Falcons Host NIU For Senior Day Sunday

BGSU (6-5, 3-1 MAC) VS. NORTHERN ILLINOIS (4-3, 2-1 MAC)
Date	Feb. 23, 2014
Time	2:00 PM
Location	Bowling Green, Ohio \| Anderson Arena
Coverage	Live Stats
Additional Information	Twitter \| Facebook \| Performance List

Bowling Green, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University gymnastics team will honor three seniors Sunday when the Falcons host Northern Illinois in Anderson Arena at 2 p.m. Megan Harrington, Lacey Swords and Megan Valentini will be recognized for their contributions to the program. At 3-1 in MAC play, Bowling Green still has an opportunity to earn a regular season conference championship, but the Falcons must first get past 2-1 NIU.

FOLLOW THE FALCONS
Links to live stats can be found at BGSUFalcons.com for Sunday's 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.

SHAPING UP THE MAC
Kent State is the lone remaining unbeaten team in the Mid-American Conference with a 4-0 conference record after beating previously unbeaten Central Michigan. CMU and Bowling Green are both 3-1 with Northern Illinois just behind at 2-1. Eastern Michigan sits at 1-3 with Western Michigan at 1-4 and Ball State at 0-4. The Falcons will face Kent State on March 6 and Bowling Green would earn at least a share of the MAC title with a victory in that meet along with a win over NIU Sunday.

SENIOR DAY
BGSU will honor Megan Harrington, Lacey Swords and Megan Valentini at the conclusion of Sunday's meet for Senior Day. Harrington is a two-time NCAA Regional qualifier and a second-team All-MAC competitor a year ago. Swords missed the entire 2013 season with an injury but has been a key member on floor this year, posting a career-best 9.775 in the team's last home meet against Central Michigan. Valentini has been one of the team's best on floor exercise during her career, twice scoring a 9.825 in the event. She has also contributed on vault and beam during her time at BGSU.

SUNDAY'S MATCH-UP
Northern Illinois enters the weekend with a record of 4-3 overall and 2-1 in MAC competition. The Huskies will compete in the State of Illinois Classic Friday before visiting Bowling Green. NIU is ranked 49th in the country with an average score of 192.845, compared to the Falcons at 36th in the country with an average score of 193.896. NIU has been improving during the year, peaking with a team score of 193.825 in their last outing. The Huskies have been best on the beam this year, posting the 44th best scores nationally but BGSU ranks ahead of the NIU in all four apparatuses.

REGIONAL RANKINGS
Bowling Green is currently ranked No. 36 in the country, according to troester.com, with the top 36 teams earning a trip to NCAA Regionals. Beginning next week, Regional Qualifying Scores (RQS) are used to determine those among the top 36. Each team will get credit for their top three away scores and their next three top scores (either home or away). The top score is dropped and the five remaining scores are averaged for an RQS for each team.

FALCONS IN THE RANKINGS
As Bowling Green continues to show improvement within the program, the Falcons continue to receive higher rankings individually and as a team. Three Falcons rank in the top 100 in the country in the all-around, led by Alyssa Nocella at No. 71. As a team, the Falcons are currently at No. 36 nationally (out of 81 teams) and have leaned on the 26th best floor routines in Division I. Listed below are all BGSU individuals ranked in the top 100 in the country in an event:

Vault – 73. Lauren Feely
Floor – 97. Alyssa Nocella
All-Around – 73. Alyssa Nocella, 89. Megan Harrington, 94. Lauren Feely

LAST TIME OUT
Bowling Green struggled early but rallied late for a 193.875 to split a triangular Saturday. Maryland won the meet with a 194.675, while Yale was third with 188.525. Alyssa Nocella was third in the all-around with a 38.875, posting two scores of 9.800 or better.

FACING THE BEST
BGSU Head Coach Kerrie Turner has bulked up the non-conference schedule and the Falcons are facing numerous ranked teams outside of the MAC. In the season opener, Bowling Green competed in a triangular against then-No. 12 Oregon State (now No. 11) and then-No. 19 Ohio State (now No. 23). During the past weekend, BGSU faced then-No. 18 Boise State (now No. 16) in Chicago and No. 19 Central Michigan in venerable Anderson Arena Sunday. No. 9 UCLA and No. 25 Kent State are still left on the schedule.

WHAT A WIN WOULD MEAN
Bowling Green is looking to snap a three-meet losing streak to Northern Illinois. With a victory, Bowling Green would have four conference wins for the first time since the 2010 team went 4-2 in MAC play. At 6-5 overall, the Falcons have a chance for seven wins for the first time since the 2008 team went 9-12. BGSU is also making a push to finish the regular season above .500 for the first time since the 2002 team went 17-1.

HARRINGTON NAMED GYMNAST OF THE WEEK
BGSU senior Megan Harrington was named MAC Gymnast of the Week on Feb. 10 following a career-best 39.100 in the all-around last weekend at the Chicago meet. Harrington also posted an all-around score of 39.075 just two days later at Central Michigan. Both scores were good for second place at both meets. Harrington also scored season-highs in the vault with a 9.800 as well as on the bars with a 9.725 in weekend's first meet in Chicago. Harrington then went on to score a career-best on beam with a 9.850, while tying her bars score of 9.725 in the meet against CMU. She posted at least a 9.675 in all eight rotations on the weekend.

NOCELLA NAMED GYMNAST OF THE WEEK
BGSU sophomore Alyssa Nocella was named MAC Gymnast of the Week on Jan. 28 after scoring a career-best 39.150 in the all-around and leading BGSU to its second-highest team score since 2005 in a win over Eastern Michigan. Nocella posted at least a 9.725 on all four apparatuses, tying her career-best with a 9.775 on vault.

LIEVENDAG HONORED BY MAC
Junior Amanda Lievendag was named the Mid-American Conference's Specialist of the Week Jan. 14 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 2013 squad moved to 3-3. The Falcons return most of their contributors from a year ago, as well as adding a strong freshman class, and have begun the season 3-1 in MAC play.

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 sophomore 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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