Falcons Begin Stretch Run With Sunday Dual at Central Michigan

BOWLING GREEN (2-11, 1-2 MAC) at CENTRAL MICHIGAN (7-3, 2-2 MAC)
Sunday, February 26, 2017 | 1:00 p.m. ET | Mount Pleasant, Mich. | McGuirk Arena (5,300)
Game Notes: BGSU
Live Stats | Live Video (ESPN3)
Road To Nationals

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COACH'S THOUGHTS
"Sunday marks an excellent opportunity for our program to build on the strong score and win last weekend. We certainly have the ability to score much higher, particularly on bars. We have focused on creating different environments in the gym to prepare for an away competition. I expect an excellent performance this weekend from the team."

-- BGSU Gymnastics Head Coach Kerrie Turner

ON THE ROAD AGAIN
The Bowling Green State University gymnastics team returns to the road this weekend for a dual meet in Mount Pleasant, Mich. against the Central Michigan Chippewas. The Falcons will face CMU at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 26, and the meet will be broadcast live on ESPN3. BGSU seeks to win for the second weekend in a row and to even their MAC record at 2-2, while the Chippewas aim for a third league victory.

THE ALL-TIME SERIES
Central Michigan leads the all-time series against BGSU, 31-14. The Falcons are 1-9 against CMU during Kerrie Turner's ten years as head coach. The victory occurred at BGSU's Anderson Arena in 2008, during Turner's first season. Bowling Green won that meet 193.350-192.775. CMU defeated the Falcons 196.125-192.700 in their last trip to Mount Pleasant. The Orange and Brown have not won there since 1987.

SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
Central Michigan is currently 7-3 overall and 2-2 in duals against Mid-American Conference teams. The Chippewas won last Sunday at Kent State (195.775-195.675) and also won at Western Michigan. They have dropped dual meets at Ball State and at home against Eastern Michigan. CMU owns an RQS (Regional Qualifying Score) of 194.535, which ranks 36th nationally and third in the MAC. They are in position to be the last team to qualify for the NCAA regionals. They also lead the MAC in floor exercise RQS (48.960).

CMU and BGSU have met once already this season, as part of the Metroplex invitational quad meet in Fort Worth, Texas. CMU placed second overall with a 194.125, while the Falcons placed fourth with a 193.550.

Junior Katy Clements leads the MAC in RQS on both the balance beam (9.850) and floor exercise (9.845). She is also fourth on the vault (9.800). Denelle Pedrick is one of the MAC's top freshmen and currently has the league's third-best vault RQS (9.815) and is tied for fifth-best for the floor exercise (9.800). Bryttany Kaplan adds a MAC top-ten RQS on the uneven bars (9.825).

LAST TIME OUT
Bowling Green won its second dual meet of the season last Saturday against Ball State at Anderson Arena. The team's composite 194.950 was a season-best, and they completed a season-best 48.925 during the floor exercise. The Falcons topped Ball State's team score for all four events.

Falcon gymnasts set five different personal records. Alex Johnston (beam) and Lauren DeMeno (bars) both registered 9.800s, while Julia Beyer (bars), Jovannah East (floor) and Randi Morris (beam) competed in events for the first time. East, Laura Mitchell and Lauren Feely all won individual events. Feely's victory was a 9.900 on the vault.

THE POST-SEASON APPROACHES
Regional Qualifying Score (RQS) averages were released for the first time for the week of Feb. 20. 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.

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.

CHASE FOR A REPEAT
Bowling Green is chasing the team's first back-to-back trips to the NCAA postseason since qualifying for four years in a row from 1984-1987. The Falcons currently rank 51st nationally with a team RQS of 193.685, and they are 0.850 away from 36th place. However, BGSU closes the season with three road meets, which presents an excellent chance to improve that RQS.

WE'RE NUMBER ONE!
Through seven weeks of the 2017 season, the Falcons enjoy the best team score in the Mid-American Conference on the vault (48.880). Jovannah East and Lauren Feely are tied for the MAC's best vault RQS (9.840). East has a 9.850 or better on vault for five straight meets, while Feely has vaults of 9.925 and 9.900 this season.

ON THE NATIONAL SCENE
BGSU's vault lineup has moved into the nation's top 25. The Falcons' vault RQS (48.880) ranks 24th and is just 0.055 behind George Washington, who is 20th. Bowling Green is ranked 29th nationally on the balance beam (48.675) and is just 0.070 behind #25 Iowa State. Freshman Jovannah East and senior Lauren Feely are tied for 33rd nationally on the vault (9.840).

SENIOR STYLE
Lauren Feely aided BGSU's efforts to defeat Ball State by winning the vault with a 9.900, but that was not her best leap of the season. She set a new personal record of 9.925 against Western Michigan and tied the second-best mark in BGSU history. Rachel Reis has been among the Falcons' best on the uneven bars, with five of the team's top ten scores on the apparatus. That includes a 9.800 at Utah State. Victoria Heath has two event wins this season. She won a vault title with a 9.875 at Utah State, then captured the floor exercise with a 9.800 against Illinois State.

GREAT FIRST IMPRESSION
Jovannah East is only a freshman, but she is competing like a seasoned veteran. Since returning from a one-week hiatus against Illinois State, she has scored 9.800 or better in all 11 of her events, including a pair of 9.875s and a 9.800 in her first collegiate floor routine. East has won individual events seven times in 2017. She owns the MAC's best RQS (9.840) on the vault and is second (9.825) on the balance beam. She was also named MAC Specialist of the Week on Feb. 7.

THE MCPEAK OF SUCCESS
Junior India McPeak, who tranferred to BGSU from the University of Michigan, had her best meet as a Falcon at Northern Illinois. McPeak set new personal records on beam (9.850) and floor (9.800), and her beam routine resulted in a tie for first place. She pushed her floor exercise PR to 9.825 against New Hampshire. McPeak began her Falcon career with a 9.800 and a third place finish on the balance beam at Penn State. McPeak's balance beam RQS (9.790) is fourth in the MAC.

STEPPING IN, STEPPING UP
Freshman Randi Morris assisted in the Falcons' victory over Ball State last week with a 9.800 and a tie for second place in the floor exercise. She added a fifth-place tie on the vault (9.775) and scored 9.750 in her first official balance beam effort. Morris had a pair of 9.800s in the previous meet against New Hampshire. Morris has provided consistency throughout the season on the vault, and she currently ranks tenth in the MAC with an RQS of 9.760.

"WORTH" EVERY PENNY
Taylor Worthington continues to improve as her freshman season with the Falcons progresses. On Feb. 11 versus New Hampshire, she had an outstanding beam routine that scored a personal-best 9.875 and tied for first place. In her first home meet at BGSU, she finished second on the balance beam with a personal-best 9.825. In her next home meet against WMU, she won on the beam with a 9.850.

RANKED IN THE MAC
Bowling Green has several gymnasts ranked in the Mid-American Conference top ten lists after seven weeks of action. On the balance beam, Jovannah East is second in the MAC with a 9.825 RQS, while India McPeak is fourth with a 9.790. Laura Mitchell is currently tenth (9.725). The team's 48.675 is second in the league. On vault, East and Lauren Feely are tied for the MAC lead with matching 9.840s, while Randi Morris is tenth (9.760). The team's RQS (48.880) is tops in the league.

ELITE SCHEDULING
The Falcons' strength of schedule is ranked 29th nationally headed into the 2017 season. The rating is tabulated by reverse-assigning points to each team based on their final 2016 ranking. BGSU's opponents combined to provide 646 points for an average of 49.69. Ten of Bowling Green's 16 opponents are ranked in the 2017 preseason coaches' poll; that includes seven of the team's ten non-conference opponents.

ROUTINE GREATNESS
Bowling Green produced three of the school's top ten all-time team scores in 2016. In a meet against Ohio State and West Virginia, the Falcons posted a 195.725, a mark only eclipsed five times in school history. On Senior Night against Northern Illinois, BGSU shattered the school record with a 196.500. Only once previously in team history had the Falcons broken the 196 barrier. Finally, at the MAC Championships, BGSU scored a 195.625. It was the best team score ever for the Falcons at the MACs and was the tenth-best in team history.

MAKING HISTORY NOW
The Falcons qualified as a team for the NCAA Regionals in 2016. It was the team's first trip to the NCAA postseason in 25 years and the seventh in school history. Bowling Green finished the event with an overall mark of 193.850, the best-ever team score at the event for BGSU. The Falcons also have regional appearances in 1982, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987 and 1991.

WE'VE GOT THAT CHAMPIONSHIP FEEL-Y
Senior Lauren Feely will go down as one of the best gymnasts in BGSU history. She owns a place on BGSU's all-time top-ten individual score lists for vault, floor exercise and all-around competition. She is also just the fifth athlete in team history to win multiple MAC championships and the first since Marny Oestreng (1999-2002). She took the vault championship in 2015, then last season, won the all-around championship with a 39.300. Feely is a two-time Academic All-MAC honoree and was a CoSIDA Academic All-American in 2016.

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 19th-best team GPA nationally (3.5312) and nine Falcons were named NACGC/W Scholastic All-America. Five members of the team were recognized as Academic All-MAC following the 2016 season, and Lauren Feely earned CoSIDA Academic All-American honors. In 2016's fall semester, the team GPA rose to 3.677 and nine Falcons carried 4.0 averages.

NEW FACES, HIGHER STAKES
The 2017 Falcons feature an exciting class of newcomers that could make an immediate impact for BGSU and push the returning athletes to new heights. The roster will include six freshmen (Lexi Augustine, Jovannah East, Alex Johnston, Randi Morris, Shannon St. Jean and Taylor Worthington), as well as India McPeak, who is a junior transfer from the University of Michigan.

PRESEASON POLL
The Falcons were picked to finish tied for third in the Mid-American Conference in 2017 as voted on by the league's head coaches. Kent State was selected to win the conference, while Central Michigan was chosen to place second. Eastern Michigan and Bowling Green followed, with Northern Illinois, Western Michigan and Ball State rounding out the conference. In a show of the parity within the conference, each team received one first-place vote in the poll.

GYMNASTICS ADDITIONS
BGSU and head coach Kerrie Turner announced the signings of four student-athletes for the 2018 season in November. The additions are Whitney Cronin (High Point, N.C.), Alexandra Fochler (Cranberry Township, Pa.), Nacaida Kearns (Waterford, Ohio) and Samantha Marion (Franklin Lakes, N.J.).

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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