The Kent State gymnastics team tied for third place at the Mid-American Conference Championship meet Saturday.
The Flashes and Western Michigan both recorded scores of 195.300, falling close behind Eastern Michigan at 195.525 and Central Michigan, who won the championship, with a score of 195.725.
“The surprise of the meet was Eastern Michigan because they kind of snuck into second place,” coach Brice Biggin said. “They had a season where they were very up and down, so they were a bit of a surprise, but this conference is so close in talent that you have to be on every day or you could find yourself going from first to fifth or sixth.”
This was the last meet of the season where Kent State will be competing as a team with only individuals competing at the NCAA regionals.
Having won the regular season MAC title, Biggin expected the team to place higher at the championship meet. However, he emphasized he is still incredibly proud of the team.
“We had a couple little mistakes, and when you have seven teams all competing at the same time, unfortunately, all it takes is a few mistakes to move back,” Biggin said. “Still, I thought we fought hard, we were confident, and although we certainly wanted to win, I’m not disappointed with how we performed. I know our girls gave it their all.”
Competition opened for the Flashes on floor.
Senior Alyssa Guns led Kent State, posting a 9.900 to tie for second place and medal in the event.
Following Guns, juniors Charlie Behner and Nastia Rudnitskaya both recorded a 9.850 to tie for ninth.
“We started out solid on floor, and that was one of the key things we were hoping for,” Biggin said.
Rotation two continued on vault.
Sophomore Gabby Riley secured another medal for the Flashes, tying for second with a score of 9.850.
Rudnitskaya and junior Avery Compson were the next Kent State finishers in the event, earning a pair of 9.800s to tie for sixth.
The third rotation saw the Flashes on bars.
With a score of 9.775, junior Heidi Schultz squeezed into the top 10, tying for ninth place.
Behner wasn’t far behind, recording a 9.750 to tie for 13th place.
The final rotation concluded on beam, where Schultz claimed the victory. She placed first in the event with a score of 9.875.
Guns and Riley also finished within the top 10, both tying for ninth with scores of 9.775.
Overall, the Flashes landed in third place as a team with an all-around score of 195.300, and during the post-meet awards ceremony, Biggin was awarded MAC Coach of the Year.
This was the 12th time he has received the honor over his 34 years at Kent State. This came after Biggin led his team to a 6-0 conference record during the regular season.
“I’m humbled, and it is nice to be recognized by your peers, but it’s an award that I look at as far as a staff over the year,” Biggin said. “I can only do so much as one person, and I truly feel like our staff did a wonderful job working with the team. We had two brand new coaches, and they fit into the system extremely well and did a great job of coaching all year.”
As a team, the Flashes will not be competing again until next season, but individual gymnasts will compete at the NCAA Regional Championships on April 2.
The individuals from Kent State who qualified will be announced Monday.
Reflecting on the season, Biggin said he is satisfied with everything the team accomplished.
“I can’t be a whole lot prouder of everything they did this year,” Biggin said. “We certainly would have loved to win the championship, but when I look at what the girls did all season and how they performed, they just found ways to win. We weren’t always at our best, but we fought, we stayed in there and we took advantage of things that we had to take advantage of. Unfortunately, they fell just a little short Saturday, but that doesn’t take anything away from what they accomplished all year.”
Kailyn Tibolla is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected].