Falcons Head To NIU For MAC Championship

Saturday, March 23

DeKalb, Ill.

2:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

MAC Championship

Photo by: Elsye Jones, BGSU Mkt. & Comm.

March 21, 2019 | Gymnastics

By: by Jason Knavel, Assistant Athletic Director for Athletic Communications

DeKalb, Ill. - Peaking at the right time, the Bowling Green State University gymnastics team heads to DeKalb, Ill. to compete in the 2019 Mid-American Conference Gymnastics Championships. The Falcons have set season-best team scores at each of the past two meets, posting a 195.325 in a season-ending victory over Western Michigan. Bowling Green has finished in the top three at the MAC Championships in each of the past three years, earning a runner-up finish in 2017.

COMPLETE GAME NOTES
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LIVE RESULTS

THE HISTORY
Bowling Green has not won a MAC Championship since 1985, but the Falcons have been in the hunt in each of the last three years, finishing second in 2017 and third in both 2016 and 2018. It is the longest stretch of top three finishes for the program since doing so for eight straight years from 1981-88.

The Falcons have earned at least one individual MAC Championship in each of the last six years. In 2018, Jovannah East won the vault and in 2017 Kayla Rose won the floor exercise. BGSU won two individual MAC titles in both 2013 and 2016.

THE ROTATION
There are seven rotations at the MAC Championships with each team having three byes. This year, the Falcons will open with a bye before opening on bars and then moving to beam. Following another bye, BGSU will compete on floor before the final bye. The Falcons will finish on vault, the team's strongest event this year.

VAULTING TOWARDS SUCCESS
BGSU is ranked second in the MAC on vault and is No. 31 nationally. The Falcons set a season-best score of 49.075 at Oregon State, just shy of the school record 49.125. Bowling Green has been consistently strong, scoring at least 48.450 each time out and going over 49.000 three times. Jovannah East leads the MAC with a National Qualifying Score (NQS) of 9.860 and an average score of 9.823. Lauren DeMeno is fourth in the MAC with an NQS of 9.820 and Taylor Worthington is at 9.785. Those three rank among the top ten in the conference.

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.

LOOKING TOWARDS REGIONALS
Bowling Green will look towards regionals with an eye on individual qualifications in 2019. In each event, the gymnasts with the top four Regional Qualifying Scores (RQS) among non-qualifying teams (all teams outside the top 36) will qualify for regional competition. In the all-around, 12 gymnasts among non-qualifying teams will advance individually. Jovannah East currently sits ninth for qualification with an RQS of 39.130. East is currently first on balance beam among non-qualifying team individuals.

MAKING SIGNIFICANT STRIDES
A handful of Falcons have made strides in 2019.

Junior Lexi Augustine is averaging a 9.808 on floor after posting 9.731 a year ago.
Senior Rachel Creagh is averaging a 9.568 on vault after posting a 9.550 in 2018.
Senior Leslie Delgado has averaged a 9.727 on uneven bars after a 9.713 in 2018.
Senior Lauren DeMeno has scored an average of 9.782 on vault in 2019 after averaging a 9.770 last year.
Junior Jovannah East has improved her beam score from 9.765 in 2018 to 9.845 this year.
Sophomore Elena Lawson competed on just vault a year ago, averaging 9.529. She has improved to a 9.682 this year. She's also added regular competition on bars and floor.
Senior Katie Morsefield is scoring 9.713 on vault this year after 9.668 a year ago. She has added the floor exercise to her repertoire, averaging 9.744 on the event.
Junior Taylor Worthington missed the entire 2018 season due to injury but has rebounded even better than ever. She's scoring a 9.764 on vault (compared to 9.704 in 2017) and a 9.657 on beam, up from 9.615 in 2017.

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:

Three-time First Team All-MAC (2017, 2018, 2019)
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, 2x in 2019)
MAC Specialist of the Week (2017)

B'EAST MODE
Jovannah East continues to pace the MAC. Her 9.860 Regional Qualifying Score (RQS) on vault ranks No. 1 in the conference, as does her 9.875 on balance beam. She is second on floor at 9.895. In the all-around, East's RQS of 39.130 is fourth, but her average score of 39.093 is first.

FROM HEAD COACH KERRIE TURNER
"The MAC Championship is definitely gearing up to be a close competition amongst the seven teams. The field is very even and every team will have an opportunity to excel. We are walking into the championships ready to put everything we possibly have on the competition floor. Our competition rotation suits our team as we should be able to build on our score in each rotation. I have talked to the team about staying focused only on our own team and what we are capable of. We will pace ourselves through the warm up and then bring every ounce of energy to the competition and to our routines. As long as every gymnast competes aggressively with confidence and absolutely no doubts, I will be pleased with our result."