GYMNASTICS

Gymnastics earns first MAC victory

Flashes use deep roster in win against E. Michigan

Flashes use deep roster in win against E. Michigan

The Kent State gymnastics team showed the rest of the Mid-American Conference what it can do when hitting on all cylinders in a 195.175 to 191.000 victory over Eastern Michigan in the team’s conference opener Friday at the M.A.C. Center. The win was a much-needed one after last week’s defeat in Pittsburgh.

Kent State (2-1, 1-0 Mid-American Conference) swept the vault with junior Christina Lenny placing first (9.850). Sophomore Rachel Goldenberg and freshman Lauren Wozniak tied for second (9.775).

On the bars, senior Lydia Barrett led the way with a 9.8. Freshman Rachel Guida and sophomore Erin Rothrock tied for second with a 9.775. Lenny followed closely behind with a 9.750 third-place finish.

Tying Lenny for third-place was freshman Stephanie Smart, who impressed Kent State coach Brice Biggin and the crowd with her solid routine and stuck dismount.

“I can’t say enough positive things about Stephanie,” Biggin said. “She’s struggled a little bit on and off, but in the first two meets she has come out and performed greatly.”

Senior Brittany Kopp started the beam rotation with a solid performance (9.675). Junior Christine Abou-Mitri won the event with a routine that scored a 9.825.

The Flashes finished the evening on floor, once again sweeping the scoreboard with Lenny (9.875), Abou-Mitri (9.825) and Barrett (9.8).

While the team’s floor score was an impressive 49.025, Biggin still feels there is room for improvement.

“We’re still trying to find a floor lineup,” Biggin said. “We graduated three awesome floor routines last year, so we’re starting to put things into place. We’ve got some good depth and some good numbers to play with.”

Lenny was very pleased with the outcome of the meet and reiterated the importance of having such great depth on the team. “The freshmen are really stepping up,” Lenny said. “But there is still a lot I can improve on.”

Lenny took home the All-Around award with a 39.200 and Abou-Mitri followed closely behind with a second place finish (39.125).

“This is the type of meet we were expecting them to be real honest with,” Biggin said. “We trained hard all year and were disappointed last week. We needed to show ourselves we were a much better team than what we performed last week.” Biggin praised the crowd after the meet ended.

“It’s a tough place to come into for other teams because it’s a big crowd,” Biggin said. “It’s loud and they’re intimidating. They certainly help our team out.”

The Flashes will next battle the George Washington Colonials at 7 p.m. Friday in the M.A.C. Center.

Contact sports reporter Katie Corbut at [email protected].