MAC Gymnastics Preseason Poll Picks Kent State to Finish Second
12/21/2017 11:35:00 AM | Gymnastics
CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Kent State gymnastics team is second in the 2018 Mid-American Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll, which was released by the league office on Thursday (Dec. 21).
Brice Biggin enters his 27th season as head coach with a veteran roster that features 14 letterwinners from last season's squad that qualified for NCAA Regional competition for the ninth time in the past 10 years.
The Golden Flashes are led by a strong senior class, which includes All-American Rachel Stypinski, Ali Marrero, Michaela Romito and Brooke Timko. Stypinski is a two-time MAC Gymnast of the Year and claimed all-around, uneven bars and balance beam titles at the 2017 MAC Championships. Timko posted the team's highest average on both vault and uneven bars last season. Marrero led Kent State on balance beam in 2016, and her personal-best 9.925 is tied for the seventh-best score in program history. Romito had the Flashes' second-highest average on uneven bars and was part of a floor rotation that ranked 17th nationally.
Junior Kennedy Plude tied for third on balance beam at the 2017 MAC Championships. Fellow juniors Dara Williams (vault and bars) and Sarah Lippowitsch (bars and beam) were also key scorers for the Flashes.
Kent State begins the 2018 season with home meets against Cetenary College on Sunday, Jan. 14 and Northern Illinois for the conference opener on Friday, Jan. 19.
The 2018 MAC Gymnastics Championship will be held inside of McGuirk Arena on the campus of Central Michigan University on March 24.
Season ticket flex passes are currently on-sale for just $15 and can be purchased by calling the Kent State Ticket Office at 330-672-2244. Â
For complete news and updates on the Kent State Gymnastics program, go to KentStateSports.com. Breaking news, behind-the-scenes updates and more can be found by following @KentStGym on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
2018 MAC Gymnastics Preseason Poll
1. Central Michigan (2)
2. Kent State
3. Bowling Green (1)
4. Northern Illinois (1)
5. Western Michigan (1)
6. Eastern Michigan (1)
7. Ball State (1)
Players Mentioned
