Gymnastics Looks to Remain Unbeaten in Leauge Competition This Sunday
2/9/2007 12:00:00 AM | Gymnastics
KENT, Ohio-
The Kent State University gymnastics team (5-2, 2-0 MAC) returns to conference play this weekend as they battle league opponent Northern Illinois (3-2, 0-1 MAC) in Dekalb, Ill. The Flashes will look to remain unbeaten in MAC competition as they take on the Huskies. The meet takes place on Sunday Feb. 11 and is set to begin at 2:00 p.m.
SERIES RECORD: Kent State owns the all-time series 11-4. The Flashes have won the last seven matches between the two teams.
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES: Northern Illinois is coming off a solid effort at the Iowa Quad meet last weekend. The Huskies placed second of four teams in the meet earning a composite score of 190.700. They fell to meet host, Iowa, and finished ahead of Wisconsin-Whitewater and Winona State. Northern Illinois was led by Sophomore Leah Johnson who put up strong scores on vault and bars. Johnson placed fourth on the vault and sixth on the bars with scores of 9.725 on both events, and also tied for seventh on floor with a 9.475.
Gymnastics Finishes Third of Five Teams at West Virginia Meet: The #27 Kent State University gymnastics teams finished third of five teams this evening at #22 West Virginia. #28 Penn State came out victorious in the meet with a composite score of 195.625, home team West Virginia finished second with a 194.625 mark, Kent State was third (192.275), George Washington fourth (191.375) and Wilson College fifth (147.700).
With this third place finish the Flashes have suffered their first defeats of the season. Their record now moves to (5-2, 2-0 MAC).
Kent State was led by junior tri-captain Jill Kowalski who finished third in the all-around competition with a mark of 38.775. Brandi Personett of the Nittany Lions earned the crown with a 39.125 and was followed by her teammate Alexandra Brockway who scored a 38.925.
The top finisher for Kent State on beam was freshman Lydia Barrett. Barrett scored a 9.675 which earned her an 11th place finish. The team as a whole tallied a 48.100 on that event.
The Flashes earned a team mark of 48.075 on bars. They were led by senior Shawntelle Thompson and Kowalski who both finished with scores of 9.725 and finished tied for sixth place.
Kent State suffered two falls on beam and finished with a team score of 47.350. Junior tri-captain Kristin Peters gave a solid performance and finished first for the Flashes and sixth overall with a mark of 9.775.
Floor was Kent State's strongest event of the night. The team combined to score a 48.750. Senior Amy Cucinotta tied a season-high mark of 9.825 which earned her a fifth place finish. Kowalski also tied a season-high with a 9.800 performance, taking eighth place.
KOWALSKI TABBED AS MAC GYMNAST OF THE WEEK: Kent State University gymnast, junior Jill Kowalski, was named MAC Gymnast of the week today (Feb. 6). She received the honor after her terrific performance in the team's meet at West Virginia this weekend. The Flashes (192.275) finished third in that meet behind Penn State (195.625) and West Virginia (194.625). They came out in front of George Washington (191.375) and Wilson College (147.700).
Kowalski finished third in the all-around at the five team meet with a score of 38.775. She put in a very strong performance on floor where she tied a season-high mark with a 9.800. She was also solid on bars (9.725) and beam (9.700).
Kowalski is having a stellar year thus far. She has placed first in the all-around in three of the four meets that she has competed in. In those meets she is averaging a score of 38.681 which ranks her second in the MAC. Kowalski has been strong on individual events as well. She currently leads the MAC in scoring average on bars (9.762), is fourth on floor with a 9.781 average and is eleventh on beam.
UP NEXT: Kent State remains in conference action and on the road as they travel to Bowling Green, Ohio. They will battle the Falcons on Sunday, Feb. 18 at 2 p.m.
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