Eagles Open the Season With a Trio of Wins at the Pitt Quad

COMPLETE RESULTS

PITTSBURGH, Pa. (EMUEagles.com) – Behind a career day from the sophomore duo of Kendall Valentin (Holmdel, N.J. – Holmdel) and Catie Conrad (Brighton, Mich. – Brighton), the Eastern Michigan University women's gymnastics team came out on top at the Pittsburgh Quad Meet, Jan. 10. The Eagles came out with a final team score of 194.875, their highest opening season score in recent history, with victories against No. 32 Maryland, Pittsburgh, and Towson.

Individually, the Green and White were highlighted by Valentin and Conrad, who combined to set six new career-highs. Valentin set personal-bests on vault and beam, while Conrad posted personal-highs on vault, beam, floor, and in the all-around. It was the first time that she competed floor and all-around, with her all-around score coming in at a 39.050. Fellow sophomore Kirsten Gendron (Birch Run, Mich. – Frankenmuth) made her regular season collegiate debut for the Eagles, competing in both bars and floor. Freshman Megan Hultgren (Rockrod, Ill. – Sacred Heart Classical Center) also made her debut in the Green and White, posting a 9.7 on beam.

"I'm very excited and proud of the team for how they started the season today, especially given that we started on beam," stated head coach Jay Santos. "Right from the first routine, they looked confident and ready to go. We came out with great energy and we were able to carry that through all the events."

Senior Kimberly Ebeyer (Greenwood, Ind. – Whiteland Community) led off the Eagles with a 9.775 on beam. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Hultgren made her Green and White debut, earning a 9.70 in her first regular season collegiate meet. Following Hultgren was Valentin, who set a career-high of 9.85 with a gorgeous routine. From there, Gervais and junior Lacey Rubin (Plainview, N.Y. – Plainview Old Bethpage John F. Kennedy) notched a 9.775 and a 9.7, respectively. To close the event, Conrad also posted a career-high, receiving a 9.825. After one rotation, the Eagles led with a team score of 48.925.

Following a solid beam rotation, the Eagles traveled to floor, where junior Sydney McEachern (Winnipeg, Manitoba – Kelvin) led the way for the Green and White. She got the team off to a nice start, turning in a 9.6 before Gervais and Conrad posted scores of 9.525 and 9.5, respectively. Following the sophomores, the team's scores continued to rise, with Gendron and Ebeyer earning back-to-back scores of 9.675. In the anchor spot, sophomore Rachel Slocum (Holly Springs, N.C. – Holly Springs) delivered a beautiful routine, ultimately receiving a 9.75. With two events in the book, the Eagles' score stood at 97.300, which kept them in first place over Maryland by just over six tenths.

Similar to beam, Ebeyer was the first up for the Green and White on vault. The Greenwood, Ind. native notched a 9.725, while sophomore Julia Schwartz (Gilbert, Ariz. – Mesquite) followed her up with a 9.55. From there, the team's vault scores continued to improve, as McEachern earned a 9.775 and Conrad a 9.85, which was another career high. Slocum made her debut on the event, competing her new vault for the first time in the regular season, and earning a 9.85. Valentin continued her hot streak, as she set another career-high, this time earning a 9.875 for her yurchenko full. With only one event remaining, the Eagles clung to their lead, in front with a score of 146.375.

With Maryland still within striking distance, the Green and White had to fight for every tenth on bars. McEachern got the team off to a good start, notching a 9.7 in the leadoff spot. Gendron followed her up with a 9.725 of her own, keeping the positive momentum in favor of the Eagles. However, the team encountered a few small hiccups, as Rubin scored a 9.15 and Gervais earned a 9.4. With two competitors remaining, the Eagles needed to finish the event strong. The sophomore duo of Valentin and Conrad did just that, as they earned scores of 9.85 and 9.825, respectively. Valentin's score was just short of her career-high, while Conrad tied her previous personal best. At the end of the day, the Eagles emerged victorious with a team score of 194.875.

"Coming into the meet, we talked a lot about getting off to a good start and it was great to see them come out with a strong focus, make their adustments and executve what we have been working on," explained Santos. "We had some fantastic individual performances today and I believe that several of our girls had career highs. We did have two mistakes on out last event, bars, so we will need to work on finishing the meet strong, but I'm sure that is something we will take care of in the upcoming weeks. Overall, it was a great start and I'm really proud of how we performed."

The Eagles continue their 2016 season on the road with a Mid-American Conference tri-meet at Western Michigan, Jan. 17. The tri-meet against the Broncos, as well as Bowling Green, is slated to begin at 1 p.m. in Kalamazoo.

Eagles Results (* denotes career high)

Vault 49.075

Kendall Valentin 9.875*
Catie Conrad 9.850*
Rachel Slocum 9.850*
Julia Schwartz 9.775
Kimberly Ebeyer 9.725
Sydney McEachern 9.550

Bars 48.500
Kendall Valentin 9.850
Catie Conrad 9.825
Kirsten Gendron 9.725*
Sydney McEachern 9.700
Natalie Gervais 9.400*
Lacey Rubin 9.150

Beam 48.925
Kendall Valentin 9.850*
Catie Conrad 9.825*
Kimberly Ebeyer 9.775
Natalie Gervais 9.775
Megan Hultgren 9.700*
Lacey Rubin 9.700

Floor 48.375
Rachel Slocum 9.750
Kimberly Ebeyer 9.675
Kirsten Gendron 9.675*
Sydney McEachern 9.650
Natalie Gervais 9.625*
Catie Conrad 9.550*

All-Around
Catie Conrad 39.050*

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Catie Conrad

Kimberly Ebeyer

Kirsten Gendron

Natalie Gervais

Megan Hultgren

Sydney McEachern

Lacey Rubin

Jules Schwartz

Rachel Slocum

Kendall Valentin

Eastern Michigan Athletics