Falcons Wrap Up Regular Season Schedule, Finish with Senior Day Saturday

BGSU GYMNASTICS WEEKLY SCHEDULE
DATE	OPPONENT	TIME
3/10/16	at Illinois State	7 p.m. (ET)
3/12/16	vs. Northern Illinois	4 p.m. (ET)

Bowling Green (4-12, 0-5 MAC)
at
Illinois State (6-15, 4-0 MIC)
Thursday, March 10, 2016; 7:00 p.m. ET
Horton Field House / Normal, Ill.
LIVE STATS
MEET NOTES
PERFORMANCE LIST

Bowling Green (4-12, 0-5 MAC)
vs.
Northern Illinois (8-9, 1-3 MAC)
Satday, March 12, 2016; 4:00 p.m. ET
Anderson Arena / Bowling Green, Ohio
LIVE STATS
MEET NOTES
PERFORMANCE LIST

Bowling Green, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University gymnastics team wraps ups its regular season schedule this week, as the Falcons travel to Illinois State on March 10 and then compete at home for the final time in 2016 on March 12 for senior night. Alyssa Nocella and Caroline Ellingboe will be honored in a ceremony immediately following the meet.

FOLLOW THE FALCONS
Fans can follow the BGSU Gymnastics team on Twitter @FalconGymn for in-meet updates, news and notes. Links to live stats, video (as available) and away-meet live stats can be found at BGSUFalcons.com. For home meets, fans can follow live stats by downloading the app, "Beyond The Scores," on your smartphone or tablet. Create an account, add "Bowling Green State Gym Team" to your favorites, select the meet, and enjoy an interactive scoring system.

HEAD COACH'S THOUGHTS
Kerrie Turner: "Thursday night at Illinois State will be an opportunity to again focus on hit routines and a great score to build our regional qualifying score. We enter this weekend ranked 38th nationally and we know we must make it to the top 36 to go to NCAA regionals as a team. I feel Thursday is a great time to build our away score portion of this. My expectations of the team is to stay focused and truly confident. The score is a result of the performances and the effort must be in the routines.

Saturday we will host Northern Illinois and it will be a special day to recognize our seniors. This will be our last home competition of the season and I really want the team to build a record breaking score at this meet. What a great way to honor Alyssa and Caroline. My seniors have been essential to the excellent culture surrounding our program. They have been fully committed to the mission and goals of our program since day one. I know this will be an amazing meet and a great score for our RQS."

ABOUT ILLINOIS STATE
Bob Conkling is in his eighth season as head coach of the Redbirds who hold a record of 6-15 overall and 4-0 in the MIC. Illinois State is currently ranked No. 56 with a season average of 191.738. The team's highest score this season was a 194.175 at home against UIC. Bowling Green leads the all-time series 10-7 and the two teams last met in 2009.

ABOUT NORTHERN ILLINOIS
Bowling Green wraps up the regular season conference schedule with a matchup with the Huskies (8-9, 1-3 MAC). Led by head coach Sam Morreale, NIU is ranked No. 44, averaging a 194.100. The team's highest score this season was a 195.00 at home against Western Michigan. The teams last met on Feb. 15, 2015 where the Huskies edged out the Falcons 195.650-195.200. BGSU lead the all-time series 27-18.

LAST TIME OUT
The Falcons posted a season-high 195.725 team score last Sunday, despite falling to Big 10 opponent Ohio State at No. 25 West Virginia on the road. The Falcons' team score now sits in the record book as sixth best in school history. Senior Caroline Ellingboe was the balance beam champion, scoring a career-best 9.875. She also placed third on uneven bars with an identical score. In the all-around, Alyssa Nocella placed fourth with a 39.050, while Lauren Feely finished fifth with a 38.975. Nocella's 9.900 on floor exercise is her second 9.900 of the season on the event.

TOP ROUTINES IN 2016
All-Around: 39.325 | Alyssa Nocella (2/13/16 vs. EMU/SEMO)
Vault: 9.850 | Lauren Feely (3/4/16 vs. Central Michigan)
Bars: 9.900 | Alyssa Nocella (2/13/16 vs. EMU/SEMO & 3/4/16 vs. Central Michigan)
Beam: 9.900 | Laura Mitchell (2/13/16 vs. EMU/SEMO)
Floor: 9.900 | Alyssa Nocella (2/28/16 at Ball State & 3/6/16 vs. WVU/OSU)

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

All-Around: 1. Alyssa Nocella 39.115, t4. Lauren Feely 39.065
Vault: 6. Lauran Feely 9.805, 9. Victoria Heath 9.795
Bars: t1. Alyssa Nocella 9.865, t7. Caroline Ellingboe 9.840
Beam: 4. Laura Mitchell 9.835, 10. Caroline Ellingboe 9.800
Floor: t6. Victoria Heath 9.840, t9. Alyssa Nocella, Lauren Feely 9.830

BOE SHINES ON BARS, BEAM
Ellingboe competed for the Falcons on two events this past weekend, racking up a first, second and third place finish. In BGSU's meet on March 4, the senior tied for second on bars with a score of 9.850. Thanks to the high mark from Ellingboe, the Falcons earned a season-high 49.050 on the event. Just two days later, the Minnesota native helped her team to a season-high 195.725 team score. On BGSU's first event, Ellingboe shined on beam, scoring a career-high 9.875, earning her a first place finish on the event. She then tied her career-high on bars (9.875) for a third place finish overall.

ALL-AROUND SUCCESS
Alyssa Nocella and Lauren Feely rank first and fourth, respectively, in conference all-around standings, putting them both well within regional contention.

In the first of two meets this past weekend, Nocella won the all-around with a 39.275, which was her second highest score of the season. Following a 9.750 vault, she scored her second 9.900 of the season on uneven bars to win the event. On the Falcons' third event, Nocella's senior experience shined through, as she competed after the two falls, getting the team back on track with a 9.775. The senior added a second-place tie to her night, scoring a 9.850 on floor exercise.

Two days later, she earned fourth place in all-around with a 39.050, contributing to the Orange and Brown's season-high score of 195.725, a mark good for sixth best in program history. Nocella received a 9.850 on bars followed by a 9.725 on beam. Then, tying for third, Nocella earned a 9.900 on floor exercise, which is her second 9.900 of the season on the event. The senior now holds four out of the five 9.900s recorded on any apparatus in 2016, two of which coming this past weekend. The 49.125 team score earned on floor was a season-high on the apparatus for the Orange and Brown.

Against Central Michigan this past Friday, Feely kicked off the meet on vault for the Falcons and took first place for BGSU's third individual title of the night. Her score of 9.850 was a season-high, as well as a team-high for all of 2016. As a team, the Orange and Brown received a 48.800, which ties the team's season-high. Feely also received a 9.775 on balance beam before ending her night with a 9.825 on floor exercise.

Continuing her strong vaulting from two days prior, Feely earned a 9.800 on the apparatus in the tri-meet with WVU and OSU. She also set a new career-high on floor with a 9.875, placing her tied for seventh on the event.

OTHER FALCON NOTABLES
*BGSU has brought home six conference awards this season already. Feely and Nocella both have won gymnast and scholar athlete of the week, while Mitchell and Heath earned a gymnast of the week honor.
*The team earned two event scores of 49.000 or better for the first time in one meet this season against Central Michigan.
*Versus the Chippewas, the Falcons recorded a 195.150, the team's third highest score of the season. Two days later, they earned a 195.725, which ranks sixth best in school history.
*Ten Falcons either tied or bettered their career bests in the tri-meet with West Virginia and Ohio State.
*In the meet, junior Victoria Heath vaulted her way to a career-high 9.825, tying for third place.
*Against the Buckeyes and Mountaineers, the Bowling Green freshmen stepped up on their respective events. On vault, Katie Morsefield earned a career-high 9.725 and Lauren De Meno posted a personal best 9.800. Rachel Creagh earned a career-high 9.725 to start the team off on floor exercise and Erika Houser crushed her previous best score of a 9.550, receiving a 9.775 after only being in the floor line-up for two meets.

NEWCOMERS TAKE OVER
The 2016 BGSU roster features eight freshmen and one redshirt-freshman who will all look to compete for the first time as collegiate gymnasts in 2016. The newcomers include Julia Beyer, Rachel Creagh, Lauren De Meno, Leslie Delgado, Erika Houser, Taylor Livingston, Katie Morsefield and Kayla Rose.

PRESEASON POLL
The Falcons were picked to finish fourth in the Mid-American Conference in 2016 as voted on by the league's head coaches. Central Michigan was selected to win the conference, while 2015 tournament winners Kent State were chosen second. Eastern Michigan and Bowling Green followed, with Northern Illinois and Western Michigan tying for fifth and Ball State rounding out the conference.

GYMNASTICS ADDITIONS
In November, Turner announced the addition of five student-athletes for the 2017 season. Randi Morris, Shannon St. Jean, Alex Johnston, Taylor Worthington and Kelsi Kuprat have all committed to BGSU, and will join the team next fall. Additionally, the Falcons added Leslie Delgado to this season's squad in December.

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