Falcons Win Individual Titles on Vault and Beam at Michigan State

Sunday, March 5

East Lansing, Mich.

2:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

193.600

195.600

Michigan State

Photo by: Bianca Garza, BGSU Marketing and Communications

Falcons Win Individual Titles on Vault and Beam at Michigan State

March 05, 2017 | Gymnastics

By: by Matthew Daley, Athletic Communicationis Assistant

MEET RESULTS (.pdf)

EAST LANSING, Mich. – The Bowling Green State University gymnastics team earned ten scores of 9.800 or better and had first-place finishers in two events on Sunday afternoon (Mar. 5) at Michigan State. The Falcons finished the dual meet with a cumulative 193.600 and fell to the Spartans, who totaled 195.600.

BGSU began the meet by competing on the uneven bars during the first rotation. As has often been the case this season, errors on the bars ultimately brought down the team's score. The Falcons' highest scorers were Laura Mitchell (9.625) and Lauren DeMeno (9.600), and one of two falls had to be counted. The lineup finished with a 46.725.

However, the Falcons recovered to post quality scores in the other three events. The team rotated to vault for the second event, and the result was BGSU's highest event score of the season.

Victoria Heath led off with a 9.800, and Katie Morsefield matched that for a personal record. Taylor Worthington (9.775) and Lauren DeMeno (9.825) followed by matching their own career bests. Finally, Jovannah East anchored the lineup with a 9.875. She has earned that mark in three straight meets. Her score gave BGSU a vault total of 49.075.

The second half of the meet began with Bowling Green taking on the floor exercise. The lineup, which consisted of only five gymnasts, still tied its fourth-best mark of the season with a 48.825. Kayla Rose tied for third place at 9.850, while the routines of East and Heath brought a pair of 9.825s.

Bowling Green concluded the meet with their second-best balance beam performance of the 2017 season. India McPeak, Laura Mitchell and Jovannah East shared the event victory after each was awarded a 9.850. Lauren DeMeno added a solid 9.775 in her first beam routine of 2017.

"The bars were a rough start for us, but the team fought back and truly excelled in vault, floor and beam. It's frustrating to not have that strong fourth event, and this really removes us from team qualification for the NCAA Regionals," said BGSU head coach Kerrie Turner. "We will shift our focus to preparing for the MAC Championships and striving to win that event in the Stroh Center."

East extended her streak of 9.800-or-better routines to 20. She also added two more first-place finishes, which gives her 11 for the season. She has finished first in at least one event in eight of the team's 11 meets. Mitchell earned her fourth top finish of 2017, and McPeak secured her second.

BGSU's Regional Qualifying Score (RQS) now stands at 194.270 after beginning the weekend at 194.100. The team is now 3-13 overall and 2-3 against MAC opponents. The Falcons will conclude their regular season at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, Mar. 11 when they travel to Ypsilanti, Mich. for a dual meet against Eastern Michigan.