No. 14 Falcons Head To Knoxville For Ozone Collegiate Classic

Saturday, January 17

Knoxville, Tenn.

8:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Alaska Anchorage

Photo by: Bianca Garza, BGSU Marketing and Communications

January 15, 2015 | Gymnastics

Bowling Green will compete with Alaska Anchorage, Brigham Young and Wisconsin-Whitewater Saturday night in hopes of improving to 4-0 on the season.

By: by James Nahikian, BGSU Athletic Communications

BOWLING GREEN STATE UNIVERSITY FALCONS (1-0; 0-0 MAC)
AT
OZONE COLLEGIATE CLASSIC
ALASKA ANCHORAGE (2-0; 0-0 MPSF)
BRIGHAM YOUNG (0-1; INDEPENDENT)
WISCONSIN-WHITEWATER (1-0; 0-0 WIAC)
Saturday, Jan. 17 | 8 p.m. ET | Knoxville Convention Center
Live Stats: www.BGSUFALCONS.com
Follow Along: @FalconGymn | @BGAthletics
COMPLETE MEET NOTES (.PDF)

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The No. 14 ranked Bowling Green State University gymnastics team, after earning its first win over a Big Ten Conference opponent since 2004 over the weekend, will head to Knoxville, Tennessee to compete at the Ozone Collegiate Classic on Saturday night. The Falcons will look to start the season 4-0 for the first time since 2002.

FOLLOW THE FALCONS
A link to live stats can be found at BGSUFalcons.com for the Ozone Collegiate Classic. Fans can also follow the BGSU Gymnastics team on Twitter @FalconGymn for in-meet updates, news and notes.

HEAD COACH'S THOUGHTS
Kerrie Turner: "I am so pleased with the fact that our program will be competing at the Ozone Collegiate Classic. This is a unique event that brings collegiate gymnastics to the state of Tennessee. We expect a huge crowd of young, aspiring gymnasts that will also be competing at that venue throughout the weekend. Our team has a chance to see some great competition, particularly from Brigham Young. Our goals are to improve on our great start, continue to work on the fine details in competition, and to improve our team score to build our regional qualifying score. This will be our first test on the road and I look forward to working with our team to handle any adjustments that need to be made."

ABOUT THE OPPONENTS
Brigham Young scored the highest team score of any of Bowling Green's three opponents this Saturday across the opening week of the gymnastics season, as they posted a 193.350 in a loss at Utah last Friday (Jan. 9). Alaska Anchorage defeated Winona State on Jan. 8 and Jan. 10 by scoring a 191.550 and 192.250, respectively. Wisconsin-Whitewater – a Division III school – registered a 183.275 in a season-opening victory over Wisconsin-Stout on Jan. 9.

WHAT A WIN WOULD MEAN
* By sweeping the invitational, the Falcons would move to 4-0 to stay on pace with the 2002 team that started 9-0. That squad finished the regular season with a record of 17-1.
* If the Orange and Brown finished second at the Ozone Collegiate Classic, they would start the season with a 3-1 record for the first time since 2008.
* A victory over Brigham Young would be the program's first, as the Cougars defeated Bowling Green, 193.600-192.250, in 2001 in the only meeting between the two schools.
* If Bowling Green could beat Alaska Anchorage and Wisconsin-Whitewater, they would be 2-0 all-time against both institutions. BGSU took down Alaska Anchorage in 1997, and Wisconsin-Whitewater in 1978.

BOWLING GREEN "NATIONALLY RANKED" FALCONS
GymInfo – the predominant national poll for women's gymnastics – ranked BGSU No. 14 in the country in the first edition of this year's rankings. The ranking is the second best in program history for the Falcons, who haven't been placed inside of the top 20 since Jan. 21, 2002. On Jan. 15, 2001, GymInfo ranked Bowling Green No. 10 overall, which stands as the program's highest ranking. Oklahoma sits in first, with LSU, Florida, Utah and Michigan rounding out the top five.

DOWN GOES SPARTY
Bowling Green opened the 2015 season with a 194.775–194.075 victory over Michigan State. The win was the program's first over a Big Ten Conference opponent since 2004. The triumph was also the Orange and Brown's second ever win against the Spartans, with the only previous win taking place in 1984. The Falcons bested Michigan State on vault (48.850), bars (48.675), and floor (48.650), and individually, took home the vault and bars titles. Jamilah Ali scored a meet-high 9.875 on vault, while Amanda Lievendag won bars with a 9.850. Bowling Green's team score of 194.775 was its highest at in opening meet since 2001.

ELLINGBOE'S CAREER DAY
Caroline Ellingboe – a junior from Exceisior, Minnesota – turned in a strong meet in the Falcons win over the Spartans on Saturday. Ellingboe set a new career high on beam, scoring a 9.775 to surpass her previous high of 9.700. The junior also competed on bars and posted a 9.800, which tied a career high. Ellingboe's 9.800 was second best only to Amanda Lievendag's 9.850, while her 9.775 led the Falcons – along with Jamilah Ali and Alyssa Nocella – on the apparatus.

MORE THAN FLOOR
Junior Katrina Carpenter – who had only competed on floor across all seven of her previous meet appearances – registered a 9.650 on vault Saturday afternoon. The junior's vault helped Bowling Green score a 48.850 on the apparatus, which was the highest team score for Bowling Green over the four events. Carpenter also recorded a 9.625 on floor later in the competition for the Orange and Brown.

HEATH COMPETES
Sophomore Victoria Heath competed for the first time in her career over the weekend. Heath's floor routine earned a 9.700, while her vault scored a 9.450. The 9.700 placed her seventh of 12 competitors on floor. Heath was one of just five Falcon underclassmen that earned a spot in Bowling Green's lineup against Michigan State.

ROOKIES ROLL DEEP
Freshmen Krista Walberer and Jordan Rae competed for the first time this weekend in their respective careers against Michigan State. Walberer scored a 9.725 on floor and a 9.150 on beam, while Rae posted a 9.675 on bars. The two are part of this year's eight-member rookie class, making the group the largest freshmen class since the 2009 team competed with nine rookies. Morgan Denlinger, Vanessa Emery, Shannon Goniwiecha, Taylor Livingston, Laura Mitchell and McKenna Schoenberger will all look to compete for the first time as collegiate gymnasts throughout the 2015 season.

THE TURNER-ROUND
Kerrie Turner has completely turned around the program, and has morphed the Falcons into legit title contenders. Turner faced an uphill battle in 2011 when she coached a team comprised of 14 underclassmen, one junior and no seniors. The Falcons went 1-11 (0-6 MAC) that year, but have finished with a better record and have totaled more MAC wins in each of the next three years leading up to 2015. In 2012, BGSU went 2-12 (1-5 MAC) and followed that season up by going 5-11 (3-3 MAC). Furthermore, in 2013, Turner was named the MAC Coach of the Year. In 2014, Turner guided Bowling Green to the program's best season in over two decades by placing third at the MAC Championships – something that hadn't been accomplished in 22 years.

THE MAC CHAMPS ARE BACK
Three individual MAC Champions return to compete for the Orange and Brown this season. Amanda Lievendag scored a 9.850 last year to capture the vault title, one year after Jamilah Ali took the crown by posting a 9.875. Alyssa Nocella also won an individual championship in 2013, as she totaled a 9.850 to bring home the beam title. Central Michigan joins Bowling Green as the only two schools in the conference to return three MAC Champions. No other school returns more than one.

INTERNATIONAL FLAVOR
The Falcons welcome two international student-athletes – Laura Mitchell (London, England) and Jordan Rae (Auckland, New Zealand) – into the fold this season. Mitchell has won five British titles, and competed at the Junior European Championships and the Youth Olympics in 2010. Rae placed fifth on vault as a part of New Zealand's Commonwealth Games team in Delhi, India in 2010, while also competing in the Netherlands (2010) and Japan (2011) at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships.

#MakeHistoryNow
Sticking to Director of Athletics Chris Kingston's push for BGSU Athletics to "Make History Now," the Falcons wrapped up a historic 2014 season. The Orange and Brown went 4-2 in Mid-American Conference play, which was the best mark since the 2010 season. Bowling Green then wrapped up the year by placing third at the MAC Championships – the program's best finish in 22 years. The Falcons also sent three – junior Alyssa Nocella, senior Gina Locigno and graduate Megan Harrington – to the NCAA regionals in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

FOUR CAPTAINS IN 2015
In the fall, Head Coach Kerrie Turner announced that the Falcons would have four captains for the 2015 season. Sophomore Rachel Reis, juniors Caroline Ellingboe and Alyssa Nocella, and senior Gina Locigno will captain the Orange the Brown this season. This year's team has 12 underclassmen, and the captains will be relied on heavily throughout the season. The 2011 season was the only other campaign in which Bowling Green named four captains.

PRESEASON POLL
BGSU was picked to finish second – along with Kent State – in the MAC Preseason Poll, as voted on by the league's coaches. Central Michigan received five first-place votes and is tabbed to win the conference, while Bowling Green and Kent State each earned one first-place vote apiece. Northern Illinois and Eastern Michigan were picked to finish fourth and fifth, respectively, with Ball State and Western Michigan bringing up the rear. The Falcons were picked to finish third last season, and fourth in 2013.

SCHOLASTIC ALL-AMERICANS
In August, nine Falcons were named Scholastic All-Americans by the National Association of College Gymnastics Coaches for Women (NACGC/W). Student-athletes must have a grade point average of 3.50 or higher to be honored. Lauren Feely, Rachel Reis, Alyssa Nocella, Caroline Ellingboe, Rachel Perry, Katrina Carpenter, Gina Locigno, along with graduates Megan Harrington and Megan Valentini, were recognized. Overall, the Falcons placed 18th in the nation with a team GPA of 3.4738, improving on last year's 3.1471 GPA that ranked 55th.

GYMNASTICS SIGNS THREE FOR 2016
In November, head coach Kerrie Turner announced the signing of three student-athletes to National Letters of Intent for the 2016 season. Julia Beyer (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley High School/Naperville Gymnastics Club), Chelsea Eley (Greensboro, N.C./Westchester Country Day School/High Point Gymnastics Academy) and Lauren De Meno (Staten Island, N.Y./Tottenville High School/Head Over Heels Gymnastics) will all join the program next fall.