Eagles Earn 195.275-193.875 Senior Day Victory over Ball State

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) — Eastern Michigan University's gymnastics team kept its home record unblemished for the 2015 campaign, taking down Mid-American Conference foe Ball State University, 195.275-193.875, Sunday, Feb. 22, at the Convocation Center. The victory marks the third time this season that the Eagles have scored more than 195 points in a meet, which includes breaking the school record with 195.575 points on Friday, Feb. 20, against Western Michigan.

"Obviously we had a great weekend. We had a meet Friday and came up with a school record and followed it up with another 195, so I couldn't be happier with the two meets," noted Head Coach Jay Santos. "Two weeks prior, we had been having some mistakes and counting some issues on bars and in other areas. So we talked about if we can just go out and do four clean events, and just hit those events--we don't have to do anything extraordinary, we just have to go out and do our gymnastics--and if we do that, we're going to get good results. And I think these two meets prove that and I'm really happy with the girls."

The first-year program leader went on to commend his athletes, stating, "Individually, we had some great performances. And that just goes hand in hand; if they focus on themselves and take care of their job, the scores will follow when they're putting on quality gymnastics."

Sunday's competition was Senior Day for the Eagles, who honored their five graduating upperclassmen following the meet. The quintet of Carrina Lo Bello, Chantelle Loehner, Paulina Miller, Nikki Paterson, and Anna Willette closed out their four-year careers donning the Green and White as the team sent their seniors out in fashion with one final victory inside the Convocation Center.

Willette won the all-around title with 39.050 points, marking the fourth time in her career that the senior has scored more than 39 points to take the title. Lo Bello claimed third in all-around with a 38.750.

Competing on the vault in the first rotation, the Eagles took an early lead, 48.775-48.275 after the Cardinals finished their rotation on the uneven bars. Willette matched her season high of 9.825 to take the title, while Kendall Valentin claimed runner-up with a score of 9.775. Notching the third-best score for the Eagles and fourth overall, Miller finished with a 9.750 on the apparatus. Rounding out the lineup were Julia Schwartz in fifth with a 9.725, Carrina Lo Bello with a 9.700 for eighth, and Sydney McEachern with a 9.675 to finish ninth overall.

The Eagles maintained their lead, stretching the advantage to 97.625-96.725 after their rotation on the uneven bars and Ball State's vault rotation. The Green and White dominated in their bars routines, claiming the first five spots and scoring a total 48.850 points. Lacey Rubin made her way into the EMU record books with a personal-best 9.825 to take the title. Her score puts the redshirt-freshman in a tie for the eighth-highest score in program laurels. Valentin finished runner-up once again with a 9.800, while Catie Conrad placed third after matching her career record of 9.775. Willette and Lo Bello had matching 9.725s to tie for fourth.   Recording a score of 9.500, Paterson finished 11^th in the rotation.

Willette claimed her second individual title of the meet when she stepped foot on the balance beam, matching her personal record of 9.850. The Green and White recorded a 48.925 overall, which is a season best for the team. Natalie Gervais tied for runner-up on the apparatus with a 9.800, and Rubin finished fifth with a 9.775. Conrad once again matched a personal record, this time earning a 9.750 to tie for sixth with Kimberly Ebeyer. Finishing 10th was Lo Bello, who notched a 9.650 on beam.

Going into the floor exercise with a solid 146.550-145.600 advantage, Eastern clinched the victory with a team total of 48.725 points in the rotation. Loehner led the Eagles with a second-place tied finish after recording a 9.800, while Taylor Young continued to improve in just the third appearance of her career after notching a personal-best 9.775 to tie for fourth. Taking sixth was McEachern with a 9.750, followed by Rachel Slocum with a 9.725 to tie for seventh. Lo Bello recorded a 9.675 for 10th, and Wilette placed 11th with a 9.650.

EMU Individual Results (* signifies a personal best)

Vault
1. Willette, Anna	9.825
2. Valentin, Kendall	9.775
4. Miller, Paulina	9.750
5. Schwartz, Julia	9.725
8. Lo Bello, Carrina	9.700
9. McEachern, Sydney	9.675

Uneven Bars
1. Rubin, Lacey	9.825*
2. Valentin, Kendall	9.800
3. Conrad, Catie	9.775
4. Lo Bello, Carrina	9.725
4. Willette, Anna	9.725
11. Paterson, Nikki	9.500

Balance Beam
1. Willette, Anna	9.850
2. Gervais, Natalie	9.800
5. Rubin, Lacey	9.775
6. Conrad, Catie	9.750
6. Ebeyer, Kimberly	9.750
10. Lo Bello, Carrina	9.650

Floor Exercise
2. Loehner, Chantelle	9.800
4. Young, Taylor	9.775*
6. McEachern, Sydney	9.750
7. Slocum, Rachel	9.725
10. Lo Bello, Carrina	9.675
11. Willette, Anna	9.650

All-Around
1. Willette, Anna	39.050
3. Lo Bello, Carrina	38.750

Eagles Earn 195.275-193.875 Senior Day Victory over Ball State

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Catie Conrad

Kimberly Ebeyer

Natalie Gervais

Carrina Lo Bello

Chantelle Loehner

Sydney McEachern

Paulina Miller

Nikki Paterson

Lacey Rubin

Jules Schwartz

Rachel Slocum

Kendall Valentin

Anna Willette

Taylor Young

Eastern Michigan Athletics