MAC Competition Begins Friday At WMU

BGSU (0-2, 0-0 MAC) AT WESTERN MICHIGAN (0-2, 0-0 MAC)
Date	Jan. 17, 2014
Time	7:00 PM
Location	Kalamazoo, Mich. \| University Arena
Coverage	Live Video
Social Media	Twitter \| Facebook

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Kalamazoo,Mich. – The Bowling Green State University gymnastics team opens Mid-American Conference action Friday night at Western Michigan for a 7 p.m. start time. The Falcons were picked to finish third in the MAC in the preseason coaches poll, while WMU was selected sixth.

FOLLOW THE FALCONS
Links to live stats and live video (as available) can be found at BGSUFalcons.com for each meet. Fans can follow the BGSU Gymnastics team through Twitter on the official team account @FalconGymn and through the official account of the Athletics Department @BGAthletics.

ABOUT WMU
Western Michigan opened the season with a 190.650 in a three-team meet hosted by No. 11 Arkansas. Under first year head coach Penny Jernigan, the Broncos struggled to find consistency in the opener, using five freshmen in the lineup. Sophomore Jessi Buis tied BGSU's Jamilah Ali for the MAC Championship on the vault.

LAST TIME OUT
Bowling Green opened its season at No. 19 Ohio State in a three-way meet that also included No. 12 Oregon State. The Falcons finished third but bounced back from a rough start on balance beam to post strong scores in the other three rotations. The Falcons had the top score on the floor exercise, while Amanda Lievendag's 9.875 on the uneven bars was part of a four-way tie for the top score at the meet. Alyssa Nocella scored a career-best 9.800 on floor to win that event.

WHAT A WIN WOULD MEAN
With a win, Bowling Green would start MAC play at 1-0 for the first time since defeating Northern Illinois 192.625-190.900 in 2010. It would also be the team's second consecutive victory over Western Michigan as the Falcons beat the Broncos on Senior Night a year ago 195.175-192.950.

CAREER BESTS
In the season opener, Alyssa Nocella broke her career best with a 9.800 on bars and Amanda Lievendag tied her career best with a 9.875 on bars. Senior Lacey Swords competed on the floor for the first time in her career, establishing a new personal best with a 9.675. The Falcons also had two freshmen compete for the first time, Lauren Feely and Rachel Reis, establishing collegiate personal bests. Feely competed in all four events, which Rachel Reis took part in the bars and balance beam.

LIEVENDAG HONORED BY MAC
Junior Amanda Lievendag was named the Mid-American Conference's Specialist of the Week Tuesday after posting a meet-best 9.875 on the uneven bars against No. 12 Oregon State and No. 19 Ohio State. She also tied for fifth on the vault with a 9.775. It is the second time Lievendag has earned the award in her career.

PRESEASON POLL
BGSU was picked to finish third in the MAC Preseason Poll, as voted on by the league's coaches. The Falcons finished third during the regular season a year ago and fifth at the MAC Championship. Defending MAC Champion Kent State was picked to repeat, followed by Central Michigan. Following BGSU, Northern Illinois was selected fourth and Eastern Michigan, Western Michigan and Ball State round out the preseason standings.

SOLID FOUNDATION
BGSU Head Coach Kerrie Turner was named MAC Coach of the Year in 2013 with good reason. She has pushed the program forward after the team went 0-6 in the MAC in 2011. The 2012 team improved incrementally to 1-5 and the 2012 squad moved to 3-3. The Falcons return most of their contributors from a year ago, as well as adding a strong freshman class.

THE MAC CHAMPS ARE BACK
BGSU is the only school in the MAC to return a pair of individual champions from a year ago in junior Jamilah Ali and sophomore Alyssa Nocella. Ali won the vault a year ago and Nocella claimed the balance beam title. The duo represent just the second and third MAC individual champions under Turner, who began her head coaching tenure at BGSU in 2008.

FIVE ADDED FOR 2014
Earlier this fall, BGSU announced five additions to the gymnastics program for the 2015 season. Morgan Denlinger (Lancaster, Pa./Hempfield HS/Prestige Gymnastics Club), Taylor Livingston (Hartland, Mich./Hartland HS/Geddert's Twisters Gymnastics Club), Shannon Goniwiecha (Rochester Hills, Mich./Stoney Creek HS/Oakland Gymnastics), Kylie Bosco (Illinois Gymnastics Institute) and McKenna Schoenberger (Maple City Gymnastics) will all join the program next year.

HALL OF FAME
BGSU gymnastics alumnus Marny Oestreng was inducted into the BGSU Athletics Hall of Fame over the summer. Oestreng, a 2002 BGSU graduate, won the 1999 NCAA Championship in the floor exercise. Her school- and career-best score in the all-around while at BG was 39.600, and she also posted the program's best-ever scores in the floor exercise (9.975), uneven bars (9.950), vault (9.950) and balance beam (9.925).

SCHOLASTIC ALL-AMERICANS
In August, five Falcons were named Scholastic All-Americans by the National Association of College Gymnastics Coaches for Women (NACGC). Student-athletes must have a grade point average of 3.50 or higher to be honored. Senior Megan Harrington and sophomores Caroline Ellingboe and Alyssa Nocella, along with graduates Monica Eaton and Sunny Marchand (who is now an assistant coach with the team), received the recognition.

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