Gymnastics Faces Sunday Tri-Meet Against Illinois and Lindenwood

BOWLING GREEN FALCONS (4-10, 2-2 MAC) and LINDENWOOD LIONS (10-4, 3-1 MIC)
at ILLINOIS FIGHTING ILLINI (7-3, 4-2 BIG 10)
Sunday, March 4, 2018 | 5:00 p.m. ET | Champaign, Ill. | Huff Hall

Game Notes: BGSU
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Road To Nationals

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -- The final month of the 2018 regular season begins on Sunday (Mar. 4) for the Bowling Green State University gymnastics team. The Falcons will head to Champaign, Ill. for a tri-meet against the Fighting Illini and the Lindenwood University Lions. The meet is slated to begin at 5:00 p.m. ET at Huff Hall on the University of Illinois campus. BGSU enters this weekend with a Regional Qualifying Score (RQS) of 195.005, which ranks 41st nationally. The team is fighting to move into the top 36 teams and gain a spot in the NCAA Regionals; the Falcons currently trail the 36th-ranked team by 0.175 points. Any score above 194.750 this weekend would improve the team's RQS.

HEAD COACH KERRIE TURNER SAYS...
"This weekend will be a very important meet for our program. We sit on the bubble of team qualification for NCAA Regionals, and our road scores will be very important as we work to be in the top 36 programs in the country. Certainly, the momentum of our last competition should help our confidence as we compete at Illinois. We continue to focus on the very small details in every routine in an effort to maximize scoring potential."

SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
Illinois
The Fighting Illini are currently ranked 33rd nationally with a 195.335 RQS. They own a 7-3 overall record and are 4-2 against Big Ten opponents. Illinois has scored 195+ in six of seven meets this season; most recently, they earned a 196.350 in a victory over Michigan State, then split a tri-meet against Missouri and UIC with 195.400. Prior to Sunday, the Illini will face Georgia, Nebraska, and Stanford in Augusta, Ga. at an Elevate The Stage meet. They are led by junior Haylee Roe, who owns an 9.825 RQS on beam and 9.800 on floor. Last week, she won the floor competition with a season-best 9.900. Head coach Nadalie Walsh is in her inaugural season with Illinois.

Lindenwood
The Lions have earned a 194.045 RQS and rank 50th nationally. Their record to-date is 10-4, and they posted their season-best score in their most recent meet. Last weekend, Lindenwood scored a 195.175 and split a tri-meet against Iowa State and Illinois State. This weekend's event will be their seventh tri-meet of the season; the Lions swept four of the first six. Kierstin Sokolowski has the team's best RQS (9.800, vault), while sophomore Ryan Henry has a 9.7+ RQS on bars, beam, and floor. Lindenwood head coach Jen Llewellyn is in her fifth season with the program.

THE ALL-TIME SERIES
The Falcons have previously faced Lindenwood only once. That meeting occurred in 2013, when BGSU visited the Lions and earned a 192.850-192.050 victory. Against Illinois, Bowling Green is 3-5 all-time. The last meeting between the two schools was in 2004, and the Falcons swept Ball State and Illinois at the Cardinal Classic. BGSU has not faced the Illini in Champaign since 1984. In that meet, Bowling Green used a 173.200 to sweep a quad meet against Illinois, Illinois State, and Southeast Missouri State.

LAST WEEKEND
BGSU completed a double-meet weekend last week for the first and only time in 2018. On Friday (Feb. 23), the Falcons faced #6 Michigan, #12 Denver, and Utah State in Elevate The Stage at Toledo, Ohio's Seagate Centre. They finished fourth with a 194.750 but scored a season-high on bars (48.950) and a 49.100 on the floor. Jovannah East took second on vault (9.900) and sixth on beam (9.825). Kayla Rose posted a season-best 9.875 on floor, and Laura Mitchell added a 9.825 to tie for sixth on beam. On Sunday (Feb. 25), BGSU split a tri-meet with Ohio State and Central Michigan, handing CMU its first MAC loss of 2018. A trio of 9.9s by Jovannah East helped fuel the team's 195.400. Laura Mitchell broke the school record on beam with a 9.950.

THE POST-SEASON APPROACHES
Regional Qualifying Scores (RQS) were be released for the first time in 2018 on Monday, Feb. 26. Those scores are used to determine the teams and individuals that advance to the six NCAA regional meets. The top 36 teams by RQS qualify for the reginoals. Among individuals who are not on qualifying teams, the top four all-around gymnasts and the top two athletes from all four events are selected from each of the six regions.

BGSU's team RQS (195.005) is squarely on the bubble for entry to the NCAA Regionals, but several individuals are in position to earn at-large Regional berths, if necessary. Jovannah East would currently qualify in vault (9.875), beam (9.835), and floor (9.875). Lexi Augustine has a 9.8+ RQS on bars and floor. Lauren DeMeno (vault), Laura Mitchell (beam), and India McPeak (beam) are also at 9.8 or above.

RQS is determined by taking the top six scores (at least three of which must be from "away" meets). The best score is eliminated, and the next five scores are averaged.

ELITE SCHEDULING
BGSU began 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 ranks in the top 30. The Falcons face four teams currently in the nation's top 25 (#7 Michigan, #12 Denver, #21 Ohio State, #24 BYU). The Falcons compete against three other top-36 teams: CMU, Illinois, and New Hampshire. All of BGSU's opponents are currently in the top 50.

NO SUCH THING AS A SOPHOMORE SLUMP
Jovannah East continued her stellar season with two more outstanding meets last weekend. At Elevate The Stage, she placed second on vault with a 9.900 and added a pair of top-ten finishes with 9.825s on beam and floor. On Sunday, she scored a trio of 9.9s as BGSU earned a 195.400 and split a home tri-meet. She won on the vault, floor exercise, and all-around (39.300), and her second-place beam score set a personal record. East has earned 9.9 or better six times in 2018 and eight times in her career, matching the career total of Alyssa Nocella (2013-16).

East has 14 wins in 2018 and 26 in her career, as well as a total of 40 top-three finishes. She has at least one win in 18 of 22 career meets and a 9.800 or above in 25 of 30 events (.833) in 2018 and 53 of 62 (.855) in her career. Her RQS scores are in the top 100 nationally in three events: vault (tied 19th), floor (tied 39th), and beam (tied 58th).

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.

Last weekend, Mitchell became the first Falcon to eclipse one of the four school records set by former national champion Marny Oestreng. Against CMU and Ohio State, Mitchell claimed a 9.950, surging past Oestreng's 9.925. It was her first 9.9+ since the 2016 season. She scored a 9.8 or better in four other events last weekend and now tied for 15th in the Central Region with a 9.825 beam RQS.

On Sunday, McPeak tallied a season-best 9.900 on beam as BGSU defeated Central Michigan. The only better score in her career was a 9.925 on beam at the 2017 MAC Championships. Her mark on Sunday was one of three consecutive 9.9s for BGSU. McPeak is tied for 21st in the Central Region and places in the top 100 nationally with a 9.810 RQS on beam.

Goniwiecha returned to action for the first time in nearly two years by performing on the uneven bars against Utah State. Her triumphant comeback was rewarded with a 9.675. Since that time, she has joined the vault lineup; in two of her last three attempts on vault, she has earned a season-best 9.700.

OUR ROSE HAS NO THORNS
BGSU junior Kayla Rose's resurgence last weekend was a welcome addition to the Falcons' effort to improve their national standing. Rose was awarded her two highest floor exercise scores of 2018 and bolstered her RQS to 9.780. At home against CMU and Ohio State, she finished fourth with a 9.825. Earlier in the weekend, she placed sixth out of 24 with a season-best 9.875 at Elevate The Stage. She has earned at least 9.750 on the floor in 17 of her last 18 meets, with 12 of those scores reaching 9.8 or better.

IT FEELS LIKE AUGUST-INE IN WINTER
Lexi Augustine has become invaluable to the Falcons in her sophomore season. She starts in three events and currently leads BGSU with a 9.805 RQS on bars. She is also second on the team with a 9.815 floor RQS. Last Sunday at home, Augustine placed fifth on the bars by matching her personal record (9.850), then added another fifth-place finish with a new personal record on beam (9.875). At Elevate The Stage on Friday, she placed in the upper half of competitiors on beam (9.775) and floor (9.825). She has earned 9.75+ in 18 of 27 events, including 10 of her last 12.

FANTASTIC FRESHMEN
Four members of BGSU's 2018 freshman class have been weekly contributors early in the season. Nacaida Kearns leads off the Falcon lineup on vault, beam, and floor. She has earned a 9.750 or above in at least one event seven times in nine meets. Most recently, she tied her personal record by scoring 9.825 on the floor against CMU and Ohio State. Last Friday, she added a 9.700 on vault and 9.750 on floor in Toledo. Elena Lawson (vault) and Grace Logan (bars) have also been lineup fixtures; Logan has started on bars in every meet, while Lawson started on vault in the first seven. Alex Fochler followed a win on bars at WMU with a new personal record (9.875) and top-three finish at Denver. The 9.875 is tied for sixth-best in BGSU history. Lawson's vault PR is 9.775, while Logan has reached 9.750 on the bars.

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.

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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Lexi Augustine

Lauren DeMeno

Jovannah East

Lauren Feely

Shannon Goniwiecha

Nacaida Kearns

Elena Lawson

Grace Logan

India McPeak

Laura Mitchell

Kayla Rose

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