Falcons Soar on Senior Day at Anderson Arena

MEET RESULTS (.pdf)

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – Lightning can strike twice for the Bowling Green State University gymnastics team. Two years ago, the Falcons hosted Northern Illinois University on Senior Day and set a school record by scoring a cumulative 196.500. On Saturday (March 17) at Anderson Arena, BGSU once again welcomed the Huskies for the final home meet of the season and came within a whisker of equaling that 2016 effort. This year's squad celebrated the outgoing seniors by posting a 196.475. It is the second-best mark in school history, and the score earned a valuable win over NIU, who scored 195.700. The Falcons close the regular season with a 5-13 record and a four-way tie for second in the Mid-American Conference (3-3).

The meet was very close throughout the first three rotations. BGSU scored three 9.8s and tallied a 48.950 on vault, then equaled that effort on the bars. However, NIU led at the halfway point by tallying 49.050 on vault and 49.000 on bars. The Falcons stepped up their game in the third rotation by earning a 49.225, their third straight meet with a 49 on that apparatus. When the Huskies reached 49.150 in the floor exercise, they carried a 147.200-147.125 lead into the final event.

The final rotation was no contest. Northern Illinois could only manage a balance beam total of 48.500. Meanwhile, the Falcons set a new floor exercise season-best with 49.225. All five of BGSU's counting scores were 9.825 or above, including 9.875s from Laura Mitchell and Kayla Rose and a 9.925 from Jovannah East.

BGSU will now turn its attention to the 2018 Mid-American Conference Championships, which are scheduled for 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 24. They will be held in Mount Pleasant, Mich. at McGuirk Arena and hosted by Central Michigan. In addition to competing for league titles, the Falcons will seek to boost their chances to send individual competitors to the NCAA Regionals. On Saturday, the Falcons were officially eliminated from contention for a team berth in the NCAA postseason.

HEAD COACH KERRIE TURNER SAYS...

"The team really focused on every detail in their routines today, and it really showed in the scores. We have been working towards breaking the 196 mark, and it was excellent to see the team surpass that and achieve the second highest score in school history. What a fantastic way to honor our seniors on senior day. In addition, this was a needed confidence booster as we head towards the MAC Championships next weekend."

FACTS AND FIGURES

BGSU celebrated Senior Day with the second-best team score in school history. The 196.475 was 0.025 shy of the school record, set on Senior Day 2016 against NIU.
The Falcons have scored 194+ in all 12 meets during the 2018 season and in 14 straight overall. Both marks are program records.
Bowling Green remains the only MAC team to score 194 or better in every 2018 meet.
The team's average in their 12 meets is 195.044; it is the first time in school history the team has achieved a season average of 195+.
The team RQS is now 195.330, second-best in school history. They will break that record (195.455) by scoring greater than 195.650 at the MAC Championships.
BGSU earned two scores of 9.9+, 16 scores of 9.8+ and 20 scores of 9.7+ out of 24 total routines; the number of 9.8+ and 9.7+ scores are both season highs.
The Falcons' lineup tied or set new season best team scores in all four events.
Senior Laura Mitchell finished second on beam with a 9.900, her third 9.9+ in the last four meets on beam.
Mitchell set a new personal record and tied for third in the floor exercise (9.875).
She also tied for third on bars (9.800) and finished third in the all-around (39.125).
Mitchell's four top-threes boost her career total to 47.
She improved her team-best RQS on beam to 9.880 and boosted her floor RQS to 9.815.
Jovannah East set a new personal record and won the all-around competition with a 39.425. That is the best all-around performance this week in the MAC.
East's 9.925 on floor set a new season best and tied a personal record. It is her 11th career 9.9+ and eighth this season. She has at least one 9.9+ in six consecutive meets.
East won the vault (9.875) for the ninth time in 12 meets. She also tied for third on beam (9.875).
With three wins and four top-threes, she now has 18 wins and 30 top-threes in 2018. She owns 30 wins and 49 top-threes in her career.
She has a 9.8+ in 32 of 41 events in 2018 (.780) and 60 of 73 career events (.822).
East leads the Falcons in RQS on vault (9.885) and floor (9.890) and is second on beam (9.865).
Kayla Rose continued her surge with a tie for third (9.875) on floor. It is her fifth straight meet with 9.825 or better in that event, and her RQS is now 9.835.
Lauren DeMeno and Alex Fochler also earned top-three finishes.
Fochler finished second and tied her personal record on the uneven bars (9.875).
DeMeno tied her personal bests with top-threes on vault (9.850) and bars (9.800).
Lexi Augustine earned a pair of 9.8+ scores that helped the Falcons on beam and floor. She has earned 9.8 or above in 15 of her last 25 routines.
Like Augustine, Nacaida Kearns reached 9.8 or better in two of her three events. It is her first career meet with multiple 9.8+ scores.

PERSONAL RECORDS

Lexi Augustine
- 9.850 (floor; tied PR)
Lauren DeMeno
- 9.850 (vault; tied PR)
- 9.800 (bars; tied PR + new season best)
Jovannah East
- 9.925 (floor; tied PR + new season best)
- 39.425 (all-around)
Alexandra Fochler
- 9.875 (bars; tied PR)
Shannon Goniwiecha
- 9.750 (vault; tied PR + new season best)
Laura Mitchell
- 9.875 (floor)
- 39.125 (all-around; tied PR)
Katie Morsefield
- 9.800 (vault; tied PR + new season best)

SEASON BESTS

Kayla Rose - Floor
- 9.875 (tied)
Team - Vault
- 48.950 (tied)
Team - Bars
- 48.950
Team - Beam
- 49.225 (tied)
Team - Floor
- 49.350
Team - Total
- 196.475

TEAM EVENT SCORES

	Bowling Green	Northern Illinois
Vault	48.950	49.050
Bars	48.950	49.000
Beam	49.225	48.500
Floor	49.350	49.150
TOTAL	196.475	195.700

UP NEXT...

Next meet: 2018 Mid-American Conference Championships
Date/time: Saturday, March 24 at 2:00 p.m. ET
Location: Mount Pleasant, Mich. (McGuirk Arena)
Bowling Green owns three MAC championships (1982, 1983, 1985)
The Falcons have finished in the top three at the MACs three times in the last four seasons.
- 2014: 3rd (194.625); 2016: 3rd (195.625); 2017: 2nd (196.400)
BGSU's second-place finish in 2017 was the program's best since 1987, and their score was the third 196+ in school history.
Two current Falcons, Laura Mitchell and Kayla Rose, have won individual MAC titles. Mitchell won in 2016 on beam, while Rose was co-floor exercise champion in 2017.
Bowling Green's 196.475 on Senior Day is the second-best team score among MAC teams in 2018, surpassed only by Kent State (196.625).
The Falcons' team average (195.044) ranks third in the MAC, and their RQS (195.330) ranks fourth. BGSU is the only MAC team in 2018 to score 194+ in every meet.
Entering the MAC Championships, Jovannah East ranks in the top five of the MAC in three events and leads on vault. Lauren DeMeno (vault) and Laura Mitchell (beam) are also in the top five of MAC event rankings.

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Lexi Augustine

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