Falcons Flock to Mount Pleasant for Saturday's MAC Championships

2018 MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE GYMNASTICS CHAMPIONSHIPS
Saturday, March 24, 2018 | 2:00 p.m. ET | Mount Pleasant, Mich. | McGuirk Arena

Game Notes: BGSU
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Road To Nationals

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -- The Bowling Green State University gymnastics team competes at the 2018 Mid-American Conference Gymnastics Championships beginning at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 24. The meet will be hosted by Central Michigan University and will be held in Mount Pleasant, Mich. at McGuirk Arena. The Falcons arrive at the meet following an emphatic Senior Day victory over Northern Illinois. The team scored 196.475 points, the second-best total in school history, and finished the MAC season in a second place tie with a 3-3 record. BGSU is fourth in the league with a 195.330 RQS, but their 195.044 average in 12 meets is a school record. They are also the only team in the MAC to score 194 or better in every meet, and their highest score (196.475) is the second-best total in the MAC this season. Last season, BGSU posted its best finish at the MACs in 30 years by placing second overall with a 196.400 score.

HEAD COACH KERRIE TURNER SAYS...
"We have spent every practice and every day this year preparing for this weekend. From the very start of our training, discussion has centered around talking and acting like 2018 MAC Champions. We are focused on keeping the gymnasts' mindsets simple. Hit one good routine on your events. That task is easy for them at this point in the training protocol. With all of the MAC gymnastics teams so close in the rankings, this is going to be a very exciting competition. I look forward to competing our best and really giving every ounce of effort throughout the competition. I am very proud of the consistency this team has shown all season and I expect they will have a strong meet on Saturday."

BGSU HISTORY AT THE MACS
The Falcons own a total of three MAC team championships. Including last season, they have placed second on four occasions, and have three additional third-place finishes. The team has finished third or better in three of the last four seasons. Sixteen individuals have won a combined 32 MAC championships. At least one Falcon has won a title in each of the last five seasons, including current team members Laura Mitchell and Kayla Rose. Mitchell won the beam championship in 2016, while Rose was co-champion for floor exercise last season.

LAST YEAR AT THE MACS
BGSU hosted the 2017 MAC Championships in front of nearly 3,000 fans at the Stroh Center. The raucous crowd watched the Falcons produce the third 196 in team history; the 196.400 earned second place, just 0.1 points behind champion EMU. It was the team's best finish by place in 30 years. The team earned ten individual top-ten finishes, led by a co-championship on the floor from Kayla Rose (9.950). India McPeak took second on the beam (9.925), while Lauren Feely and Jovannah East shared second on vault. East also tallied a third-place finish on floor.

SCOUTING THE FIELD
The 2018 championship is arguably more up-for-grabs than at any time in history. The difference between the best and worst RQS in the MAC is less than a point, and four of the seven teams have achieved at least one 196 this season. In addition to BGSU's 196.475, Kent State has reached the mark three times. soaring as high as 196.625. Host Central Michigan has also passed 196 three times, including a 196.375 in their season opener. Western Michigan topped out at 196.075 in a win over Ball State. Individually, KSU's Rachel Stypinski is the MAC leader in the all-around, as well as on bars and beam. NIU's Anna Martucci leads the league on floor. Both joined Jovannah East as first team All-MAC members, while Denelle Pedrick, Ashley Potts, Gianna Plaksa, Katy Clements, and Emili Dobronics joined Laura Mitchell on the second team.

LAST TIME OUT
On Senior Day last Saturday against Northern Illinois, Bowling Green scored 195 or better for the fourth straight meet and came within an eyelash of tying the school record for team score. Their 196.475 total is second-best in school history and fell just 0.025 shy of the record (196.500), which was set in 2016, also on Senior Day against NIU. Jovannah East captured the all-around title, as well as wins on the floor and the vault. She set a personal record in the all-around (39.425) and tied her record on the floor (9.925). Laura Mitchell added another 9.900 on beam and set her own personal record on floor with a 9.875. Out of 24 total routines, 20 received at least a 9.7, 16 earned at least a 9.9, and two tallied a 9.9 or better. The team tied or established season bests for lineup score in all four events, as the Falcons defeated the Huskies, who finished with 195.700.

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 has been mathematically eliminated from Regionals contention. However, several individuals are in position to earn at-large berths. Jovannah East would currently qualify for vault (9.885), beam (9.865), and floor (9.890). Also, East owns an all-around average of 39.205 and needs just to complete the all-around at the MACs to earn an RQS. An all-around score of 38.400 or better on Saturday would give her an RQS of 39.000 or better, which would very likely be good enough to secure an all-around berth. As of today, Laura Mitchell (9.880, beam) would also qualify. Lauren DeMeno (9.825, vault) and India McPeak (9.840, beam) are currently in first-alternate positions.

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.

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 celebrated Senior Day against NIU with a trio of top-three performances and a career-best score. She finished in second place on the balance beam with a 9.900; she has reached that mark in three of her last four meets. She posted a career-best 9.875 in the floor exercise and has earned her two best floor scores of 2018 in the last two weeks. She also secured a top-three on bars with a 9.800 and tied her career-best all-around total with 39.125. Mitchell's 9.880 beam RQS is tied for 44th nationally and ranks 12th in the Central region. She now has 47 top-three finishes in her career.

McPeak pushed BGSU to its third straight team score of 49+ on beam with a 9.850, which earned fourth place against NIU last Saturday. She now has a 9.850 or better on beam in three of the last four meets, and her 9.840 RQS on that apparatus ranks 20th in the region and in the top 100 nationally. She has been a consistently excellent beam performer for BGSU, acheiving 9.775 or better in 11 of her 12 meets in 2018.

On Senior Day against NIU, Goniwiecha officially competed on vault and made her appearance count by tying her career record with a 9.750. Her routine was one of the five counted towards BGSU's team score in that event, and the 48.950 was tied for the team's best of 2018 and was a mark they had not reached since Feb. 3. She has competed on vault in each of the last eight meets and has performed in 11 of 12 meets overall this season; her vault average is now 9.662.

NO SUCH THING AS A SOPHOMORE SLUMP
Jovannah East capped an amazing second season at BGSU with an all-around title and event victories on vault and floor last Saturday against NIU. She earned a career-best 39.425 all-around score, tied her career record with a 9.925 on floor, earned the second-best score of her career on bars (9.750) and added a pair of 9.875s on vault and beam. The effort was rewarded with her second MAC Gymnast of the Week award of the season. With three wins and four top-threes, she now has 18 wins and 30 top-threes in 2018, boosting her career totals to 30 and 49, respectively. Among those wins, East has nine wins in 12 meets on vault in 2018 and won the event outright against all six MAC teams.

East has at least one 9.9+ in six straight meets, a total of eight in 2018, and 11 in her career. She has earned 9.800 or above in 32 of 41 events (.780) in 2018 and 60 of 73 (.822) in her career. Her RQS scores are in the top 100 nationally in three events: vault (24th), floor (44th), and beam (69th). In addition, her 9.885 RQS on vault leads the MAC; as a result, she has been named first team All-MAC for the second consecutive year.

OUR ROSE HAS NO THORNS
BGSU junior Kayla Rose's is once again showing championship form. The co-winner on the floor exercise at the 2017 MACs has earned a 9.825 or better as a floor specialist in five straight meets. Last weekend against NIU, she finished in a third-place tie with a 9.875, a score that equaled her season best. Her effort helped BGSU post a season-best 49.350 on floor and a cumulative 196.475. This was her second top-three finish of the season. Rose has quickly vaulted to a 9.835 RQS, which is tied for 28th of 79 in the Central region. She has earned at least 9.750 on the floor in 20 of her last 21 meets, with 15 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 has completed three events in all but one meet and currently leads BGSU with a 9.805 RQS on bars. She is also second on the team with a 9.835 floor RQS. Last weekend in the home finale against NIU, she posted a pair of 9.8+ scores. Her floor routine once again earned a personal record-tying 9.850, while she tallied a 9.800 on the beam. She has reached 9.8 or better on beam in five meets, including three of the last four. The 9.850 was her 11th 9.8+ in her last 19 events. She has earned 9.75+ in 23 of 34 events in 2018, including 15 of her last 18.

FANTASTIC FRESHMEN
Four members of BGSU's 2018 freshman class have contributed to the team's cause during the regular season. Nacaida Kearns has spent much of her debut campaign as the lead-off for the Falcons on vault, beam, and floor. She has earned a 9.750 or above in at least one event 10 times in 12 meets. Most recently, she earned a 9.800 on beam for the second straight meet. She also posted a 9.825 on floor, the third time in the last four meets her floor score has been 9.825 or better. Elena Lawson (vault) and Grace Logan (bars) have also been lineup fixtures; Logan has started on bars in nine of 12 meets, while Lawson started on vault in the first seven before suffering an injury. Alex Fochler is a bars specialist. She returned from a hand injury at Illinois to record a 9.750. Last weekend against NIU, she equaled her career-best uneven bars score with a 9.875.

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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