Mayle, Kowalski, and Peters Head to Central Regional Gymnastics Competition
4/5/2006 12:00:00 AM | Gymnastics
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Kent State University Gymnasts Carrie Mayle, Jill Kowalski, and Kristin Peters are heading down to Louisiana State University in order to compete in the NCAA Central Regional Gynastics Championship.
Mayle and Kowalski have qualified to compete in the all-around competition because of their high-scoring efforts all season long. Peters will compete in the bars competition after her dominating performances on the event for the year.
Mayle enters the competition with a 38.570 regional qualifiying score and is the owner of the highest all-around score in the MAC this season. She finished first on the floor at the MAC Championships and will look to continue her winning ways at the Regional Championship.
Kowalski comes in just behind Mayle with a 38.555 RQS. Kowalski has been consistent all season long finishing in the top-three in the all-around competition in eight meets.
Peters has been a force on bars this season, earning six-first place finishes on the event. She finished the regular season with the top RQS on bars (9.820) in the MAC, and captured second place on the event at the MAC Championships with a mark of 9.750.
The Regional Championship will take place at L.S.U. in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. It is set to start at 6 p.m. CST.
SCOUTING THE CENTRAL REGIONAL: The top-seeded team in the competition is No. 6 Oklahoma (10-8). The Sooners have a 196.335 RQS and are led by Brittany Koncak-Schumann who is currently ranked fifth nationally in the all-around. The second seed is host, No.7 L.S.U. (14-11). The Tigers boast a 196.330 RQS and are led by two-time Regional Gymnast of the Year, April Burkholder. The No. 16 Penn State Nittany Lions (10-5) are seeded third with a 195.530 RQS. Seeded fourth are the No. 20 Kentucky Wildcats (14-12). They are led by Krystle Cook who currently ranks in the top-20 nationally on bars and vault. The No. 28 Spartans of Michigan State (14-10) enter on a high note after finishing second in the Big Ten Championships. They have a 194.180 RQS. Rounding out the field is sixth-seeded Ohio State (14-11) with a 193.795 RQS.
THE 2006 MAC CO-REGULAR SEASON CHAMPION FLASHES FALL SHORT IN MAC TOURNAMENT: The Kent State University Gymnastics team finished third at the 2006 MAC Championships. First place was taken by tournament host, Western Michigan.
The Broncos won the meet with a score of 193.800. Central Michigan finished second with 193.175 points. The Flashes came next with a tally of 192.700 and Eastern Michigan was fourth (192.075). Northern Illinois took fifth (191.225) with Bowling Green (190.850) and Ball State (188.225) rounding out the group of seven.
Despite the disappointing finish for the MAC Co-Regular Season Champion Flashes, there were many bright spots in the day. Senior tri-captain Carrie Mayle and junior Jill Kowalski were both named to the 2006 All-MAC First Team and Mayle captured the first place crown on the floor with a 9.850. Kent State also had top scores in two of the four event competitions. They had the team high scores on bars (48.350) and floor (48.950). Unfortunately they faltered on beam where they tallied their second lowest score of the season, 46.875.
The Flashes were led by Mayle who competed in the all-around for the first time in three weeks. She has been nursing a back injury that has hindered her from practicing and competing at full strength. This didn't stop the tough veteran today. She began the meet with a second place-tying effort on vault (9.850) and continued to bars where she posted her second best score of the season, 9.725, which was good enough for fourth place. After a disappointing effort on beam (9.050), she rebounded beautifully and nailed her floor routine to capture the first place title. She placed sixth in the all-around with a 38.450.
Other impressive efforts from the Flashes included sophomore tri-captain Kristin Peter's tie for second place on bars (9.750), Kowalski tying for sixth on the same event with a 9.700. Junior Amy Cucinotta and freshman Laci Hendress tied for fourth on floor with matching scores of 9.800.
The Flashes will wait until this week's announcement to see if any of the gymnasts have been selected to participate in regional competition.
Notes: Mayle's win on floor marks the third year in a row that Kent State has finished first on that event at the MAC Championship...Western Michigan's Jennifer Sturgis captured the All-Around title with a score of 39.100...She also posted the top scores beam (9.850) and vault (9.875)...On bars, MAC Gymnast of the Year Cherisse Marier took first with a 9.775.
GYMNASTICS FALLS TO NO. 6 OKLAHOMA: Despite a great effort in their final meet of the regular season, the Kent State University Gymnastics team was defeated by No. 6 Oklahoma 196.575-193.900.
In their final meet of the regular season, the Kent State gymnastics team put forth a solid effort but it was not enough to get the best of the Sooners. The Flashes were led by sophomore Jill Kowalski who finished third in the all-around competition with a 38.850, giving her seven top-three all-around finishes on the year.
Sophomore Kristin Peters earned a third place finish on bars with a mark of 9.800 and senior Carrie Mayle took third on vault. Despite no other Flashes finishing in the top-three, the gymnasts all gave consistent performances throughout the night. The Sooners showed the audience why they are ranked sixth in the nation.
Mayle competed in her final regular season meet of her career. There was a ceremony to honor the team's lone senior following the conclusion of the meet.
MAYLE'S MILESTONES: In her career, senior tri-captain, Carrie Mayle has earned a large place in Kent State gymnastics history books. With marks that place her on the all-time top-10 list in vault (9.875), beam (9.900) and the all-around (39.400); the three-time MAC Gymnast of the Week has had one of the best all-around careers in the history of Kent State Gymnastics. A 2005 All-MAC selection, Mayle ranks fifth all-time in KSU Gymnastics scoring history with a total of 1,338.525 total points scored in meet competition.
PETERS NAMED MAC SPECIALIST OF THE WEEK: The MAC office announced March 13th that sophomore gymnast Kristin Peters was awarded with Specialist of the Week honors.
Peters gave a tremendous effort this weekend in the Flashes' 193.950-193.300 win against conference opponent Northern Illinois. In the meet on Sunday, Peters, who currently ranks first in the MAC on bars, captured her sixth title of the year on the event with a personal best tying score of 9.900. She also earned a career high mark on the vault, 9.825, which was good enough for second place. Finally, on the beam, where she is currently ranked 5th in the league, Peters tallied a 9.725 to tie for fifth place.
GYMNASTICS STAYS HOT, DEFEATS NORTHERN ILLINOIS: The Kent State University gymnastics team won its fifth straight league meet on March 12th, to bring their record to 5-1 in the MAC. The Flashes defeated Northern Illinois by a score of 193.950-193.300.
The team was without the senior leadership of Carrie Mayle for half of the meet due to a nagging back injury. Mayle was not able to compete on the beam, floor, and all-around competitions. Her team certainly picked up the slack by posting their second best composite score of the season (193.950).
Freshman Stacey Kalberg opened up the meet with a bang, taking first place on the vault with a personal-best, 9.875. Kalberg was followed closely by her teammate, sophomore Kristin Peters, who finished second with a new career-high 9.825.
The Flashes moved on to bars and dominated. Peters won her sixth crown of the year with a mark if 9.900. Classmate Jill Kowalski finished second with a 9.850.
The team headed to beam and stayed strong despite two falls by Kent State gymnasts. Northern Illinois took the top two spots and Kowalski came in third, scoring a 9.775.
The Flashes Capped off the meet with two outstanding floor routines by junior Amy Cucinotta and freshman Laci Hendress. For the second week in a row they finished one-two on the floor. Cucinotta (9.825) finished first, earning her fourth floor crown of the season and Hendress followed in second place with a mark of 9.800.
Kowalski captured her third all-around title of the year, tallying a 38.925. Kalberg took second, in her first career effort in the all-around, with a score of 37.975.
UP NEXT: The trio of Mayle, Kowalski and Peters will look to qualify for the NCAA National Championships held on April 20-22 in Corvallis, Ore.
