The 2025 season officially came to a close for the Kent State Gymnastics team Thursday at the NCAA Regionals hosted by Penn State.
Juniors Charlie Behner and Heidi Schultz and senior Alyssa Guns participated in the meet as individuals.
During the regular season, all three gymnasts also earned All-Mid American Conference honors. Behner and Schultz were named Second-Team All-MAC for vault and beam, respectively. Guns was named First-Team All-MAC for her performances on floor.
Overall, coach Brice Biggin said the girls ended the season on a good note.
“I thought each girl did a good job,” Biggin said. “It is really difficult to go in there as an individual without a team behind you, but given those circumstances and the pressure on them, I was really happy with how all three did.”
Behner, who competed on vault, was the first Kent State gymnast to perform. She recorded a 9.750 in the event.
“In a meet like this, you have to be super aggressive and go for everything,” Biggin said. “Behner did a great vault; she just opened a pinch early on it, and that cost her a little bit in her score.”
The Flashes’ highest score of the night, 9.800, was posted by Schultz on beam.
Despite a tough warm up and being the second-to-last performance, Biggin said Schultz put up a great routine.
“I thought [Schultz] did a really good job, and to be honest, I thought she was underscored,” Biggin said. “She didn’t have the best of warm ups, but she was able to put that behind her to focus and just do a great beam routine. She was literally the second-to-last routine in the entire meet, so to close out the meet and perform like that is tough, and she did a good job.”
Finally, Guns closed out her collegiate gymnastics career on floor, where she recorded a 9.725.
This marked the fourth consecutive individual performance by Guns in the NCAA Regionals.
“Guns, like the others, had a great routine but was just a little off on her last tumbling pass,” Biggin said. “Had she not made that mistake, she’d have been a 9.925. At this level of competition, a little mistake could bump you, but she still performed really well out there.”
Biggin said ultimately, he just wanted the girls to have fun and show off what Kent State can do.
“The plan was to get them to relax going out there without a team behind them, enjoy the situation and what they accomplished all season and represent themselves and the university well,” Biggin said. “I got compliments on how they looked, I thought they did a great job, too, and I cannot be more proud of the team and how they persevered, continuing to fight all season long.”
With the season now at a close, Biggin said that the team’s schedule will slow down in intensity, but they’ll still be keeping busy.
After ups and downs throughout the season, Biggin is looking forward to what the team will bring to the table next year.
“We had a few injuries this season, and we had a lot of really young people step up,” Biggin said. “I think we’ll have a group that is very driven and is very focused, and they’re going to want to go out really strong. We’re in a good spot to build off of for next year.”
Kailyn Tibolla is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected].
