Feely Takes All-Around Title as Falcons Drop MAC Meet at Ball State

Sunday, February 28

Muncie, Ind.

1:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

193.650

195.250

Ball State

Feely Takes All-Around Title as Falcons Drop MAC Meet at Ball State

February 28, 2016 | Gymnastics

By: by Alexx Klein, BGSU Athletic Communications

NCAA Scoresheet
All-Around Results
Event Results

Muncie, Ind. – The Bowling Green State University gymnastics team won three individual events, as well as the all-around, but fell to Ball State on the road this Sunday inside of Worthen Arena, the site of the 2016 Mid-American Conference Championships. The Cardinals recorded a 195.250 to the Falcons' 193.650.

Prior to the loss, BGSU had won seven straight over BSU, including conference championships.

"We had a strong start today on bars and managed to carry that momentum to vault and floor," said head coach Kerrie Turner. "Beam was a very rough event today with four out of the six athletes falling. We have been so strong on that event the last few weeks so it was disappointing to finish the meet on such a low point. That was truly the difference between winning and losing this meet. We will get back into the gym and work out those mistakes and make sure we are ready for Central Michigan on Friday night in Anderson Arena."

Individually, senior Alyssa Nocella was the uneven bars and floor exercise champion. Juniors Lauren Feely and Victoria Heath tied for first on beam and third on vault, and Heath also placed second on floor. Senior Caroline Ellingboe placed behind Nocella on bars, tying for second. Feely was the all-around champion with a score of 39.125 (9.8 vault, 9.775 bars, 9.750 beam, 9.8 floor).

The Falcons began the competition on uneven bars, finishing with a team score of 48.925, which ties BGSU's top bar score this season. After a shaky start, the last four gymnasts on the event (Rachel Reis, Feely, Ellingboe, Nocella) scored a 9.775 or higher. Reis (9.8) and Ellingboe (9.850) both tied their season-highs on the event, but Nocella paced the Falcons with a score of 9.875. BGSU was down by just 0.025 heading into the second rotation.

BGSU then moved to vault where Heath and Feely continue to show consistency on the apparatus, leading the team with a pair of 9.800s. Over the last three meets, the duo has recorded all 9.800s or higher. Heath, along with freshman Lauren De Meno (9.725), recorded scores that tied their career-highs. Nocella and freshman Katie Morsefield rounded out the top five for the Falcons with 9.675s a piece. The competition remained close following the first half of the meet, as the Falcons found themselves down by a score of 97.825-97.600.

The Orange and Brown advanced on to floor exercise for the third rotation of the meet, scoring a 48.875 for the team's third highest floor score of the season. Freshman Rachel Creagh started things off with a career-high score of 9.700, beating her previous best of 9.650. Later in the lineup, the scores began to build, as Feely earned a 9.800, Heath scored a career-high 9.875 and Nocella received a monster score of 9.900 to lead the Falcons.

Nocella's 9.900, the fourth best score in program history, was the team's first on floor in 2016. Of the three 9.900s this season for BGSU, Nocella holds two of them (bars, floor). Thanks to a strong back end of the lineup, BGSU led Ball State heading into the last apparatus, 146.475-146.400.

Bowling Green was in good position for the victory, but balance beam proved to be a challenge, as four Falcons fell during their routines. Heath and Feely led the team with a pair of 9.750s, marking a new career-high for Heath. Reis, Ellingboe, Nocella and Laura Mitchell all fell, resulting in a team-score of 47.175.

After back-to-back road meets, the Falcons return home for a 6 pm matchup with Central Michigan at Anderson Arena on March 4th for Community Night. Bowling Green then returns to the road for a tri-meet with West Virginia and Ohio State on March 6th, followed by a meet four days later at Illinois State for the team's final road contest of the season before MAC Championships.