The Kent State gymnastics team secured a share of the Mid-American Conference regular season championship with a Tri-Meet win against Bowling Green and Wilberforce on Sunday. 

While the Flashes managed to come out on top with a score of 195.175, sophomore standout Nene Alvine endured an injury during the last pass of her floor routine. 

Coach Brice Biggin said the meet was full of mixed emotions.

“We’re happy about the win and about being able to secure at a minimum, right now, a tie for the regular season championship,” Biggin said.  “The team worked really hard, it’s not easy getting here and then [Alvine] went down with an injury. When an injury happens, it’s just devastating for our team, especially when you see them train so hard and put so much into the team.”

Prior to Alvine’s injury, the Flashes had great showing in the first two rotations.

Kent State recorded its highest score in any event this season during its first rotation on bars where they also swept the podium. 

Senior Brynne Tsipis, and juniors Charlie Behner and Nastia Rudnitskaya tied for first place, all scoring 9.875. 

With junior Heidi Schultz and Alvine also scoring 9.800 or higher, their team score accumulated to 49.275. 

“We knew we needed a really solid leadoff person, so we moved [Tsipis] to that position, and since moving her, she has just completely taken over the whole way our bar team approaches a competition,” Biggin said. “She’s been so solid, but up and down, that whole line the girls have stepped up and started performing really well.”

Momentum continued into rotation two on beam.

Senior Alyssa Guns won the event with a score of 9.850. Schultz followed, scoring 9.825 to place second. 

Rotation three saw the Flashes on floor.

Freshman Jersey Bingman was the top Kent State finisher in the event, placing third with a score of 9.825. 

Alvine was the second-to-last gymnast in the event for the Flashes, preceding Guns who has been a powerhouse in the event all season. Guns did not place and recorded a score of 9.650.

Biggin attributed Alvine’s injury to shaking up emotions before Guns’ routine. 

“[Alvine] was doing an incredible routine and then had the injury on the last pass. She was down on the floor for a while. It shook up a lot of the girls, and [Guns] still had to perform,” Biggin said. “She was missing some of her normal spunk, and I’m sure she was worried about her teammate, so I give her a ton of credit for going out after an injury like that. It’s hard emotionally.”

The Flashes closed competition on vault. 

Ahead of the rotation, Biggin said it was important for them to have a quick talk as a team.

“I reminded them that injuries are the worst part, but we have a goal set, and that goal is to win the regular season championship,” Biggin said. “They just had to be able to put it aside for the time being, finish the meet, and then we’d take care of things. They all worked too hard this entire season to let it slip away right then.”

With two podium finishes in the event, the Flashes were able to end the meet on a high-note.

Behner tied for first place in the event with a score of 9.850, and junior Mya Migliore placed third with a score of 9.825.

“[Migliore] was our lead off on vault and started the scoring out well, which was huge for us,” Biggin said. “And then, once again, [Behner] had a huge vault at the end that we really needed, and it was one her best vaults of the year.”

Despite a few hiccups, the Flashes finished with an overall score of 195.175, beating Bowling Green and Wilberforce’s 194.950 and 174.050, respectively.

This win improved Kent State’s overall record to 10-2 and 5-0 in the MAC, securing them a share of the MAC regular season title. 

“Even tying for the title speaks volumes about the type of team we have,” Biggin said. “We’ve had things not really go our way a lot this year, but the entire staff is so proud of the team, because it’s not easy to win any type of a championship.”

Competition continues Sunday, as the Flashes host Ball State for senior night in the MAC regular season finale. 

A victory would boost Kent State’s conference record to 6-0 and secure it the regular season title outright. 

Biggin is excited to see the team close in further on the outright regular season title, but he knows that the team is  going to have to put in a strong effort. 

“We stress the importance of depth every year because it allows you to be able to continue to be successful, even when you lose really good people,” Biggin said. “We haven’t lost at home yet this year, but we don’t expect that for Ball State. They’re on an upswing right now and doing really well, but we know what we have to do and what our expectations are.”

Kailyn Tibolla is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected].