Falcons Travel To Nation's Capital To Take On George Washington

BOWLING GREEN STATE UNIVERSITY FALCONS (3-2; 0-1 MAC)
AT
GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY COLONIALS (8-0; 2-0 EAGL)
Sunday, Feb. 1 | 1 p.m. ET | Charles E. Smith Center | Washington, D.C.
Live Stats: www.BGSUFALCONS.com
Live Video ($$): www.GWSPORTS.com
Follow Along: @FalconGymn | @BGAthletics
COMPLETE MEET NOTES (.PDF)

WASHINGTON – Falcon Gymnastics will travel to our nation's capital this weekend to take on George Washington in a dual meet on Feb. 1 at 1 p.m. The Colonials enter the weekend undefeated at 8-0. The meet will be Bowling Green's third consecutive competition away from home. The Orange and Brown will then return to Anderson Arena following the trip to Washington, D.C. to take on Ohio State (Feb. 6) and Ball State (Feb. 8).

FOLLOW THE FALCONS
A link to follow live stats can be found at BGSUFalcons.com for Sunday's meet at George Washington. A video stream will also be available at GWsports.com for a fee. Fans can also follow the BGSU Gymnastics team on Twitter @FalconGymn for in-meet updates, news and notes, or BGSU Athletics @BGAthletics. Furthermore, Bowling Green fans can follow the gymnastics team on Instagram by searching "bgsu_gymnastics," or BGSU Athletics by searching "bgfalcons."

HEAD COACH'S THOUGHTS
Kerrie Turner: "I am so excited to get the team back out on the competition floor at George Washington University. We have made a number of changes this week to our training and to our overall mindset, and the team has really responded. We have set focused goals for this meet, and we will be having a guest captain to join Caroline Ellingboe and Gina Locigno every week throughout the rest of the season. This week, Victoria Heath was voted in as our guest captain by the team, bringing her positive attitude and tremendous work ethic to the group. I am expecting great performances from our team based on early evaluations of practice. George Washington has done a great job with their program, and they are off to a great start. We are ready to step up to the challenge, and we are really excited to compete in our nation's capital."

ABOUT THE COLONIALS
George Washington enters the meet undefeated at 8-0, after scoring a 195.025 in a tri-angular sweep of West Virginia and Iowa State on Jan. 25. The Colonials posted a 195.025 the weekend prior as well, as they earned wins over North Carolina, Pittsburgh, Cornell and Temple. After registering an opening-meet victory by scoring a 194.325 over Maryland and West Virginia on Jan. 9, the Colonials were ranked No. 19 in the country. In the opening weeks of the gymnastics season, freshman Liz Pfeiler and sophomore Chelsea Raineri have been named East Atlantic Gymnastics League Specialists of the Week.

WHAT A WIN WOULD MEAN
* A win on Sunday would move the Falcons to 4-2 on the season, keeping the program on check for its first winning season since 2002.
* A victory over George Washington would be Bowling Green's second ever against the Colonials. The Orange and Brown's only win over GWU occurred in 2002.
* A win would be Bowling Green's first over George Washington in Washington, D.C., as the Falcons' lone triumph took place at North Carolina in a tri-angular.

#MACtion
Bowling Green opened Mid-American Conference play last Saturday (Jan. 24) with a 195.250-192.425 loss at Eastern Michigan. Central Michigan sits atop the league standings at 2-0, with North Illinois following at 1-0. After the Falcons' trip to Washington, D.C. this weekend, Bowling Green will host Ohio State on Feb. 8, prior to competing in four straight MAC meets to finish off the month of February.

MITCHELL'S MAGNIFCENT DEBUT
In her first collegiate meet, Laura Mitchell – a freshman from London, England – placed first on balance beam over the weekend at Eastern Michigan by earning a 9.850. Mitchell's score was tied for the second-highest individual score across the entire competition. Mitchell's 9.850 tied Lauren Feely's 9.850 on vault for Bowling Green's top score on the day. Filled with difficulty, Mitchell's beam routine stands as Bowling Green's best score on beam this season.

AL"1" FINISHES FIRST AGAIN
Senior Jamilah Ali has opened the 2015 season with three consecutive first-place finishes for the Orange and Brown. Ali claimed outright vault titles against Michigan State (Jan. 10) and Eastern Michigan (Jan. 24). The senior posted a 9.875 – the team's highest score on the apparatus this year – to earn the first-pace finish versus the Spartans, while her 9.850 was good enough to take the crown against the Eagles. On Jan. 17 at the Ozone Collegiate Classic in Knoxville, Tennessee, Ali tied for first on beam with a 9.625.

HEATH'S CAREER DAY
Sophomore Victoria Heath – who competed for the first time in her career in BGSU's season opener against Michigan State – posted career highs on floor and vault last weekend in Ypsilanti, Michigan against Eastern Michigan. Heath scored a 9.700 on vault, and led Bowling Green – along with Lauren Feely – with a 9.725 on floor. The sophomore has competed on floor and vault in each of the Orange and Brown's three competitions in 2015.

FEELY SCORES BIG
Sophomore Lauren Feely – last year's MAC Freshman of the Year – is the only Falcon to score at least a 9.800 in all three of Bowling Green's competitions this season. In the Orange and Brown's season-opening victory over Michigan State, Feely scored a 9.800 on vault. At the Ozone Collegiate Classic last weekend, Feely topped that score by earning a 9.825 on the same apparatus. This past weekend at Eastern Michigan, Feely did it again on vault, earning another 9.800.

TOP ROUTINES IN 2015
All-Around: 39.025 | Alyssa Nocella (1/10/15 vs. Michigan State)
Bars: 9.850 | Amanda Lievendag (1/10/15 vs. Michigan State)
Beam: 9.850 | Laura Mitchell (1/24/15 at Eastern Michigan)
Floor: 9.800 | Alyssa Nocella (1/10/15 vs. Michigan State)
Vault: 9.875 | Jamilah Ali (1/10/15 vs. Michigan State)

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.

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.

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.

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Jamilah Ali

Katrina Carpenter

Caroline Ellingboe

Lauren Feely

Megan Harrington

Victoria Heath

Amanda Lievendag

Gina Locigno

Laura Mitchell

Alyssa Nocella

Rachel Perry

Jordan Rae

Rachel Reis

Megan Valentini

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