The coach of the Kent State gymnastics team, Brice Biggin, announced Sept. 11 that the team will have a new addition to the coaching staff.

Tim Levandowski, formerly a member of the coaching staff at Brown University, will become the new assistant coach next to Biggin. He will be joining the team after the departure of Josie Angeny after the 2024 season.

“There’s a history of success at this university,” Levandowski said.

Before coaching as an assistant at Brown, Levandowski previously coached as an assistant at Division-III Wisconsin-Eau Claire for two years. 

In his one year with the Brown Bears, Levandowski coached Asta Farrell, helping her earn First Team USAG All-America and Second Team All-GEC honors on bars, along with gymnast Maya Davis who earned Second Team USAG All-America accolades. 

The Flashes have won the Mid-American Conference seven times since 2000, most recently in 2024. The Flashes have also appeared in the NCAA Championships seven times, most recently in 2023. 

The university’s positive track record in the sport wasn’t the only thing that made Levandowski leave the Ivy League for the MAC. 

Levandowski, a native of Minnesota, said downtown Kent “reminds [him] of home.” 

With stops at multiple programs, Levandowski has several coaching qualities that appeal to the program. “I’m a very good communicator,” Levandowski said. “I’m a high energy coach.” 

These two coaching qualities helped Levandowski look appealing to coach Brice Biggin and the university.

“We heard good things about him during the application process,” Biggin said. “(Levandowski) brings lots of passion, and the team loves him.” 

Since taking over as coach in 1992, Biggin has been selected as MAC Coach of the Year 11 times, and he has led the Flashes to 24 team regional championship appearances and an NCAA Championship appearance in 2011. For his efforts, Biggin was named National Coach of the Year that season. 

The goals are clear this year for the coaching staff: “Championships are the expectation,” Levandowski said. 

The hire of Levandowski is a show of championship aspiration for the Flashes. With the assistance of Levandowski, the Brown Bears went to Nationals in 2024, with six gymnasts qualifying for finals. 

With both high expectations and the Flashes losing five senior gymnasts, all of whom scored in postseason play for the Flashes, the coaching staff is hard at work to make sure the team exceeds its ceiling. 

“We take on new challenges everyday,” said Levandowski. Trying to manage expectations, and aim higher than where the Flashes ended the year are two bars that the coaching staff will aim to leap. 

Levandowski joins a coaching staff led by a former Kent State men’s gymnast.

Biggin was a four-time letter winner and a two-year team captain on the Flashes men’s gymnastics team from 1980-1983. Biggin led the men’s team to a Great Lakes League Championship his senior year.

“There is a history here,” Biggin said. 

Biggin, a member of KSU’s gymnastics program for the last 45 years, has contributed to its glory years. 

Since joining the MAC in 1981, the Flashes women’s gymnastics team has 11 conference championships and fourteen regular season titles, most recently winning the MAC in 2024. 

The Flashes gymnastics team finished fourth at the NCAA Michigan Regional to conclude the 2023-2024 season. The Flashes finished fourth behind Alabama, Penn State and Michigan, with junior Heidi Schultz posting scores of 9.8 on both the beam and floor. 

The start of the gymnastics 2025 season will begin in January.

“We’ve got a special group here,” Biggin said. 

Gage Wellman is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected] or @GageWellmanKSTV on X.