Falcons Take Flight to Tuscaloosa, Ala. for NCAA Regionals

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Bowling Green, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University gymnastics team will compete for one of two bids to NCAA National Championships in Tuscaloosa, Ala. on April 2 for the team's first NCAA Regional meet in 25 years. The other teams in the regional will be host school No. 4 Alabama, No. 10 California, No. 15 Boise State, No. 21 Kentucky and No. 26 West Virginia. The meet is set to begin at 4 p.m. local time inside the Coleman Coliseum on the campus of University of Alabama.

FOLLOW THE FALCONS
Fans can follow the BGSU Gymnastics team on Twitter @FalconGymn for in-meet updates, news and notes. Links to live stats and video can be found at BGSUFalcons.com, along with ticket information for the meet.

BGSU AT REGIONALS
The last team to qualify to regionals was in 1991, where the Falcons placed fourth with a score of 186.775. Prior to that, the only other BGSU teams to qualify came in 1982, 1984, 1985, 1986 and 1987. Individually, Alyssa Nocella is the only Falcon to have competed at NCAA Regionals. She qualified in the all-around her freshman, sophomore and junior seasons.

WHAT A WIN WOULD MEAN
*The top two teams and the top two all-around competitors (who are not on an advancing team) from each regional will receive an automatic berth to the national championships in Fort Worth, Texas, April 15-16, hosted by Texas Woman's University and the Knight Eady Sports Group.
*The top two teams from the Iowa City, Salt Lake City and Tuscaloosa regionals will compete in one of the semifinals, and the top two teams from the Minneapolis, Ann Arbor and Athens regionals will compete in the other semifinal.
*The event winners at each regional site will advance to the national championships (in that event only) if they are not part of a qualifying team or an all-around qualifier.

HEAD COACH'S THOUGHTS
Kerrie Turner: "The excitement in the gym has been electric as we prepare for the NCAA Regional Championships. We have received so much support from the university and the community. I am pleased with how the team has handled each practice, still focusing on some final details and hitting routines under pressure. I think we are all anxious to get on the plane and get to Tuscaloosa at this point. The team is ready to compete and I expect to see our line-ups build on each event with solid routines and stuck landings. I know we look forward to representing BGSU well at this regional championship."

SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
Crimson Tide: Alabama most recently posted a season-best 197.750 to place second at the SEC Championships. Individually, Mackenzie Brannan (vault), Kiana Winston (uneven bars) and Katie Bailey (uneven bars) earned individual event titles for the Crimson Tide. The team looks to advance to its 34th straight NCAA Championships heading into this weekend.

Golden Bears: Cal placed fourth at the PAC-12 Championships this season, scoring a 196.725. Toni-Ann Williams was the floor champion, earning a score of 9.925. The Golden Bears recorded a program-best 197.500 versus UC Davis on March 11. This was one of their six total meets with a score over 196.000. Cal Head Coach Justin Howell was named PAC-12 Coach of the Year.

Broncos: Boise State enters the meet with an RQS of 196.570. Following an undefeated regular season, the Broncos claimed their second-straight MRGC Championship title, scoring 197.025. Shani Remme was named the MRGC Freshman of the Year, and Tina Bird and Neil Resnick were named MRGC Co-Coaches of the Year.

Wildcats: At the SEC Championships, Kentucky posted a 196.250 for seventh place overall. Freshmen Sidney Dukes and Alex Hyland were tabbed All-SEC and named to the SEC All-Freshman team. The duo recorded winning balance beam scores of 9.900 at conference championships. Dukes also scored a career-best 39.400 in the all-around at the meet.

Mountaineers: The Orange and Brown met the Mountaineers earlier this season, where the Falcons earned their second highest score of the season (195.725) on March 6, but fell short to WVU's season-high 196.800. The Mountaineers placed third at the Big 12 Gymnastics Championship on March 19 with a 195.925. Freshman Kirah Koshinski was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year.

LAST TIME OUT
BGSU finished third at the Mid-American Conference Championships, scoring a 195.625, the highest mark at a conference championship in school history and good for 10th in the BGSU record books. The third-place finish is the team's best since 2014. The Falcons boasted two MAC Champions, as sophomore Laura Mitchell won balance beam, tying a school record 9.925 and junior Lauren Feely placed first in all-around, earning a 39.300. With the help of Mitchell's career-high, BGSU broke the school record on balance beam with a 49.250, as the team finished second on the event.

TOP ROUTINES IN 2016
All-Around: 39.425 | Alyssa Nocella (3/12/16 vs. NIU)
Vault: 9.875 | Lauren Feely (3/10/16 at Illinois State)
Bars: 9.900 | Alyssa Nocella (Two times)
Beam: 9.925 | Laura Mitchell (3/19/16 at MAC Championships)
Floor: 9.900 | Alyssa Nocella (Three times), Lauren Feely (3/12/16 vs. NIU)

MAC RANKINGS
Listed below are the student-athletes, and their RQS, who rank top 10 in the conference in each event.

All-Around: t1. Alyssa Nocella 39.170, Lauren Feely 39.115
Vault: t3. Lauran Feely 9.835, t9. Victoria Heath 9.800
Bars: 2. Alyssa Nocella 9.865, t8. Caroline Ellingboe 9.845
Beam: 2. Laura Mitchell 9.865, t5. Caroline Ellingboe 9.850
Floor: 4. Alyssa Nocella 9.875, t8. Lauren Feely 9.855

FALCON NOTABLES
*At regionals, the rotation order for the team will be: vault, bye, uneven bars, balance beam, bye and floor.
*Currently, Nocella and Feely are tied for No. 41 in the all-around (39.180 RQS), with Kentucky (No. 26, 39.310 RQS) and Boise State (No. 35, 39.225 RQS) being the only other regional competitors that have individuals ranked higher.
*Five BGSU gymnasts were named Academic All-MAC this week. Nocella, Ellingboe, Feely, Rachel Reis and Shannon Goniwiecha earned the honor.
*Nocella was tabbed Senior Gymnast of the Year following the MAC Championship meet two weeks ago, adding to her impressive list of 2016 awards (First-Team All-MAC, Scholar Athlete of the Week, Gymnast of the Week 2x, Academic All-MAC).
*BGSU notched two individual wins, as Mitchell was the beam champion and Feely (also Second-Team All-MAC) the all-around champion. Both were named to the All-Tournament Team.
*In BGSU's last five meets, the team has recorded four team scores of over 195.000. Most recently, the Falcons earned a 195.625 at MAC Championships. The mark was the highest ever in team history at a conference championship meet.

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