Falcons To Face Cardinals, Eagles And Redhawks Sunday For Bird Supremacy

Muncie, Ind. - The Bowling Green State University gymnastics team will be on the road for the second consecutive weekend as the Falcons will head to Mid-American Conference opponent Ball State for a quad meet. The Falcons will face the Cardinals in a MAC meet, but will also see Wisconsin-La Crosse and Southeast Missouri State. The meet is scheduled for a 1:00 pm start.

Ball State is the highest ranked team entering the meet at No. 46 nationally. The Falcons are just behind at No. 50, followed by Southeast Missouri State (No. 60) and Wisconsin-La Crosse (No. 69).

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THE HISTORY

BGSU and Ball State meet on a yearly basis and the Falcons are 26-18 all-time against the Cardinals. Ball State, though, has won three in a row, including last year's 194.075-192.625 result. BGSU last won in Muncie in 2014, posting a 194.150 in the victory.

Bowling Green is 1-0 all-time against Wisconsin-La Crosse, but that meeting came more than 20 years ago in 1998. The Falcons are 5-4 against Southeast Missouri State and BGSU won the most recent meeting, scoring 195.425 in 2016. The two programs have faced in neutral site meets four times and Bowling Green is 3-1 in those contests.

EAST, MARION SEND EARLY SEASON STATEMENTS

Jovannah East and Samantha Marion made early statements with exceptional performances to open the 2020 season against Eastern Michigan. For the efforts, East was named the MAC Gymnast of the Week and Marion was the MAC Specialist of the Week.

East earned her fifth career MAC Gymnast of the Week honor with a 49.300 all-around score, which ranks 16th nationally. She won the all-around title against Eastern Michigan and earned victories in two other events.

Marion, who has missed her first two years due to injuries, debuted with stunning precision, winning the balance beam (9.875) and placing second on vault (9.825) behind only East.

IT HAD BEEN A WHILE

Redshirt freshman Tess Muir made her return to the lineup against Eastern Michigan. Muir competed on vault, beam and floor a year ago until an injury ended her season after just four meets. She took to the balance beam against EMU and posted a personal best score of 9.775. A year ago, her best score on beam was 9.625 through the first four meets.

Junior Alex Fochler missed the entire 2019 season after performing on uneven bars in 2018. She returned to the lineup this year. After a slow start against Eastern Michigan, she earned medalist honors at Rutgers over the past weekend with a 9.850 score on bars.

Redshirt sophomore Samantha Marion earned MAC Specialist Of The Week honors following her performance at Eastern Michigan and she competed on beam and vault again this past week at Rutgers. Marion had not competed in her first two years at Bowling Green due to injuries.

OFF TO A GOOD START

A year ago, Bowling Green struggled out of the gate, scoring 189.675 in a quad meet at Alabama. But the Falcons had a much better start this year, recording a 193.325 team score against Eastern Michigan. Although BGSU lost the dual meet, it was the team's second-best score to start a season over the past five years.

NEVER TOO EARLY

While the season is just two weeks in, a handful of Falcons are already making larger impacts than they previously have.

Jovannah East will go down as one of the greatest gymnasts in BGSU history, but her weakest event has traditional been uneven bars. But she opened the season with a 9.750. She averaged a 9.553 a year ago on the event.

Sophomore Katelyn Goldstrom competed in just one rotation a year ago, but is taking part in three this year.

Junior Elena Lawson competed in the all-around for the first time in her career. A year ago, she was involved in three rotations (all but balance beam) and two years ago, she only competed on vault.

EAST'S OUTSTANDING ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Jovannah East will go down as one of the greatest gymnasts in BGSU history. Just the second gymnast to qualify for the NCAA National Championships, East has put together a remarkable career through her first 3+ years. East's career accomplishments include the following:

Three-time First Team All-MAC (2017, 2018, 2019)
Two-time Academic All-MAC (2018, 2019)
MAC Vault Co-Champion (2018)
MAC Beam Co-Champion (2019)
MAC All-Tournament Team (2017, 2018, 2019)
MAC Freshman of the Year (2017)
NCAA Regionals Qualifier (2017, 2018, 2019)
NCAA Nationals Qualifier (2018)
MAC Gymnast of the Week (2x in 2018, 2x in 2019, 1x in 2020)
MAC Specialist of the Week (2017)

FOLLOW THE FALCONS

For more information on all things BGSU gymnastics, follow the Falcons on Twitter (@BGAthletics and @FalconGymn), Facebook (@BGSUGymnastics) and Instagram (@BGSU_Gymnastics) as well as on the web at BGSUFalcons.com.

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