Eagles Prepare for Meet with In-State Rival CMU

MEET NOTES ESPN 3 LIVE STATS

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- After a home victory over Northern Illinois, Jan. 30, as part of the Beauty and the Beast event, the Eastern Michigan University women's gymnastics team will remain at home for a dual against in-state rival Central Michigan University, Feb. 5. The meet will highlight the two top Mid-American Conference teams at this point, as EMU sits at No. 26 while Central is No. 34.

Following the Meet: This weekend's meet against CMU will be broadcast on ESPN 3, allowing fans to follow along from the comforts of their home. Joel Godett and Annette Miele will be on the call, providing commentary throughout the event. Please click here to watch the meet on ESPN 3.

Rubin Honored as MAC Specialist of the Week: The Mid-American Conference announced Feb. 2 that Lacey Rubin was named the MAC Specialist of the Week for her performance against NIU. In the home opener, Rubin scored a pair of 9.825's, taking home third and first on bars and beam, respectively. The junior has been a force for the Eagles throughout the last three weeks, as she has been consistently scoring above 9.8 on beam.

Eagles Maintain Their Top-30 Ranking: After three straight weeks in the top-25, the Eagles fell to No. 26 in the team rankings this week. Despite the slight drop, the Green and White are still ranked in the top-30 in three events, highlighted by a No. 12 ranking on beam. Additionally, EMU sits at No. 29 on vault and No. 26 on bars. Among Mid-American Conference schools, Eastern is still the top-ranked institution, with Central trailing by nearly five tenths. In addition to being the top team overall, the Eagles are atop the conference on vault and beam.

Scouting the Competition: The Chippewas come into the meet with an unblemished record of 7-0, and currently sit at No. 34 nationally. Specifically, the team carries an average team score of 194.450, which is somewhat weighed down by two early season scores in the mid 193's. More recently, however, CMU has turned in back-to-back team scores above 195. The team's highest ranked event is bars at No. 20 in the country.
Their last meet was a dual against Ball State, with the Chippewas coming out on top, 195.175-194.575. The team had a solid day on bars and floor, notching team scores of 48.950 and 49.150, respectively. Individually, four competitors from CMU received scores above 9.9 at the meet. Both Taylor Bolender and Kristin Stambaugh accomplished the feat on floor with scores of 9.925 and 9.9, respectively. Additionally, Kasey Janowicz received a 9.9 on beam, and Karlee Teet earned a 9.925 on bars.

Last Time Against the Chippewas: The last regular season meeting between the Eagles and the Chips came as part of the Michigan/Illinois Challenge, Jan. 31, of last season. There, EMU took home the victory in the quad meet with a score of 194.650, besting CMU's 194.0. Anna Willette took home the all-around crown with a score of 38.950, in addition to placing third on vault with a 9.80. The Green and White claimed silver in the other three events, with Kendall Valentin placing second on bars with a 9.85, while Natalie Gervais accomplished the feat on beam, notching a 9.775. Rounding out the trio of second-place finishes was Chantelle Loehner on floor, as the senior earned a 9.825.

Eye on Regionals: If the season were to end today, the Eagles would qualify to Regionals for the first time in program history after coming up one spot short last year. In order to qualify for Regionals, a team must finish the season ranked in the top-36 based on their regional qualifying score. Teams are then seeded by the NCAA Women's Gymnastics Committee and then will head to one of the six predetermined campus sites to attempt to qualify for the NCAA Championships in Fort Worth, Texas.

Two Eagles Competing All-Around: The Green and White have continued utilizing both Kendall Valentin and Catie Conrad in the all-around so far this season. Valentin recently completed her third straight meet as an all-arounder, while Conrad only did three events against NIU. After graduating all-around mainstays Anna Willette and Carrina Lo Bello, the Eagles have found very capable replacements in the sophomore duo.

Hultgren Off to a Great Start: With four meets in the books, Megan Hultgren has notched four hit routines for the Eagles on beam. The freshman has been rock-solid so far this season, earning a trio of 9.7's. At the Ball State tri-meet, Jan. 24, Hultgren turned in a career performance, as she received a 9.825 for her routine.

Slocum Leading EMU on Two Events: Sophomore Rachel Slocum has gotten off to a great start following the first four meets of the year. Against Ball State and Illinois State, she took home two event titles, scoring a 9.9 on vault and a 9.85 on floor. So far this season, she has a total of five event titles on floor and vault, as well as two runner-up finishes. For her efforts, Slocum was named the Mid-American Conference Specialist of the Week following the first meet of the year.

Last Time Out: The Eagles began the home portion of their schedule with a 194.775 - 193.950 victory over Northern Illinois, Jan. 30. The meet was close throughout, as the Green and White pulled away in the final event with their highest floor event total of the season, a total of 48.75. As a team, EMU claimed three event titles on the day, as Catie Conrad won bars with a 9.85, Lacey Rubin took home the beam title after earning a 9.825, and Kimberly Ebeyer and Rachel Slocum tied for gold on floor with scores of 9.85. Ebeyer's floor performance was a career best as well. The lone all-around competitor on the day was Kendall Valentin, who finished with a 38.875 in her third all-around performance of the season.

Looking Ahead: After a pair of home meets, the Eagles will hit the road for back-to-back meets at Michigan and Bowling Green. The tri-meet at U-M is slated for Feb. 8 at 7 p.m., while the Bowling Green tri-meet will take place Feb. 13 at 6 p.m. From there, the team returns home to the Convo for a dual with in-state rival Western Michigan, Feb. 19, at 6:30 p.m.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Catie Conrad

Kimberly Ebeyer

Natalie Gervais

Megan Hultgren

Carrina Lo Bello

Chantelle Loehner

Lacey Rubin

Rachel Slocum

Kendall Valentin

Anna Willette

Eastern Michigan Athletics