Gymnastics Team Tabbed as MAC Preseason Favorites
1/4/2011 12:00:00 AM | Gymnastics
CLEVELAND -- In a year the program plays host to the sport's national championships, the Kent State gymnastics team is expected to a perform at a championship level in 2011.
The Golden Flashes were tabbed as the Mid-American Conference's regular season and championship meet preseason favorites heading into this season. Results of the poll were announced today (Jan. 4) by the conference office and were voted on by the league's head coaches.
Kent State also received votes in the recently released GymInfo Preseason Coaches' Poll.
The 2011 season will be one in which the eyes of the gymnastics world will be focused on northeast Ohio, as Kent State hosts the NCAA Championships in conjunction with the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission April 15-17 at the Wolstein Center in Cleveland. Click here for more information about the national championship meet and how to purchase tickets.
In the meantime, the Golden Flashes are in search of their 12th Mid-American Conference championship meet team title and third in four years. Kent State captured its third straight conference regular season championship by going a perfect 6-0 for the third straight season and finished second at the championship meet in 2010. The team's postseason concluded with a trip to the NCAA Morgantown Regional.
20th-year head coach Brice Biggin returns a veteran-laden squad with championship experience in 2011. Senior Christine Abou-Mitri (Broadview Heights, Ohio) became the first Kent State gymnast to earn MAC Gymnast of the Year honors while senior Christina Lenny (Broadview Heights, Ohio) and junior Erin Rothrock (York, Pa.) garnered First Team All-MAC selection. Lenny won the conference's vault and floor exercise championships while Rothrock took home MAC gold on the uneven bars.
The 2011 MAC Gymnastics Championship will be held at Central Michigan University on March 19.
Kent State officially opens its 48th season of competition January 9 in a 1 p.m. meeting with Maryland at the M.A.C. Center.
Click here to view the conference's official press release on the preseason poll.
2011 MAC Gymnastics Preseason Coaches Poll
1. Kent State
2. Central Michigan
3. Western Michigan
4. Northern Illinois
5. Ball State
6. Bowling Green
7. Eastern Michigan
2011 MAC Gymnastics Champion - Kent State
