Falcons Travel To Rutgers For Important Quad Meet

Photo by: Craig Bell, BGSU Marketing and Communications

March 05, 2015 | Gymnastics

Bowling Green will take on Rutgers, Bridgeport and West Chester in Piscataway, New Jersey on Saturday to conclude the road portion of the regular-season schedule.

By: by James Nahikian, BGSU Athletic Communications

BOWLING GREEN STATE UNIVERSITY FALCONS (5-7; 1-4 MAC)
AT
RUTGERS UNIVERSITY SCARLET KNIGHTS (10-13)
WITH
UNIVERSITY OF BRIDGEPORT PURPLE KNIGHTS (17-5)
WEST CHESTER UNIVERSITY GOLDEN RAMS (8-8)
Saturday, March 7 | 6 p.m. ET | Rutgers Athletic Center | Piscataway, New Jersey
Twitter: @FalconGymn | @BGAthletics
Live Stats: www.BGSUFalcons.com
Live Video: www.ScarletKnights.com
COMPLETE MEET NOTES (.PDF)

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University gymnastics team will compete on the road this Saturday, March 7 in Piscataway, New Jersey for the final time before the postseason. The Falcons will take on the host school, Rutgers University, as well as the University of Bridgeport and West Chester University. The competition will begin at 6 p.m. inside of the Rutgers Athletic Center (RAC), which is hosting a gymnastics meet for the first time since 2006. The RAC hosts RU basketball.

FOLLOW THE FALCONS
A link to follow live stats for this weekend's meet at Rutgers can be found at BGSUFalcons.com. Fans can watch a mainly Rutgers-focused video stream at ScarletKnights.com. 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."

ABOUT THE SCARLET KNIGHTS
Rutgers is 10-13 this season, and 0-5 in Big Ten Conference competition. The Scarlet Knights sit at No. 41 in the RQS with a score of 194.485. Rutgers' season high came back on Jan. 24, when they scored a 195.375 in a meet featuring Nebraska, Brockport and Southern Connecticut. Rutgers is used to competing against three other teams on meet day, as this Saturday will mark the eighth time in 2015 that the Scarlet Knights have competed in a quad meet. The Scarlet Knights scored a 194.850 last Friday (Feb. 27) at Towson.

ABOUT THE PURPLE KNIGHTS
Bridgeport is also familiar with competing against multiple teams on meet day, as the Purple Knights have not competed in a dual meet across their first eight competitions in 2015. Bridgeport – a Division II school – is 17-5 on the year, and ranks 51st in the country with an RQS of 193.655. The Purple Knights best score of the season – a 194.450 – was posted on Feb. 16, and capped a stretch in which the school scored above a 194.000 in three straight competitions.

ABOUT THE GOLDEN RAMS
West Chester – who is in the same Division II conference as Bridgeport – enters the weekend ranked No. 64 in the nation with an RQS of 190.245. A 191.825 on Feb. 7 stands as West Chester's top team score of 2015. In eight competitions, the Golden Rams have registered six scores below a 191.000. West Chester is coming off a 190.200, which they scored on Feb. 27 against Southern Connecticut and Ursinus College – Kerrie Turner's alma mater.

HEAD COACH'S THOUGHTS
Kerrie Turner: "This meet is one of the most crucial of the season. The focus is completely on performing well, so we can add a strong away score to our Regional Qualifying Score. We are still in the hunt for an NCAA postseason appearance as a team, and I know we have the capability to get there. We are excited to compete at the Rutgers Athletic Center. This is a great venue and it should help our gymnasts bring their very best performances. I also see this as an opportunity to prepare for the MAC Championships. All four events will be moving at once since four teams are competing. The athletes must stay focused on our team and our event. I have high expectations for this competition, and I look forward to the team putting together a road meet."

WHAT A WIN WOULD MEAN
* A sweep would move the Falcons to 8-7, putting them a Senior Day victory away from earning the program's first winning season since 2002.
* A win over Rutgers would move BGSU to 3-3 all-time against the Scarlet Knights. Bowling Green hasn't defeated Rutgers since 2002.
* A victory over Rutgers would mark the second win this season over the Big Ten Conference for BGSU – a feat that hasn't been accomplished since 2002. The Falcons have earned two wins in a season over the Big Ten nine times in the program's 40-year history.
* Triumphs over Bridgeport and West Chester would inch the Falcons to 2-0 all-time versus the two institutions.

BAUER RETURNS TO RUTGERS
Assistant coach Jason Bauer – a native of Edison, New Jersey – served as an assistant at RU from 1997-2000. During his tenure, the Scarlet Knights reached the NCAA Regionals for the first time in program history during the 2000 season. The Scarlet Knights went 16-5 across that campaign, and posted the best score (49.400) on bars in school history. Bauer – who coaches bars at BGSU – grew up six miles away from the RU campus.

RACE TO REGIONALS
In the second week of the national rankings being determined by a school's Regional Qualifying Score (RQS), Bowling Green sits at No. 44 in the nation, with the top 36 schools earning an invitation to the NCAA Regionals. The Falcons can improve their RQS by scoring above a 192.700, because they would be able to drop the 192.700 that they earned on Feb. 22 at Central Michigan. The RQS is calculated by averaging your top three road scores and then your next three highest scores, while also dropping your top score.

34. West Virginia – 194.985
35. North Carolina State – 194.900
36. George Washington – 194.875

44. Bowling Green – 194.180

RAE CLAIMS FIRST COLLEGIATE TITLE
Jordan Rae – a freshman from Auckland, New Zealand – claimed the first event title of her collegiate career on Saturday (Feb. 28) against Western Michigan in Bowling Green's 194.800–194.000 loss inside of Anderson Arena. Rae tied a career best by notching a 9.825 on beam to tie for first with WMU's Jessi Buis. The 9.825 ties a career high for Rae across any apparatus. To go along with her pair of 9.825 scores on beam, Rae posted a 9.825 on bars on Feb. 8 against Ball State.

LOCIGNO REGISTERS FIRST WIN OF 2015
Senior Gina Locigno – who hails from Boca Raton, Florida – won her first event title of 2015 on Saturday (Feb. 28) at Bowling Green's dual meet with Western Michigan. Locigno won the outright floor title by recording a 9.850, which ties a season best. The senior – who has competed on beam and floor at all nine of Bowling Green's competitions this season – has scored above a 9.800 on floor at four of the last five meets. Locigno earned a 9.850 on floor against Ball State on Feb. 8. On that day, Locigno finished second only to junior Alyssa Nocella, who scored a career-best 9.925.

CALL HER "CAREER-HIGH" HEATH
Sophomore Victoria Heath – who made her debut in the team's season opener against Michigan State on Jan. 10 – has established a career high in eight of Bowling Green's nine meets in 2015. Most recently, Heath scored a 9.800 on vault to finish tied for third on the apparatus. The 9.800 marks only the second time in her career that she's reached the 9.800 plateau. Heath scored a 9.825 on floor at Northern Illinois on Feb. 15.

CARPENTER COMES BACK WITH A CAREER BEST
For the first time across 21 career routines, Katrina Carpenter – a junior who hails from Frederick, Maryland – scored a 9.700. Against Western Michigan, Carpenter notched a 9.700 on vault to place tied for seventh. Carpenter had not competed on the apparatus at Bowling Green two previous competitions. The junior had scored a 9.650 on vault on four of her six routines in 2015, prior to joining the 9.700 club on Saturday versus the Broncos.

TOP ROUTINES IN 2015
All-Around: 39.350 | Alyssa Nocella (2/8/15 vs. Ball State)
Bars: 9.875 | Caroline Ellingboe (2/22/15 at Central Michigan)
Beam: 9.875 | Laura Mitchell (2/1/15 at George Washington)
Floor: 9.925 | Alyssa Nocella (2/8/15 vs. Ball State)
Vault: 9.875 | Jamilah Ali, Lauren Feely (1/10/15 vs. Michigan State; 2/15/15 at Northern Illinois)

"BOE" SCORES BIG ON BARS
Junior Caroline Ellingboe – who hails from Excelsior, Minnesota – scored a career-best 9.875 on uneven bars on Sunday Feb. 22 at Central Michigan to place third on the apparatus. Ellingboe's previous career high on bars was a 9.800. The junior never scored above a 9.800 on any event in her career before the CMU meet, as her career high on beam is also a 9.800 and her top score on floor is a 9.750. Ellingboe's 9.875 is tied for the second-highest individual score in 2015 for the Orange and Brown. Two other Falcons, sophomore Lauren Feely (vault) and freshman Laura Mitchell (beam), have also registered 9.875 scores, while junior Alyssa Nocella's 9.925 on floor on Feb. 8 versus Ball State stands as BGSU's top score this year. The third-place finish was Ellingboe's third-career top-three finish.

MITCHELL'S MAGNIFICENT ROOKIE SEASON
Freshman Laura Mitchell – a native of London, England – finished second on balance beam for the Falcons at Central Michigan on Feb. 22. Mitchell has now earned four second-place finishes, to go along with her four first-place finishes. The freshman was named the Mid-American Conference Specialist of the Week on Feb. 9 for her performances against Ohio State (Feb. 6) and Ball State (Feb. 8), as she placed first on uneven bars in both competitions. In her collegiate debut at Eastern Michigan on Jan. 24, Mitchell won beam by posting a 9.850. The following weekend at George Washington on Feb. 1, Mitchell again placed first on beam by scoring a 9.875.

BACK-TO-BACK-TO-BACK
For the first time in school history, BGSU gymnastics registered a team score above a 195.000 in back-to-back-to-back competitions. On Feb. 6, Bowling Green scored a 195.200 against Ohio State at Anderson Arena. Two days later – also inside of Anderson Arena – on Feb. 8, the Falcons defeated Ball State for their first Mid-American Conference victory in 2015 by totaling a 195.500. On Feb. 22 at Northern Illinois, the Orange and Brown scored another 195.200 to finish second at a triangular in DeKalb, Illinois. The 195.500 ranks eighth in school history, while the pair of 195.200 scores are tied for the ninth-best team score in program history.

HISTORIC WEEKEND AT ANDERSON ARENA
Bowling Green returned to Anderson Arena on Feb. 6 and Feb. 8 after competing in three-straight road meets. On Feb. 6, the Falcons scored a 195.200 in a dual-meet loss against Ohio State. On Sunday, Feb. 8, the Orange and Brown earned its first Mid-American Conference victory of the season by defeating Ball State, 195.500–193.875. The two team scores rank eighth and tied for ninth in program history, respectively. Against Ohio State, 10 season highs were set, along with six career highs. And versus Ball State, 11 season bests were set, and eight career highs were established. Freshman Laura Mitchell and senior Amanda Lievendag tied for first on bars versus the Buckeyes. And against the Cardinals, sophomore Lauren Feely and Lievendag tied for first on vault, while Mitchell took the bars title again and junior Alyssa Nocella won floor. Nocella also won the all-around both nights.

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. Senior Jamilah Ali scored a meet-high 9.875 on vault, while fellow senior 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.

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.