Mitchell Wins Beam With 9.875, Falcons Defeated By George Washington

Sunday, February 1

Washington, D.C.

1:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

193.025

194.775

George Washington

Photo by: Bianca Garza, BGSU Marketing and Communications

Mitchell Wins Beam With 9.875, Falcons Defeated By George Washington

February 01, 2015 | Gymnastics

Freshman leads way on beam, as Bowling Green registers a season-high 48.750 on the apparatus.

By: by James Nahikian, BGSU Athletic Communications

Final Results (.PDF)

WASHINGTON – Freshman Laura Mitchell scored a career-high 9.875 on beam to win the apparatus, as the Bowling Green State University gymnastics team registered its second-highest team score on the season. But George Washington defeated the Falcons, 194.775, 193.025.

With the loss, Bowling Green falls to 3-3 on the year, while George Washington improves to a program-best 9-0.

"I thought the team came back strong after last weekend," said head coach Kerrie Turner. "They stayed focused, stayed together and made some nice vaults. And then really picked it up on floor and beam. The second half of the meet was just outstanding. We talked about that at the end, seeing that level of enthusiasm from them towards the end of the meet – we have to bring that to the beginning of the meet. We saw signs of progress, and certainly were much better than last weekend, but we still have a lot of work to do."

After not recording an individual score above a 9.725 across the first two rotations (bars, vault), Bowling Green stepped up and performed well on floor and beam to close out the meet. Senior Gina Locigno and junior Alyssa Nocella placed tied for second on floor, as they both earned a 9.800 to help Bowling Green to a 48.625 on the apparatus. The 48.625 is BGSU's second best score on floor this season.

The Orange and Brown then shined on beam. The Falcons won the rotation, 48.750, 48.200. Bowling Green's score – sparked by Mitchell's 9.875 – marks the team's best score on the apparatus in 2015. Junior Caroline Ellingboe finished tied for second, as she posted a career-high 9.800. Locigno added to her strong meet by scoring a 9.725, Nocella followed next in line with a 9.700. Nocella – who also scored a 9.700 on vault – finished the day with a team-high all-around score of 38.750.

On bars, Bowling Green was led by freshman Jordan Rae's 9.725, which was good enough for a fourth-place finish across the rotation. On vault, sophomore Victoria Heath and senior Amanda Lievendag placed tied for fifth by posting a 9.725 each. Heath's 9.725 set a new career high. The sophomore – who also scored 9.700 on floor – has now improved her vault score in each of Bowling Green's four meets in 2015.

Notably, junior Katrina Carpenter tied a career high by scoring a 9.650 on vault. Freshman McKenna Schoenberger made her collegiate debut, and recorded a 9.650 on floor. Mitchell also competed on bars for the first time in her career, and earned a 9.675.

After a three-meet road stretch, Bowling Green will head back to Anderson Arena to host Ohio State on Feb. 6 at 6 p.m. The Falcons will then resume Mid-American Conference competition that Sunday, Feb. 8 at 2 p.m. inside of Anderson Arena.