Dobronics, Rubin, and Valentin Primed for NCAA Regionals

Gymnastics at NCAA Regional Championships
Date	Saturday, April 7 \| 6 p.m. ET
Location	Columbus, Ohio \| St. John Arena
Meet Notes	PDF Notes
Twitter	@EMU Gym
Results	Live Results \| L ive Stream

COLUMBUS, Ohio (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University gymnastics team sends three representatives to the NCAA Regional Championships in Columbus, Ohio, Saturday, April 7.
   The three moving onto the regional competition are senior Kendall Valentin, who will be competing on bars and serving as an alternate on beam, sophomore Emili Dobronics, who will compete in the all-around, and redshirt senior Lacey Rubin, who will act as an alternate for the bars competitors. Valentin, Dobronics, and Rubin will be joining the likes of No. 3 UCLA, No. 10 Arkansas, No. 15 Boise St., No. 25 Ohio State (host), No. 33 Pittsburgh, and No. 34 Kent State.

FOLLOWING THE MEET: Fans can follow the meet through live stats and a live stream offered by the Big Ten Network on BTN Plus and BTN2Go. Links for both can be found on the EMU gymnastics schedule page located on EMUEagles.com.

EMU INDIVIDUAL QUALIFIERS: With their advancement to the next round of postseason action, Emili Dobronics, Lacey Rubin, and Kendall Valentin serve as the 22nd, 23rd, and 24th NCAA Regional individual qualifiers in program history.
   Most recently, EMU sent former gymnasts Carrina Lo Bello and Anna Willette to the 2015 regionals held in Columbus, where the two competed in the all-around. Despite having sent at least one gymnast to regionals in all but six seasons since 1983 (not including team qualifications), the small cohort competing this weekend look to bring home EMU's first regional championship. Additionally, Valentin and Rubin are the first individual qualifiers from EMU who will compete exclusively on bars, with each having the chance to become just the third Eagle to qualify for the NCAA National Championships (Robin Loeheide - 1993, Rachel Slocum - 2016).

LAST TIME AT REGIONALS: In EMU's second-ever trip as a team to the NCAA Regional Championships last season, the Green and White placed sixth with a score of 195.400. Lacey Rubin paced the bars squad by tying her career-high at the time with a 9.9, while Kendall Valentin also put together a solid routine, notching a score of 9.85. Furthermore, Emili Dobronics saw action in her first regional appearance, where she earned a 9.75 competing on floor.

WHEN IT COUNTS: Lacey Rubin and Kendall Valentin have shined in the postseason spotlight since first competing at regionals in 2016. In just their second year of competition, the two led the bars team to a score of 49.2, which was just .025 off the program record at the time. Valentin earned EMU's highest score in the event with a 9.9, while Rubin marked a 9.875 for the second-best score on the team. On top of her stout bars routine, Valentin went on to put together Eastern's second best routine on beam, scoring a 9.85, in addition to notching a 9.75 on vault. Moreover, Rubin was also a vital piece in the beam lineup, scoring a 9.8. Over the last two regional championships, the two have combined for nine scores of 9.8-or-better, and six scores of 9.85-or-higher.

EMU AT MACs: Eastern placed fourth in the Mid-American Conference Championships Saturday, March 24, which was hosted by Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant, Mich. The Eagles' team score of 195.275 was their third-best of the season.
   The day saw three performances that served as personal records, as well as an outstanding team performance on beam which earned a season-high 49.075. Additionally, Rubin took second place on bars with a 9.9, landing herself on the all-tournament team.

ALL-MAC HONORS: EMU sophomore Emili Dobronics was named to the All-Mid-American Conference Second Team, the league office announced Wednesday, March 21. Dobronics is the seventh Eagle to earn All-MAC honors in gymnastics since the conference created them in 2013.
   A workhorse for Eastern throughout the season, Dobronics competed in the all-around in all but two meets. The Orland Park, Ill. native has marked new career-highs in each event this season, including a score of 9.9 on floor which she earned in EMU's win against Kent State, Feb. 25. Altogether, the sophomore has accumulated 10 performances that warranted a score of 9.8-or-higher, and has eclipsed a 39 in the all-around four times. Currently, Dobronics holds an RQS of 38.995, which is tied with CMU's Denelle Pedrick for third-best in the conference.

Looking Ahead: The top two teams and the top two all-around competitors (who are not on an advancing team) from each regional will receive an automatic berth to the national championships. In addition, the event winners at each regional will advance to the national championships (in that event only) if they are not part of a qualifying team or an all-around qualifier. Full details of the NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championships field in St. Louis will be determined Monday, April 9.

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Players Mentioned

Emili Dobronics

Lacey Rubin

Kendall Valentin

Eastern Michigan Athletics