Three Falcons Head to Illinois for Saturday's NCAA Regional

2017 NCAA GYMNASTICS CHAMPIONSHIPS -- CHAMPAIGN REGIONAL
Saturday, April 1, 2017 | 5:00 p.m. ET | Champaign, Ill. (University of Illinois) | State Farm Center

BGSU Meet Notes
Live Stats + Live Video
(*Five video streams available: one primary broadcast plus dedicated streams for each event)

NCAA Regional Information
Road To Nationals

COMPETITION SCHEDULE
Jovannah East (rotating with Eastern Michigan)
-- Balance Beam (1st Rotation)
-- Vault (4th Rotation)

Lauren Feely (rotating with Ohio State)
-- Vault (2nd Rotation)

Kayla Rose (floor exercise alternate; rotation to be determined, if necessary)

THE POSTSEASON IS HERE!
Freshman Jovannah East and senior Lauren Feely of the Bowling Green State University gymnastics team will compete in the 2017 NCAA Gymnastics Regionals, while sophomore Kayla Rose will serve as an alternate. Their destination will be the Champaign, Ill. regional, which will take place at 5:00 p.m. ET (4:00 p.m. local time) on Saturday, April 1. This marks the tenth consecutive season that the Falcons have sent at least one gymnast to a regional event. That span marks the entire tenure of head coach Kerrie Turner. East will compete on the vault and balance beam, Feely will compete on the vault, and Rose will be an alternate for the floor exercise.

REGIONAL OPPOSITION
The NCAA gymnastics postseason field was announced on Monday, March 20. The field is comprised of the top 36 teams as ranked nationally by Regional Qualifying Scores (RQS) and divided into six regional meets with six teams competing in each meet.

The field also includes qualified individuals (based on RQS) from non-participating teams. In each of the six regions, the gymnasts with the top four all-around RQS are invited to the regionals. In addition, the gymnasts with the top two RQS from each of the four individual events are invited. Gymnasts can qualify for multiple individual events.

RISING IN THE EAST
Jovannah East has earned many accomplishments during her freshman season, but her trip to the Champaign Regional will be unprecedented in BGSU gymnastics history. East will compete on the vault and the balance beam at the regional. She is the first Falcon to ever qualify as an individual for postseason in multiple events. All other BGSU individual pariticpants at regionals have either competed in the all-around or in one event. East is also the first BGSU freshman to earn a regional berth since Alyssa Nocella in 2013. Nocella went on to qualify for three straight regionals before competing in a fourth when the Falcons went as a team in 2016.

DOMINATING DEBUT
BGSU freshman Jovannah East was an unstoppable force during the 2017 season. On vault, her 9.870 RQS tied with senior teammate Lauren Feely for ninth in the Central Region and 28th nationally. She coompeted on the vault in 12 of BGSU's 13 meets and finished in first place seven times. She missed a top-three score only once. East posted at least a 9.850 on vault in ten of 12 meets; the rest of the team combined for only seven.

On the balance beam, East's routines resulted in a first place score in five of 12 meets and earned four of the team's ten scores of 9.850 or better. She steadily imrpoved her RQS before ending the season at 9.840. East also competed in the floor exercise but fell one performance shy of an RQS in that event. However, she earned her season-best score (9.925) on the floor at the 2017 MAC Championships.

FEELY'S FINALE
Bowling Green senior Lauren Feely's final act as a Falcon gymnast is her first individual berth to the NCAA Regionals. However, this is not her first trip to the postseason. Feely competed as part of the Falcons' team effort in the 2016 regional at Tuscaloosa, Ala. and placed sixth in the all-around competition (39.000). She tied for tenth on the vault with a 9.800 and scored at least a 9.725 in all four events. Feely is BGSU's first individual vault qualifier at a regional meet since Danielle Wishart in 2012.

Despite suffering an injury in the fall that affected her ability to train, Feely had the best vault season of her career. She had a season average of 9.821 and an RQS of 9.870 which tied East for best in the MAC. She earned four first-place finishes and took second place another five times out of 13 total meets. Feely posted a career-best 9.925 against Western Michigan and scored 9.900 on two occasions.

OUR ROSE HAS NO THORNS
BGSU sophomore Kayla Rose will serve as an alternate for the floor exercise competition at the Champaign Regional on April 1. Rose was part of the Falcons' floor exercise lineup in all 13 meets, but it was during the final month of the season when she truly dazzled. Rose finished the season with five straight scores of 9.850 or better and an RQS of 9.840. She was the final performer at the 2017 MAC Championships, and her routine resulted in a 9.950 from the judges. The score was a career-best for Rose and gave her a floor exercose co-MAC championship.

FALCONS SOAR AT MAC CHAMPIONSHIPS
Bowling Green hosted the 2017 MAC Championships in front of more than 2,000 fans at the Stroh Center. The Falcons closed the season with its best meet by posting the second-best team score (196.400) in school history. They scored a 48.900 or better in all four events and broke 49.000 in three of the four, including season-best marks of 49.125 (beam) and 49.300 (floor exercise).

BGSU entered the final rotation in contention for the meet championship and ultimately finished second to Eastern Michigan (196.500). It is the team's third top-three finish in the last four years and their first second-place finish since 1987.

Kayla Rose won the Falcons' 32nd individual MAC championship with a 9.950 in the floor exercise. India McPeak tied a school record and placed second with a 9.925 on the balance beam. Lauren Feely and Jovannah East (9.850) tied for second place on the vault. East added a third-place score of 9.925 on the floor. The Falcons had six other top-ten finishes with marks of 9.825 or better.

WE'RE NUMBER ONE!
BGSU concluded the 2017 season with the best vault RQS in the Mid-American Conference (49.025). The team's effort was led by Jovannah East and Lauren Feely, who tied for the MAC's best individual vault RQS at 9.870.

ON THE NATIONAL SCENE
BGSU's vault lineup remains in the nation's top 25. The Falcons' vault RQS (49.025) ranks 23rd and is just 0.030 behind Ohio State for 20th. Bowling Green is tied for 31st nationally on the balance beam (48.920). Freshman Jovannah East and senior Lauren Feely are tied for 28th on the vault (9.870) among individual competitors.

SENIOR STYLE
Rachel Reis was one of the Falcons' best on the uneven bars in 2017, with nine of the team's top 22 scores on the apparatus. The best of those was a team 2017 high and 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 9.825 at the MAC Championships and a 9.800 at Utah State. She finished the season with the team's second-best RQS (9.780) on the uneven bars.

Victoria Heath completed her career as a BGSU gymnast with a a 9.825 and a tie for eighth place on vault at the 2017 MAC Championships. She ended the season with an 9.775 RQS for vault and 9.795 for floor exercise. She won two events this season. The first was on vault at Utah State following a personal record 9.875. She then captured the floor exercise title against Illinois State. Heath had eight routines of 9.800 or better in 2017.

LEAVE 'EM WANTING MORE
Falcons' junior Laura Mitchell will be the team's most veteran gymnast in 2018 and built momentum for her senior season with a fantastic finish to 2017. At the MAC Championships, she scored 9.850 on both the uneven bars and floor exercise and added a 9.875 on the balance beam in defense of her 2016 MAC title. She placed in the top ten in all three events. Mitchell's effort completed a season in which she posted a team-best 9.825 RQS on bars and added a 9.825 for floor and 9.815on the beam. She earned four event victories during the season and added a new floor exercise personal record (9.850).

THE MCPEAK OF SUCCESS
Junior India McPeak, who tranferred to BGSU from the University of Michigan, ended her first season as a Falcon in style. She tied the BGSU record of 9.925 and placed second on the balance beam at the 2017 MAC Championships. At Northern Illinois. McPeak tied for first on beam (9.850) and set a floor exercisce personal record (9.800). She added a first-place tie on beam at Michigan State. McPeak ended the season with the team's second-best beam RQS (9.825).

STEPPING IN, STEPPING UP
Freshman Randi Morris helped the Falcons wow the crowd during the floor exercise at the MAC Championships. Her routine earned a personal record 9.850 and a tenth-place tie, as BGSU's floor lineup totaled a 49.300. Morris posted a 9.800 five times during the 2017 season.

"WORTH" EVERY PENNY
Taylor Worthington was a fixture in BGSU's vault and balance beam lineups throughout her freshman season with the Falcons. 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). Worthington ended the season with a 9.805 RQS on beam.

GREAT FIRST IMPRESSION
BGSU freshman Jovannah East scored 9.800 or better for 26 of her 30 routines in 2017. That includes a streak of 21 straight events between Jan. 28 and March 11. East finished in first place 12 times (.400). Those first place finishes include at least one in nine of her 12 meets. On vault alone, she earned the meet's best score seven of 12 times. She placed in the top three 19 times and the top five 25 times.

RANKED IN THE MAC
Several Bowling Green gymnasts finished the 2017 season ranked in the Mid-American Conference top ten lists. On the balance beam, Jovannah East tied for sixth in the MAC with a 9.840 RQS, while India McPeak's 9.825 ranked tenth. The team's 48.920 is third in the league. On vault, East and Lauren Feely led the MAC at 9.870, and the team's RQS (49.025) is tops in the MAC. In addition, Kayla Rose tied for eighth place for the floor exercise by improving her RQS to 9.850.

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

Lauren Feely

Victoria Heath

Alex Johnston

India McPeak

Laura Mitchell

Randi Morris

Alyssa Nocella

Rachel Reis

Kayla Rose

Shannon St. Jean

Taylor Worthington

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