Despite successes, Falcons fall to Western Michigan

The BG gymnastics team vaulted to its highest road score of the year on Sunday, falling to Mid-American Conference rival Western Michigan, 195.3-192.8.

After a rough start on uneven bars, the Falcon gymnasts came roaring back on vault, scoring a 49.025-the team's highest single event score of the season. Dawn Christman, Lacey Swords and Danielle Wishart tied for first place, each scoring 9.85 for near perfect vaults.

"This is a good start to our away scores," said coach Kerrie Beach. "We had a few misses on some events, but it's certainly nothing that we can't fix. We look forward to traveling again next week and trying to best that score."

The Falcons started the meet on bars, struggling to a 47.5 after two falls late in the lineup. Freshmen Alex Porter (9.65) and Gina Locigno (9.675) provided bright spots for the Falcons, hitting their routines early on.

Swords stuck her vault in the next rotation, the catalyst to a string of four consecutive scores of 9.8 or higher on the event, as the Falcons stormed back.

"Our assistant coach Chad Wiest did an awesome job focusing the girls this week on vault landings," Beach said. "It was nice to see them rewarded for doing explosive, powerful vaults and also controlling the finishes."

"Chad's been trying to get us to stick every time in practice," Wishart said. "I think it's finally setting in now and we're just going to keep getting better there. Vault's one of our best events."

Floor exercise continued to be a strength for BG, as Megan Valentini opened the rotation with a 9.775, a score Christman matched in the anchor position. Megan Harrington (9.625), Locigno (9.725) and Wishart (9.75) added solid performances to round out the 48.65 total.

The Falcons ended the meet on balance beam, fighting through errors to salvage a good road score. After a fall in the first position, Valentini (9.65) and Locigno (9.7) momentarily got the team back on track. Two more misses couldn't shake Jamilah Ali, who stuck her challenging set to win the event, scoring a season-high 9.825.

"I thought they looked pretty relaxed going into beam," Beach said. "Beam's just that event. If you let any doubt slip into your head, you're going to have a hard time. I think once we make those corrections, we'll have a really great beam lineup."

Despite problems on bars and beam, the freshman class remained unshakeable. Ali, Locigno and Porter combined to hit eight routines for the Falcons, as Locigno placed second in the all-around with a 38.775.

"They're just awesome," Beach said. "They just don't get overwhelmed by the situation. This experience is all new to them, and sometimes that's a good thing. They're training well and they've really been able to turn that around and do it in a meet."

The BG gymnasts return to competition next weekend, taking on North Carolina and Maryland. The team's next home contest is Feb. 11 against Northern Illinois.