Gymnastics
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- bbiggin@kent.edu
- Phone:
- 330-672-8410
Brice Biggin is entering his 35th season as head coach of the Kent State gymnastics team in 2026 and has been associated with the program for more than 40 years.
During Biggin's tenure with Kent State, the Golden Flashes have appeared in 23 NCAA Regionals, captured eight Mid-American Championships and won eleven MAC regular season titles. Along the way, the 12-time MAC Coach of the Year has mentored the eight Mid-American Conference's Gymnasts of the Year and 71 MAC All-Conference award winners.
In 2025, Biggin led Kent State to the team’s eleventh MAC Regular Season Championship in his tenure, claiming MAC Coach of the Year for the 11th time in his career. The Flashes went undefeated in conference meets for the tenth time in program history, also concluding the season unbeaten in home meets. The 2025 squad featured five All-MAC performers, led by First-Team All-MAC selection Alyssa Guns, who led the conference with a 9.900 NQS on the floor. Heidi Schultz, who was named all-conference second team, had a strong season on beam, winning the individual conference championship and leading the conference with a 9.850 NQS. The Flashes had three individuals qualify for the Pennsylvania NCAA Regional: Charlie Behner on vault, Schultz on beam, and Guns on floor.
The Flashes had a historic season in 2024, posting five of the program’s six all-time best all-around team scores, winning a share of the MAC Regular Season Championship, and qualifying for the Ann Arbor NCAA Regional. Karlie Franz earned the eighth perfect ten in program history on the floor at the Tennessee Collegiate Classic, where the team earned a program-record 197.725. Later in the season, the team earned their highest-ever score in a conference meet with a 197.200 against Eastern Michigan in the M.A.C. Center. Sarah Haxton earned All-Mac First Team honors, while Franz and Heidi Schultz were each tabbed to the second team.
During the 2023 season, the Flashes were strong across the board under Biggin. Kyndall Gilbert finished the year ranked sixth in the MAC on vault with a 9.835 NQS and tied for third in the event at the MAC Championships. Rachel DeCavitch ranked in the top-10 in the conference on bars, beam, and in the all-around, placing second in all three at the MAC Championships. Alyssa Guns earned MAC Specialist of the Week twice thanks to her strong showings on floor while Karlie Franz posted scores of 9.900 or higher in seven of her nine routines. Both qualified for the NCAA Regionals on floor while DeCavitch qualified in the all-around after scoring 39.425 at the MAC Championships.
The Flashes led the MAC and ranked 23rd in the country and 29th on bars en route to the MAC regular season title in 2022. Karlie Franz won on floor at the MAC Championships while Rachel DeCavitch finished second in the all-around and was named to the MAC Tournament Team. Franz, DeCavitch, Guns, and Sarah Haxton all qualified for the NCAA Regionals, with Franz and Guns competing on floor, Haxton on bars, and DeCavitch in the all-around.
Under Biggin in 2021, Abby Fletcher was named the Mid-American Conference Senior Gymnast of the Year. She tied for first place in the MAC on floor and was top-5 in the conference on beam. Fletcher was named to the All-MAC Second Team and a spot on the All-MAC tournament team after winning the individual floor title at MAC Championships.
Under Biggin's mentorship on bars, the Flashes ranked 25th in the country in 2021. Rachel DeCavitch and Jade Brown both finished inside the top-10 in the MAC on bars. Both gymnasts posted career highs of 9.900 on bars during the 2021 season.
In 2019, Biggin coached three MAC champions. Abby Fletcher and Jade Brown tied for the MAC floor title, while Dara Williams took home the bars title. Williams and Fletcher represented the Flashes in the 2019 NCAA Regional at Ann Arbor.
Biggin was named MAC Coach of the Year in 2017 after helping Rachel Stypinski earn MAC Gymnast of the Year.
In the 2015 season, Kent State took home the MAC Title with a thrilling 196.375-196.275 win over the defending champs Central Michigan. The title marked the 12th in team history, first since 2009, and their fifth when hosting the championships in Kent (1981, 1988, 2001, 2008, 2015). Ending the 2015 campaign, Rachel Stypinski, the MAC Freshman of the Year and Specialist of the Year, qualified for the NCAA Regionals in Columbus, Ohio on the floor exercise and balance beam. Stypinski tied for second on the floor (9.900) and tied for 13th on the beam (9.800). Following the 2015 season, seven gymnasts were named to the Academic All-MAC team and 10 garnered National Association of College Gymnastics Coaches/Women (NACGC/W) Scholastic All-America honors.
In 2014, the Golden Flashes saw Marie Case advance to the NCAA National Championships as an individual to compete in the All-Around. Biggin and Kent State finished the season ranked 27th in the nation and 25th in the floor exercise. Biggin saw Marie Case finish in the top-15 in the all-around nationally, ranking 13th with a high of 39.600 and an average on the year of 39.275. Biggin saw two individuals rank in the top-100 nationally for individual events: Amiah Mims finished the year T-96th on floor while Case ranked T-23rd on Floor, T-27th on Balance Beam, T-88th on Vault and T-100th on the uneven bars.
The 2011 NACGC/W Head Coach of the Year led the Golden Flashes to their first trip to the NCAA Championships in program history after placing second at the 2011 NCAA Ann Arbor Regional April 2, achieving the special feat of competing for a national title while also playing co-host to the event along with the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission. Kent State defeated the likes of No. 4 Stanford, No. 16 Ohio State and No. 23 Minnesota at the regional en route to becoming the first regional six seed and MAC team ever to advance to the national finals. The Golden Flashes completed the season with their highest ranking in program history at No. 12 after totaling a team score of 195.000 on April 15 at the national semifinals at the Wolstein Center.
Since being named head coach in 1992, Biggin has been selected the MAC Coach of the Year eight times, NCAA Northeast Region Coach of the Year twice and NCAA Central Region Coach of the Year in 2001.
Biggin was named to the NCAA Women's Gymnastics Committee in July, 2012, and is one of seven individuals on the committee, which is made up of one representative from each of the six Division I regions and one member representing Divisions II and III. Among Biggin’s responsibilities as a member of the committee is helping to select the field and creating the bracket for the NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Championships.
Long a fixture on the Kent State's campus, Biggin was recognized during the 2011-12 academic year by former Kent State President Lester A. Lefton with a President's Excellence Award, one of only 10 awards given out each year by Lefton to faculty and staff members that demonstrate exceptional performance in advancing one of the goals of the university's excellence agenda during the previous fiscal year.
Prior to being named Kent State’s head coach, Biggin served as the women’s associate coach for five seasons under Kent State coaching legends Rudy and Janet Bachna. Biggin was Kent State’s first-ever graduate assistant coach for the women’s gymnastics program from 1985-87. He also served as an assistant coach for the Kent State men’s gymnastics team on a part-time basis from 1983-85.
A four-time letterwinner and two-year team captain on Kent State’s men’s gymnastics team from 1980-83, Biggin led the men to a Great Lakes League Championship his senior season.
A native of Howland, Ohio, Biggin graduated from Kent State with a bachelor’s degree in physical education in 1983. He also is the head coach at Kathi’s Dance and Gym in Youngstown, Ohio. He married the former Jen McGrath, Oct. 22, 2004. They have three children: Austin, Addison and Alexandria.
