Kent State Gymnasts starts home defense Sunday

Nick Walton

The Kent State Gymnastics team looks to start its run toward the Mid-American Conference throne against MAC opponent Northern Illinois on Sunday 1 p.m. at the M.A.C. Center.

The Flashes are coming off of a second place finish in Pittsburgh to Penn State. Despite finishing in second place, senior Jill Kowalski and sophomore Brittany Kopp both received individual awards for their performances. Kowalski had a personal best score of 9.800 on beam and was named the MAC Gymnast of the Week for the third time in her career. Kopp was named the MAC Specialist of the Week after receiving a 9.800 score on vault.

COMING UP

KENT STATE vs. NORTHERN ILLINOIS

When: Sunday 1 p.m.

Where: M.A.C. Center

The Flashes are looking to start their defense of the M.A.C. Center that they hope will include a MAC postseason championship.

“You don’t ever want a team to come in here and beat you,” coach Brice Biggin said. “This is their (the team’s) first opportunity to show how they are going to defend their home territory and having that continue through the MAC Championships.”

This is the first meet this season for Northern Illinois. The Huskies were picked to finish fourth in the regular season and have lost eight straight matches to the Flashes.

Biggin said that the team needs to focus on taking care of its business and not worry about what the opposition is doing.

“If we go out and perform to our abilities, it doesn’t matter who we compete against we’ll give ourselves a chance to win,” said Biggin. “If we start to worry about our opposition, then we start to lose our main focus, which is how we perform as a team.”

The Flashes are picked to win the MAC regular season title but are not favored to win the postseason championship, which they will host.

Contact reporter Nick Walton at [email protected].