Bowling Green State University Athletics
Coach Kerrie's Post Ohio State Meet Blog
February 23, 2009 | Gymnastics
Feb. 23, 2009
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Head coach Kerrie Beach's thoughts on the Falcons' season high team score (193.750) and meet against No. 16 Ohio State (Feb. 22).
What a day! It was senior day for Falcon Gymnastics and I had spoken to the team about getting the job done in honor of our seniors, Katie Follett, Jenna Wirtanen and Jholeen Ponce. We have been building our score that last couple of meets and I knew they were capable of more.
Vault was a problem area for us last weekend so it was an area of focus in training. We had a good start, particularly from junior Queenita Gamble, senior Jenna Wirtanen and junior Breanne Guy. Bre won the event with a 9.825 on her yurchenko full. It was a solid start and building block for our remaining events.
On bars, the team really stepped up. Sophomore Lexi Psichopaidas missed her routine last week but she nailed it this week. Sophomore Kasey Fillmore, junior Amber Brewer and Breanne Guy all scored well to finish out our line up. Momentum was gained yet again going into balance beam.
After successful outings on beam the last two meets, the competitors should have been ready to go. Senior Katie Follett had an excellent start with a 9.7. Unfortunately, trouble began for our next three competitors; one that missed a crucial connection and two that fell off the beam. Breanne Guy stepped up to get us back on track with a solid 9.8 and Queenita Gamble also finished well with a 9.65.
Going into floor, I asked the team not to give up just because we had a rough time on balance beam. I have been looking for the strength of this team's character and this was a true test. Boy did they deliver! Freshman Molly McKinnon had an excellent start and we built scores from there. Queenite Gamble hit her routine and set up the end of our line up. Junior Morgan Balzer scored a career high of 9.85, followed by Jenna Wirtanen's 9.8. Kasey Fillmore did a fantastic job recovering from her fall on beam to score a career high 9.825 on floor. Breanne Guy capped off an amazing performance with a career high of 9.875. It was a whopping 49.1 that we scored on that event. Hats off to the floor team!
There were many great moments today. Bre scored a 39.3 in the all-around, her career high. The floor team didn't even know how capable they were until they did that performance. The crowd was awesome! But, I was really proud that our three seniors had a great day. None of them counted a fall for us and I am so proud of them. Gymnastics is a grueling sport physically and mentally. It's difficult to maintain that for four years (five for Jholeen Ponce). They did it and I'm proud of the example they set for the team yesterday.
Well, we've wrapped up our home season- the first in Anderson Arena which was amazing! We are off to Central Michigan on Friday. This is a true test for us and the team will be working really hard this week. This is our last MAC dual meet and it would be awesome to get the win. Roll Along!
