#22 Bowling Green Faces Utah State in 2018 Home Opener

UTAH STATE (0-0, 0-0 MRGC) at #22 BOWLING GREEN (1-0, 0-0 MAC)
Saturday, January 13, 2018 | 2:00 p.m. ET | Bowling Green, Ohio | Anderson Arena
Game Notes: BGSU | USU
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BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -- The Bowling Green State University gymnastics team returns to venerable Anderson Arena for the first time during the 2018 season when the Falcons host the Utah State Aggies at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 13. This will be the third meeting between the two schools and the first at Anderson Arena. The Falcons are 1-0 after picking up a victory at Michigan State in the season-opener on Friday, Jan. 5. BGSU defeated the Spartans by earning a team total of 194.000, as opposed to MSU's 193.350.

SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
Utah State's meet at BGSU will serve as their 2018 season opener. The Aggies are 41-27 all-time in opening meets. Utah State finished the 2017 season 9-16 and 2-4 in the Mountain Rim Gymnastics Conference; however, they qualified for the NCAA Regional in Seattle, Wash., where they finished sixth (194.850). They return nine gymnasts from the 2017 team, including All-MRGC honorees Madison Ward and Elle Golison. The team also adds nine newcomers. Head coach Amy Smith (UCLA, 2001) is in her first season with the Aggies.

THE ALL-TIME SERIES
BGSU and Utah State have met in competition twice, and Utah State owns a 2-0 record in the all-time series. The first meeting between the two schools was in 2014 at a tri-meet hosted by UCLA. The Aggies finished second overall in that event and defeated the Falcons 196.000-194.175. The pair met again on Jan. 13, 2017 in Logan, Utah when USU hosted the Falcons and North Carolina State. Utah State won the tri-meet with a 195.400, while BGSU earned a 193.275. Saturday's meeting will be the first between the two schools in Bowling Green.

HOME OPENERS
Bowling Green opens their 44th home schedule on Saturday. The team owns a 34-13 all-time record in their first home meet of a season, including 26-13 in dual meets and an 8-0 record in four tri-meets. During the first ten years of head coach Kerrie Turner's tenure, the team is 7-3 in home openers and has won four in a row. In 2017, the Falcons defeated Illinois State 193.825-192.550 to open their five-meet Anderson Arena slate. The school record for team score in the first home meet is 194.875, achieved in 2001 against Kent State and Illinois-Chicago. Overall, the Falcons own a 136-71-1 record at Anderson Arena and 105-56-1 in dual meets. Kerrie Turner's teams are 21-26 at home and 18-21 in home duals.

LAST TIME OUT
BGSU began the 2018 season with a dual meet victory over Michigan State. The Falcons won 194.000-193.350 for their first season-opening win since 2015. The team's total score was the third-highest in a season opener in school history. BGSU posted meet-best scores on the vault (48.650) and balance beam (48.700), and they also earned a 48.875 for the floor exercise. Jovannah East (9.850) won the individual championship on the vault, while freshman Nacaida Kearns and senior India McPeak shared the beam title with matching 9.825s. Randi Morris also excelled, earning two top-three finishes on the vault (9.800) and floor (9.825).

NATIONALLY RANKED
After the first week of competition, Bowling Green's 194.000 ranks 22nd nationally. The Falcons are currently one of three Mid-American Conference teams, including Central Michigan and Ball State, to be ranked in the top 25. BGSU began the season by receiving votes but outside of the top 36 in the NACGC/W preseason coaches poll.

ELITE SCHEDULING
BGSU begins the 2018 season with the MAC's hardest schedule and the 29th most difficult nationally. This is the second straight year that the team's schedule difficulty ranks in the top 30. To determine schedule strength, each team is assigned points based on their final 2017 ranking. Last year, Falcon opponents totaled 646 points based on final 2016 standings; this year's slate is even tougher, as 2018 opponents totaled 703 points (54.08 average). BGSU faces two teams ranked in the top ten of the NACGC/W preseason coaches poll (#7 Michigan, #8 Denver). The Falcons also face #22 Ohio State, #23 Illinois, #32 Utah State, and #34 Brigham Young. In total, six of BGSU's nine non-conference opponents are ranked, and two others received votes in the poll. Of the six teams in the MAC, three are ranked in the preseason top 36, and both BGSU and Northern Illinois received votes.

NO SUCH THING AS A SOPHOMORE SLUMP
Jovannah East, the 2017 MAC Freshman of the Year, began her sophomore season by competing in three events at Michigan State. She won the vault competition with a 9.850 and finished tied for fourth on the beam (9.750) and the floor (9.800). East has now recorded a victory in 10 of her 14 career meets for a total of 13 event wins. In addition, East has earned a 9.800 or above in 30 of her 35 career events and has posted 9.800 or above in multiple events during 11 of her 14 career meets.

DOMINATING DEBUT
BGSU sophomore Jovannah East was an unstoppable force as a freshman 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.

2018 SENIOR CLASS
Bowling Green features three seniors during the 2018 season. This year's class includes Shannon Goniwiecha (Rochester Hills, Mich.), India McPeak (Bangor, N. Ireland), and Laura Mitchell (London, England). Goniwiecha and Mitchell are both in their fourth year at BGSU; McPeak is in her second year after transferring from the University of Michigan.

Mitchell began her senior campaign with three solid performances at Michigan State. She earned her top score and finish on the balance beam, where she placed third with a 9.800. She also completed routines on the floor (9.700) and uneven bars (9.725) that helped BGSU secure a team victory.

McPeak earned her third career win against the Spartans by sharing the balance beam title with Nacaida Kearns. Her routine, which earned a 9.825, was an excellent follow-up to her career-best 9.925 at the 2017 MAC Championships.

Goniwiecha missed all of 2017 with an injury; However, she helped BGSU qualify for the NCAA Regionals as a team during her sophomore season in 2016. In that season, she set a career best on vault at North Carolina with a 9.750 and earned a 9.700 or better five times on that apparatus. She also competed on the uneven bars, earning a personal record 9.750 at Kent State and a 9.700 or better six times.

OUR ROSE HAS NO THORNS
BGSU junior Kayla Rose was the 2017 MAC floor exercise co-champioin and served as an alternate in the floor exercise for the NCAA Regional in Champaign, Ill. on April 1. In East Lansing, her third season began against MSU with a 9.750 for her floor exercise routine. It is her 11th consecutive meet with a floor exercise score of at least 9.750.

STEPPING IN, STEPPING UP
Sophomore Randi Morris began her second season with arguably her best career meet to date. She earned two top-three finishes and scored 9.800 or better in multiple events for only the second time. On the vault, she leapt to a 9.800, which placed second, and she led the Falcons with a third-place finish in the floor exercise (9.825).

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 14th-best team GPA nationally (3.6065) and 14 of the 20 Falcons (70 percent) were named NACGC/W Scholastic All-America. Five members of the team were recognized as Academic All-MAC following the 2017 season, and Lauren Feely earned CoSIDA First Team Academic All-American honors. She concluded her career as an Academic All-American in two straight years.

NEW FACES, HIGHER STAKES
The 2018 Falcons welcome an exciting class of eight freshmen to the team and will see immediate dividends, as several will immediately step into the lineup. This year's freshman class includes Whitney Cronin (High Point, N.C.), Alex Fochler (Cranberry Township, Pa.), Jasmine Jones (Myrtle Beach, S.C.), Nacaida Kearns (Waterford, Ohio), Elena Lawson (Marietta, Ohio), Grace Logan (Pomfret Center, Conn.), Samantha Marion (Franklin Lakes, N.J.), and Jordan Peloquin (Greenville, R.I.).

2018 COACHING STAFF
BGSU head coach Kerrie Turner returns for her 11th year at the helm of the Falcons. Jason Bauer is the Associate Head Coach and in his fourth season with the team. The Falcons have two new additions to the coaching staff for the 2018 season. Marissa Beucler is the team's new assistant coach, while Alaska Richardson will serve as a volunteer assistant. Beucler is a former student-athlete at the University of Kentucky; Richardson competed as a gymnast at West Virginia University and most recently served as a graduate assistant at the University of Toledo.

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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Players Mentioned

Whitney Cronin

Jovannah East

Lauren Feely

Shannon Goniwiecha

Jasmine Jones

Nacaida Kearns

Elena Lawson

Grace Logan

Samantha Marion

India McPeak

Laura Mitchell

Randi Morris

Kayla Rose

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