East, DeMeno Conclude Seasons At NCAA Regionals

Friday, April 5

Baton Rouge, La.

3:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

NCAA Regionals

April 05, 2019 | Gymnastics

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

Baton Rouge, La. – Senior Lauren DeMeno and junior Jovannah East competed individually at the 2019 NCAA Regionals Friday, taking part in the Baton Rouge Regional, hosted by LSU. DeMeno took the stage on vault, while East was in the all-around competition.

DeMeno qualified for regionals on vault and scored a 9.775 during the first session of competition Friday afternoon. That was tied for 32^nd out of 54 competitors between the two Friday sessions.

East took part in the all-around during the second session Friday evening and finished with a 39.025 score. That was good for 12^th out of the 15 all-around competitors on the day.

"Lauren and Jovannah did an outstanding job representing BGSU," Gymnastics Coach Kerrie Turner said. "Lauren finished her career with a beautiful vault. It is an incredible moment to be a part of a senior's final moments competing in gymnastics. I am so proud of her.

"Jovannah had an excellent start on floor and continued to have a solid competition on all events. She continually shows that she can compete on the biggest stages in collegiate gymnastics. She did an excellent job competing in an exciting and competitive environment."

East finished with a 9.825 on floor, 9.800 on beam, 9.750 on bars and 9.650 on vault. She was tied for 17^th of 52 competitors on floor and tied for 16^th out of 51 on beam.

Qualifiers for the NCAA Championships will be announced after day three of the regionals Saturday.

A year ago, East became just the second gymnast in BGSU history to qualify for the NCAA National Championships, when she scored a 39.250 on all-around at regionals and won a tiebreak to earn the right to move on. Besides East, only Alyssa Nocella (39.150 in 2014 and 39.100 in 2015) and Melissa Popovich (39.000 in 2004) have ever scored a 39.000 all-around or better at the regional meet among Bowling Green gymnasts.

DeMeno had competed at regionals twice before, once as a freshman as part of the team qualifier in 2016 and again on vault in 2018. She scored a 9.700 on vault a year ago and a 9.600 on the same event in 2016.