Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Let All-Ohio Slip Through their Talons
February 03, 2008 | Gymnastics
Feb. 3, 2008
KENT, Ohio - On Super Bowl Sunday the Bowling Green State University gymnastics team came up on the short end of the All-Ohio. They finished third out of three with a score of 190.700, behind winner Kent State 195.150, and Ohio State 194.175. Senior co-captain Jacquelyn Bernhardt stepped up and tried to lead her team as she scored a 9.750 on vault and a 9.725 on floor, her highest on the season.
Prior to the meet, head coach Kerrie Beach set a goal for her team to hit more then 20 routines. They fell short of that goal and she was less then pleased. "Overall I was hoping for more hits, but the team did keep it together and we ended the meet well on vault. That was something positive to bring from this meet. Jacque [Bernhardt] had a great night for us tonight. She hit both of her routines and that was a big help for us," Beach said.
The team's best performance came on the vault where they hit four out of six routines and scored a 48.225. Bernhardt's 9.750 tied her with teammate Breanne Guy for seventh place. Freshman Meg Satterlee marked a 9.650 placing her in 11th followed by junior Jenna Wirtanen in 14th (9.625).
The team's next best event was the floor where they placed their highest team score on the season at 48.025. Again Bernhardt's score of 9.725 was the highest of the Falcons, placing her in eighth followed by sophomore Morgan Balzer and Guy in ninth with a 9.700.
While the bars and beam saw some falls there were a few great scores. No stranger to third place was freshman Michelle Luchini, who for the second straight week in a row finished third with a 9.725. Guy placed 13th (9.625) and Balzer took 15th. On beam junior Katie Follett scored a career high of 9.700 and a sixth place finish. Meg Satterlee claimed 11th with a 9.450.
"Michelle did a great routine for us on bars tonight,"Beach said. "Katie hit a solid beam routine, which was a great start for us on the beam. Those are some of the bright notes we are going to try to build on for next week."
It is going to be a short week for the Orange and Brown who hit the road on Friday (Feb. 8) for Muncie, Indiana. They will compete at 6:00 p.m. against Mid-American Conference opponent Ball State. They will then look forward to returning home on Saturday, Feb. 16 for another MAC meet against Central Michigan. The meet will begin at 7:00 and will be Alumni Night.
After tonight's meet Beach is very optimistic about her team's ability to bounce back. "It is definitely going to be a short week of regrouping. We are really going to be focusing on practicing like we are competing," she said. "We need to get back on track and work on building up our confidence again. This meet against Ball State is going to be really key for us to get on the right path."
