Falcons To Host Ball State And Lindenwood Friday For Diversity And Inclusion Night

FALCONS TO HOST TRI-MEET FRIDAY
Bowling Green continues a stretch of four consecutive home meets as the Falcons host Ball State and Lindenwood in a tri-meet Friday at 6:30 pm at Anderson Arena. BGSU and Ball State will compete in Mid-American Conference action while Lindenwood is a non-conference competition. Ball State sits .500 in the MAC at 1-1, while the Falcons look for their first win with an 0-2 league mark.

COMPLETE MEET NOTES
LIVE SCORES

THE ALL-TIME HISTORY
Against Ball State, Bowling Green is 26-17 all-time but the Cardinals have posted wins in each of the past two seasons. The Falcons have won the past three meetings in Anderson Arena and are 15-4 against Ball State all-time in Bowling Green. Against Lindenwood, Bowling Green is 1-1 all-time, scoring 195.325 in a narrow loss a year ago at the Illinois Tri-Meet. The Falcons won at Lindenwood in 2013.

VAULTING TOWARDS SUCCESS
BGSU is currently ranked No. 22 in the country on vault, the best ranking in any event among the three teams competing at Anderson Arena Friday evening. Bowling Green has been consistently great in all four meets, scoring at least 48.625 each time out and twice going over 49.000. BGSU peaked at 49.050 in the home meet against UIC. Lauren DeMeno leads the Falcons individually, averaging a 9.800. The Falcons have five athletes averaging at least a 9.738 on the event.

LAWSON SENDING NOTICE
Sophomore Elena Lawson has set new career-highs in each of the team's first four meets of the year.
* Lawson opened the 2019 season by recording a career-best 9.800 on vault in the Alabama quad meet.
* She followed that up by setting three more career-highs against UIC in the home opener. She once again broke her own personal best on vault with a 9.825, while adding career-best scores of 9.725 on floor and 9.500 on uneven bars.
* At NIU, Lawson pushed her career-high on uneven bars to 9.575. She equaled her career-best 9.725 on floor.
* Against Eastern Michigan, Lawson broke her career-best on uneven bars again with a 9.625. She also tied her career high on floor at 9.725.

HISTORICALLY GREAT
Bowling Green has placed in the top three at the MAC Championships in each of the past three seasons, peaking with a runner-up finish in 2017. For the Falcons, it is the first time the team has placed that high in three consecutive years since doing so for eight straight years from 1981-88.

JOVANNAH EAST GOING WHERE FEW HAVE GONE BEFORE
As a sophomore a year ago, Jovannah East became just the second Falcon gymnast to qualify for the NCAA Division I National Championships and the first to do so in the all-around competition. Her 39.250 score in Columbus was the greatest all-around performance ever by a BGSU gymnast in a regional meet, tying for fourth place. She scored identical scores of 9.850 on beam and floor, added 9.825 on vault and had a 9.725 on bars. She won the tiebreaker and advanced to the national championships.

EAST'S OUTSTANDING ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Jovannah East became the first Falcon to advance to the NCAA Women's Gymnastics National Championships since Marny Oestreng reached nationals in 1999 on the floor. Oestreng went on to win the national championship with a 9.925. East's career accomplishments include the following:

Two-time First Team All-MAC (2017, 2018)
Academic All-MAC (2018)
MAC Vault Co-Champion (2018)
MAC All-Tournament Team (2017, 2018)
NCAA Regionals Qualifier (2017, 2018)
NCAA Nationals Qualifier (2018)
MAC Gymnast of the Week (2x in 2018, 1x in 2019)
MAC Specialist of the Week (2017)

IN THE RECORD BOOK
Junior Jovannah East put her name at the top of the record book on the balance beam at the 2019 home opener against UIC. With a 9.950, she tied former teammate Laura Mitchell for the top mark in program history. East has also posted two of the five highest single-meet all-around scores in program history (39.425 and 39.400), as well as the third-highest vault score in program history (9.925) and fourth-highest beam score (9.925). East is also among the top 10 on floor (with both a 9.925 and a 9.900). Alexandra Fochler has a pair of the top 10 uneven bars scores in school history (two identical 9.875 scores). On floor, Kayla Rose recorded a 9.950 in 2017, tied for the second-highest score ever by a Falcon on the event.

49 OR MORE
Bowling Green posted a team score of 49.000 or higher in three of the four rotations against UIC in its home opener. It is the first time the team has done that since the 2017 MAC Championships. The Falcons scored 49.175 on beam, 49.050 on vault and 49.025 on floor.

AWARD WINNERS
Jovannah East and Taylor Worthington swept the MAC awards on Jan. 22 with East earning Gymnast of the Week honors and Worthington taking home Specialist of the Week honors. For East, it is the third time in her career she has been named MAC Gymnast of the Week, while it is Worthington's first accolade.

FALCONS PICKED SECOND IN PRESEASON POLL
The Mid-American Conference coaches have selected Bowling Green as the MAC runner-up in the preseason coaches poll. The Falcons earned one first place vote and 37 total vote points. Northern Illinois was selected to win the MAC with 42 vote points and three MAC Championship votes. Defending MAC champion Central Michigan is third, followed by Eastern Michigan, Ball State, Kent State and Western Michigan.

FROM COACH TURNER
"Friday is an opportunity to improve on some of our successes and continue to refine routines. Uneven bars has been improving and we can continue to build our score on that event. The beam line-up can definitely improve on last week's performance and we have worked this week to be well prepared for the pressures of competition. In addition to the excitement of the gymnastics competition, this is our third annual Diversity and Inclusion Night. This event is very dear to our program and we are excited to welcome campus groups and organization to our meet." -- Kerrie Turner

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