Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
Texas Woman's University
Gymnastics Back at Home to Face TWU Saturday
January 10, 2013 | Gymnastics
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University gymnastics team hosts its second meet of the season Saturday in Anderson Arena, as the Falcons take on Texas Woman's University at 4 p.m.
The Falcons are coming off a loss to No. 14 Ohio State in last weekend's season opener. The team posted a score of 192.200 - the highest score to start the season since 2004. Jamilah Ali led the Falcons, posting the highest vault score in the Mid-American Conference (9.85), while also pitching in strong routines on beam (9.675) and floor (9.8). On Wednesday, Ali was named MAC Gymnast of the Week for the first time in her career.
Texas Woman's University competes for the first time this season on Saturday, after finishing 2012 ranked No. 45 in the nation - three spots higher than the Falcons placed based on regional qualifying scores.
"This competition will be all about improving on our strong start last weekend," said head coach Kerrie Beach. "Once again our goal is to avoid counting a fall in our team score and also to improve on some of the small details. We are also continuing to work on selecting athletes for lineups that are training consistently and making strides."
While the Falcons started the year strong against the Buckeyes, the team is still dealing with injuries and working to return several key gymnasts to the lineups. One of those athletes is Danielle Wishart, an NCAA regional qualifier from last year and one of the team's leaders on vault and floor exercise. Wishart is recovering from a back strain and is expected to join the vault lineup in the next few weeks.
Uneven bars is another area where Bowling Green is looking to add gymnasts. Monica Eaton and Gina Locigno, both top performers from last year, have new routines that should eventually break the lineup once mastered. Freshmen Katrina Carpenter and Caroline Ellingboe - both capable of difficult routines - are recovering from wrist injuries. Ellingboe competed an exhibition routine in the season opener. Despite missing so many top gymnasts on the event, Bowling Green hit the 48.0 mark on bars versus Ohio State - a mark they only reached four times in all of last season.
The Falcons' strong opening score is a testament to improved difficulty and consistency over last year. At the end of the season, the team aims to be one of the top 36 teams in the nation to qualify a full team to NCAA regionals. Beach says this weekend's meet against TWU is a chance to take another step toward that goal.
"We will need to begin hitting team scores of 194 or higher during the month of January in order to work towards our goal of team qualification to regionals," she said. "The challenge is having the athletes focus on the performance and not the score.
"Once they perform to the greatest potential, the scores will happen."
