Gymnastics Finishes Fourth at Elevate The Stage in Toledo

Friday, February 23

Toledo, Ohio

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

194.750

195.325

Utah State

February 24, 2018 | Gymnastics

By: by Matthew Daley, Athletic Communicationis Assistant

MEET RESULTS (.pdf)

TOLEDO, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University gymnastics team performed on the podium and bolstered their postseason chances on Friday (Feb. 23) in the Elevate The Stage quad meet in Toledo, Ohio. All four events were contested on raised platforms at the Seagate Centre in front of an energetic crowd, and the Falcons finished the meet with a cumulative 194.750. Although the team finished fourth among the four teams, BGSU's first official Regional Qualifying Score (RQS) of the season will be 194.830.

One week after Jovannah East was pressed into duty as an all-around gymnast, senior Laura Mitchell made her all-around debut. Among the nine athletes who finished the all-around, East finished fifth (39.125) and Mitchell seventh (38.925). The pair combined for five routines of at least 9.825. East earned a 9.900 to place second on the vault, while Mitchell secured sixth on the beam and tallied a season-best 9.825 on the floor.

Other highlights of the meet included a career-best beam routine from Julia Beyer, who scored a 9.800, as well as a season-best floor routine from Kayla Rose. Rose's score, 9.875, was her best since winning the MAC co-championship last March. Michigan and Denver, both ranked in the nation's top 12, split the meet championship with matching scores of 196.575. Utah State took third with a 195.32

HEAD COACH KERRIE TURNER SAYS...

"I thought we came out great to start the meet on the floor. We talked to the team last week about bringing more energy to their routines, and I thought they did a really good job of that. Unfortunately, vault and bars were a little shaky for us and something we're going to have to talk about, to make sure they're focused heading into Sunday's meet. Beam was a good finish for us. It was nice to see Julia Beyer step in and get that 9.8. We needed her tonight, and we're really proud of her for doing that. So, some highs and lows, but definitely some work to do before Sunday."
"I don't think being on the podium affected the team in any way. Floor is probably the area where you'll feel that extra bound from being on the podium, but they handled that beautifully."
"The nice thing about the double meet weekend is, when you make a mistake in a meet, you want to get right back out there and correct it, and on Sunday, they get that opportunity. Typically, when we've done the double weekends, they tend to be stronger in the second meet. I think we'll be pushing to get past our highest score of the season. We haven't been home in a long time, so I think we're just excited to get back in our home gym and compete in Anderson Arena."
"We're focusing on breast cancer awareness with our Pink Meet on Sunday. It is such an important way for us to say that we care, we want to keep raising awareness and support for cancer research."

FACTS AND FIGURES

With 194.750, BGSU extends program record streak of consecutive meets with 194+.
This was Falcons' eighth straight meet in 2018 with a 194+ and tenth straight overall.
The team now has an average score of 194.741 and an RQS of 194.830.
BGSU earned eight scores of 9.8+ and 14 scores of 9.7+.
Jovannah East tallied her fifth career 9.9+ and third of 2018. All three have come in the last four meets.
East finished second on the vault. In 2018, she has 17 top-threes, including 11 wins.
In her career, she has accumulated 36 top-threes and 23 wins.
East has 9.8+ in 22 of 26 events in 2018 (.846) and 50 of 58 career events (.862).
Julia Beyer was introduced to beam this season. This week, she sped past her previous career-high (9.575) with a 9.800, helping BGSU to its season-high on beam.
Laura Mitchell attempted the all-around for the first time, posted a season-best on the floor and placed sixth of 24 on the beam.
Kayla Rose posted her best floor routine since winning the MAC co-championship last spring. She earned a season-best 9.875 and took sixth place.

PERSONAL RECORDS

Julia Beyer (9.800, beam)
Laura Mitchell
- 9.525 (vault, first attempt)
- 38.925 (all-around, first attempt)

NON-PR SEASON BESTS (INDIVIDUAL AND TEAM)

Laura Mitchell (9.825, floor)
Kayla Rose (9.875, floor)
Team, beam: 48.950

TEAM EVENT SCORES

	BGSU	Denver	Utah State	Michigan
Vault	48.500	49.000	48.750	48.875
Bars	48.200	49.350	48.425	49.200
Beam	48.950	49.025	48.875	49.225
Floor	49.100	49.200	49.275	49.275
TOTAL	194.750	196.575	195.325	196.575

UP NEXT...
Bowling Green returns to action in less than 48 hours, as the Falcons will host #24 Central Michigan and #26 Ohio State at 2:00 p.m. ET on Sunday (Feb. 25).
The meet will be held at venerable Anderson Arena and is BGSU's annual Pink Meet to raise breast cancer awareness.
The Chippewas are currently the top-ranked team in the MAC and most recently defeated Kent State, 196.150-196.125.
CMU is 6-1 overall and leads the MAC with a 4-0 record.
Ohio State is #26 nationally and has won four meets in a row, including a quad and a tri-meet.
The Buckeyes have at least 195.725 in each of those four meets and have broken 196 twice. Their season-best score is a 196.775 against Illinois State and Minnesota.