Bowling Green State University
University of Kentucky
Gymnastics Looks to Fly High at Kentucky
March 06, 2013 | Gymnastics
Lexington, Ky. - The Bowling Green State University gymnastics team closes a challenging road schedule Friday night, traveling to face No. 20 Kentucky at 7 p.m. While the Wildcats are a non-conference opponent, the Falcons have competed in Lexington for each of the last two seasons, most recently on Jan. 7, 2012 for last year's season opener.
The Falcons have hit a stride recently, posting two scores above 194.5 in their last two meets. Megan Harrington has been on fire, recording the three best all-around scores of her career in the Falcons' last three meets. Kentucky has also been strong, earning a school-record score of 196.5 on the road last week against Ball State.
"UK is a great program and this will really challenge our team to do our very best," said head coach Kerrie Beach. "We have scored well two weeks in a row so confidence is high but I can tell the athletes are ready to exceed that score. We are having a focused week of training, working on pressure sets and refining the details."
Bowling Green has relied heavily on four all-around performers - Harrington, Jamilah Ali, Alyssa Nocella and Gina Locigno. Those athletes are peaking at the right time, with all but Nocella recording career-best all-around scores last week at Central Michigan. The Falcons fell to the Chippewas, but all-around scores of 39.025 (Harrington), 39.0 (Ali) and 38.925 (Locigno) helped the team to a 194.5 score, despite counting a fall on balance beam.
With an overall record of 4-10 (2-3 MAC), the Falcons have improved to fourth in the Mid-American Conference standings, with a regional qualifying score (RQS) of 193.7. Ali is tied for first in the MAC on vault with an average of 9.840, while Harrington (all-around) and Nocella (floor exercise) also rank in the top three.
Currently ranked No. 46 in the nation, the Falcons have three more opportunities to increase their RQS and earn a place as one of 36 teams that qualify to NCAA regionals. After facing Kentucky, the Falcons return to Anderson Arena on March 16 to take on Western Michigan in the final regular-season matchup. The MAC Championships, hosted by WMU, will take place March 23 in Kalamazoo, Mich.
