525
deLeeuw 9.650
Bernhardt 9.800
Wirtanen 9.725
Bars
Chronister 9.350
Follett 9.450
Balzer 9.450
Ponce 9.600
deLeeuw 9.050
Tomita 9.775
Beam
Chronister 9.650
Balzer 9.125
Follett 9.750
Gamble 9.150
Ponce 9.300
Kenel 9.775
Floor
Kenel 9.675
Chronister 9.675
Gourley 9.625
Swafford 9.750
Balzer 9.675
Bernhardt 9.725
