Falcons Host 2017 MAC Gymnastics Championships on Saturday

2017 MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE GYMNASTICS CHAMPIONSHIPS
Sat., March 18, 2017 | 2:00 p.m. ET | Bowling Green, Ohio | Stroh Center (4,387)
TV: BCSN
Game Notes: BGSU
Live Stats | ESPN3
Road To Nationals

PURCHASE YOUR TICKETS FOR THE MAC CHAMPIONSHIP
MARCH 18, 2017 -- STROH CENTER
Adults: $15, 12-and-under: $10, MAC Students: Free (w/ College ID)

CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON
The Bowling Green State University gymnastics team hosts the 2017 Mid-American Conference Gymnastics Championships at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 18. The event will be held at BGSU's Stroh Center. The Falcons have competed once before at the Stroh, when they hosted Denver University during the 2016 season. Saturday's meet will be broadcast live on BCSN and streamed nationally on ESPN3.

BGSU AT THE MACS
This will be the 37th edition of the MAC Gymnastics Championships, and the Falcons have finished in the top three of the event ten times. BGSU captured team titles in 1982, 1983 and 1985. They finished second in 1981, 1984 and 1987. More recently, they finished third in 2014 and 2016. The Falcons own 31 individual championships, including two by senior Lauren Feely and one by junior Laura Mitchell..

2016 MAC CHAMPIONSHIPS
Bowling Green earned its highest-ever score at a MAC Championships event in 2016 with a 195.625. That earned the team's second third-place finish in three years and was, at the time, the tenth-best team score in BGSU history. The team was led by Laura Mitchell and Lauren Feely. Mitchell tied the school record and won the MAC championship on the balance beam with a 9.925. Feely won her second career MAC title by scoring a 39.300 in the all-around competition. She tied for second (9.850) on vault and ninth (9.875) in the floor exercise. Feely had previously won the vault championship in 2014.

LAST TIME OUT
BGSU won on the balance beam and vault but ultimately fell to the #25 Eastern Michigan Eagles on Saturday, March 11 in the 2017 regular season finale. The Falcons earned a cumulative total of 194.675 and posted winning event scores of 48.925 (beam) and 48.825 (vault). Additionally, the team's 49.050 during the floor exercise set a new season-best.

Lauren Feely and Jovannah East tied for the victory on the vault with a pair of 9.900s. East's score gave her a new career best and improved her vault RQS to 9.870. Feely tied with Laura Mitchell and Alex Johnston for second place on the balance beam, as each registered a 9.800. Feely also placed fourth with a 9.825 for the floor exercise and ultimately won the all-around title with a 39.150. Kayla Rose added a second-place finish (9.850) on the floor.

THE POST-SEASON APPROACHES
Regional Qualifying Score (RQS) averages were released for the first time for the week of Feb. 20. Those scores are used to determine the teams and individuals that advance to the six NCAA regional meets. The top 36 teams by RQS qualify for the reginoals. Among individuals who are not on qualifying teams, the top four all-around gymnasts and the top two athletes from all four events are selected from each of the six regions.

RQS is determined by taking the top six scores (at least three of which must be from "away" meets). The best score is eliminated, and the next five scores are averaged.

POSTSEASON HOPES
Several Falcon gymnasts have placed themselves in contention for individual berths to the NCAA Regional that will be held in Champaign, Ill. on April 1. Freshman Jovannah East could qualify in two events. She is currently the top Central Region individual qualifer on vault (9.870) and is tied for the second individual qualifier slot on balance beam (9.835).

Senior Lauren Feely (9.865) is second behind East among individual qualifers for vault. In addition, Kayla Rose (9.825) is currently third for floor exercise. On the balance beam, India McPeak (9.810), Taylor Worthington (9.805) and Laura Mitchell (9.800) are all competing for potential spots.

WE'RE NUMBER ONE!
Through the end of the 2017 regular season, the Falcons enjoy the best team score in the Mid-American Conference on the vault (48.990). Jovannah East owns the MAC's best individual vault RQS (9.870). East has a 9.850+ on vault for nine straight meets.

ON THE NATIONAL SCENE
BGSU's vault lineup remains in the nation's top 25 at the end of the regular season. The Falcons' vault RQS (48.990) ranks 23rd and is just 0.055 behind Ohio State for 20th. Bowling Green is ranked 30th nationally on the balance beam (48.880) and is just 0.055 behind #25 Stanford. Freshman Jovannah East is tied for 26th on the vault (9.870), while senior Lauren Feely is tied for 29th nationally at 9.865.

SENIOR STYLE
Lauren Feely aided BGSU's efforts to defeat Ball State by winning the vault with a 9.900, but that was not her best leap of the season. She set a new personal record of 9.925 against Western Michigan and tied the second-best mark in BGSU history. Feely, the 2016 MAC all-around champion, competed in all four events for the first time in 2017 at CMU. She posted a mark of 39.050 on senior night against Kent State, then closed her final regular season by winning the all-around at EMU with a season-best 39.150.

Rachel Reis has been among the Falcons' best on the uneven bars, with eight of the team's top 18 scores on the apparatus. The best of those was a team 2017 best and a personal record 9.875 at CMU. That routine helped Reis win the MAC Female Scholar Athlete of the Week award on March 1. Reis also nailed a 9.800 at Utah State and a 9.775 at EMU. She has also scored 9.750 four times in 2017.

Victoria Heath has two event wins this season. She won a vault title with a 9.875 at Utah State, which set a personal record on the apparatus. She then captured the floor exercise with a 9.800 against Illinois State. Heath has five other routines of 9.800 or better in 2017. Her last three meets have included 9.825s on floor against Kent State and Michigan State, as well as 9.800s against Michigan State (vault) and EMU (floor).

GREAT FIRST IMPRESSION
Jovannah East is only a freshman, but she is competing like a seasoned veteran. She has scored 9.800 or better for 23 of her 27 routines in 2017. East has finished in first place 12 times and has five other top-three finishes. Those first place finishes include at least one in nine of her 11 meets. On vault alone, she earned the meet's best score seven of 11 times.

East's season (and career) bests have reached 9.900 on vault and 9.875 on beam, as well as 9.850 in the floor exercise. She leads the MAC in vault RQS (9.870) and is in position to qualify for the NCAA regionals in both vault and balance beam (9.835). East was named MAC Specialist of the Week on Feb. 7.

THE MCPEAK OF SUCCESS
Junior India McPeak, who tranferred to BGSU from the University of Michigan, had her best meet as a Falcon at Northern Illinois. McPeak set new personal records on beam (9.850) and floor (9.800), and her beam routine resulted in a tie for first place. She pushed her floor exercise PR to 9.825 against New Hampshire. McPeak began her Falcon career with a 9.800 and a third place finish on the balance beam at Penn State. Most recently, McPeak tied her PR on beam (9.850) and finished in a first-place tie at Michigan State.

STEPPING IN, STEPPING UP
Freshman Randi Morris assisted in the Falcons' victory over Ball State last week with a 9.800 and a tie for second place in the floor exercise. She added a fifth-place tie on the vault (9.775) and scored 9.750 in her first official balance beam effort. Morris had a pair of 9.800s in the previous meet against New Hampshire.

"WORTH" EVERY PENNY
Taylor Worthington continues to improve as her freshman season with the Falcons progresses. On Feb. 11 versus New Hampshire, she had an outstanding beam routine that scored a personal-best 9.875 and tied for first place. In her first home meet at BGSU, she finished second on the balance beam with a personal-best 9.825. In her next home meet against WMU, she won on the beam with a 9.850. At CMU, she was the Falcons' top beam scorer (9.825), and she now owns a 9.805 RQS on beam. That ranks ninth in the MAC. Last weekend, Worthington set a new vault PR with a 9.775 against Kent State, then matched that score at Kent State.

RANKED IN THE MAC
Bowling Green has several gymnasts ranked in the Mid-American Conference top ten lists at the end of the regular season. On the balance beam, Jovannah East is sixth in the MAC with a 9.835 RQS, while the team's 48.840 is second in the league. On vault, East leads the MAC at 9.870, while Lauren Feely is just behind in second place (9.865). The team's RQS (48.990) is tops in the MAC. In addition, Kayla Rose has moved into eighth place for the floor exercise by improving her RQS to 9.835.

ALL-TIME HOME RECORD
The Falcons are 136-71-1 all-time when hosting meets in Bowling Green and 105-56-1 when those meets are duals. During the Kerrie Turner era, those records are 21-26 (overall) and 18-21 (duals).

ELITE SCHEDULING
The Falcons' strength of schedule is ranked 29th nationally headed into the 2017 season. The rating is tabulated by reverse-assigning points to each team based on their final 2016 ranking. BGSU's opponents combined to provide 646 points for an average of 49.69. Ten of Bowling Green's 16 opponents are ranked in the 2017 preseason coaches' poll; that includes seven of the team's ten non-conference opponents.

ROUTINE GREATNESS
Bowling Green produced three of the school's top ten all-time team scores in 2016. In a meet against Ohio State and West Virginia, the Falcons posted a 195.725, a mark only eclipsed five times in school history. On Senior Night against Northern Illinois, BGSU shattered the school record with a 196.500. Only once previously in team history had the Falcons broken the 196 barrier. Finally, at the MAC Championships, BGSU scored a 195.625. It was the best team score ever for the Falcons at the MACs and was the tenth-best in team history.

MAKING HISTORY NOW
The Falcons qualified as a team for the NCAA Regionals in 2016. It was the team's first trip to the NCAA postseason in 25 years and the seventh in school history. Bowling Green finished the event with an overall mark of 193.850, the best-ever team score at the event for BGSU. The Falcons also have regional appearances in 1982, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987 and 1991.

WE'VE GOT THAT CHAMPIONSHIP FEEL-Y
Senior Lauren Feely will go down as one of the best gymnasts in BGSU history. She owns a place on BGSU's all-time top-ten individual score lists for vault, floor exercise and all-around competition. She is also just the fifth athlete in team history to win multiple MAC championships and the first since Marny Oestreng (1999-2002). She took the vault championship in 2015, then last season, won the all-around championship with a 39.300. Feely is a two-time Academic All-MAC honoree and was a CoSIDA Academic All-American in 2016.

PUTTING THE STUDENT IN STUDENT-ATHLETE
Falcon gymnasts value excellence in the classroom just as much as they do in the gym. Last July, BGSU was recognized as having the 19th-best team GPA nationally (3.5312) and nine Falcons were named NACGC/W Scholastic All-America. Five members of the team were recognized as Academic All-MAC following the 2016 season, and Lauren Feely earned CoSIDA Academic All-American honors. In 2016's fall semester, the team GPA rose to 3.677 and nine Falcons carried 4.0 averages.

NEW FACES, HIGHER STAKES
The 2017 Falcons feature an exciting class of newcomers that could make an immediate impact for BGSU and push the returning athletes to new heights. The roster will include six freshmen (Lexi Augustine, Jovannah East, Alex Johnston, Randi Morris, Shannon St. Jean and Taylor Worthington), as well as India McPeak, who is a junior transfer from the University of Michigan.

PRESEASON POLL
The Falcons were picked to finish tied for third in the Mid-American Conference in 2017 as voted on by the league's head coaches. Kent State was selected to win the conference, while Central Michigan was chosen to place second. Eastern Michigan and Bowling Green followed, with Northern Illinois, Western Michigan and Ball State rounding out the conference. In a show of the parity within the conference, each team received one first-place vote in the poll.

GYMNASTICS ADDITIONS
BGSU and head coach Kerrie Turner announced the signings of four student-athletes for the 2018 season in November. The additions are Whitney Cronin (High Point, N.C.), Alexandra Fochler (Cranberry Township, Pa.), Nacaida Kearns (Waterford, Ohio) and Samantha Marion (Franklin Lakes, N.J.).

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.

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Lexi Augustine

Jovannah East

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Victoria Heath

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Rachel Reis

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