Bezold, Dobronics, and Smith Head to NCAA Regional Championships

Gymnastics at NCAA Regional Championships
Date	Friday, April 5
Venue	Ann Arbor, Mich. \| Crisler Center
Preview Info	Meet Notes
Live Stats	Live Stats
Watch	FloGymnastics
Twitter	@EMUGym \| @EMUAthletics

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University gymnastics team is sending three representatives to the NCAA Regional Championships in Ann Arbor, Mich. Friday, April 5.
   The three moving on to regional competition are juniors Emili Dobronics, competing in all-around, and Allie Smith on vault, as well as sophomore Cortney Bezold on bars. This is Dobronics second consecutive season earning a bid to the regional competition. The gymnasts will be joined by the likes of No. 2 UCLA, No. 7 Michigan (host), No. 10 Alabama, and No. 15 Nebraska.

FOLLOWING THE MEET: The action will be broadcast via FloGymastics. The meet can also be followed via the live results link found on the schedule page of EMUEagles.com or by following the team's account, @EMUGym, on Twitter.

EMU AT MACs: The Green and White finished third at the Mid-American Conference Championships, March 23, with a score of 195.350.
   Junior Emili Dobronics led EMU on floor, hitting a 9.9 for the third time this year, tying for first and splitting the floor title. Dobronics also captained the charge on beam, along with freshman Caitlin Satler, both scoring 9.850.
   Junior Allie Smith hit 9.875 on vault, earning a second-place finish, followed closely by the 9.850 of senior Ciara Gresham, ending her career with a podium finish in third. Smith earned a spot on the MAC-All Tournament Team for her vault.

EMU INDIVIDUAL QUALIFIERS: The three EMU gymnasts become the 25th, 26th, and 27th NCAA Regional individual qualifiers in program history.
   Dobronics finished the season with an RQS of 39.165 in all-around, ranked 13th in the central region. Throughout the year, the junior has tied her career-high of 9.900 on floor three times, having done so most recently at the Mid-American Conference Championships, March 23. Additionally, she topped her career-high all-around score this season, hitting 39.250 versus Western Michigan University, Feb. 2. The Orland Park, Ill. native was selected to the All-MAC Second Team this season, MAC All-Tournament Team and her 9.900 score on floor at the MAC Championship makes her the first EMU gymnast to take home gold on the event since Leah Hashimoto, Natalie Hashimoto, and Sarah Wasilenko, split the floor championship in 2002.
   Smith ranked 21st in the central region, having an RQS of 9.830 on vault. The Telford, Pa. native earned a career-high 9.875 on the apparatus at the University of Illinois-Chicago, Feb. 22. Moreover, her score of 9.875 at the MAC Championships earned her a second-place finish in the event and a spot on the MAC All-Tournament Team.
   Bezold ranked 19th on bars in the central region with an RQS of 9.850. The sophomore hit 9.900 for the first time in her career at the George Washington Quad, Feb. 22, for a new career-best. For her efforts on bars, she was names to the All-MAC First Team.

LAST TIME AT REGIONALS: Eastern saw two gymnasts compete in the 2018 Regional competition, then sophomore Emili Dobronics and former Eagle Kendall Valentin, participated in all-around and beam, respectively.
   Dobronics highest score of the day came on floor, scoring 9.8, and finishing the all-around competition with a score of 38.975, good for 10th.

ALL-MAC HONORS: Eastern claimed two All-MAC awards, as sophomore Cortney Bezold earned First Team All-MAC honors, and junior Emili Dobronics snagged Second Team All-MAC.
   Bezold has been one of the conference's best on bars this season, competing in all 11 of Eastern's meets and posting nine scores of 9.850-or-better. She earned her career-high of 9.9 at the George Washington Quad, Feb. 22, and has been selected as MAC Specialist of the Week twice this year. The Maineville, Ohio native currently holds a RQS of 9.850, the top in the conference.
   Dobronics has competed in the all-around competition in all 11 meets this season for the Green and White, and has earned 17 scores of 9.8-or-higher. The Orland Park, Ill. native tied her career-best score of 9.900 on floor twice this season, at the George Washington Quad, Feb. 22, and versus Kent State, March 15. This is the juniors second All-MAC selection.

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 Fort Worth, Texas will be determined Monday, April 8th.

Bezold, Dobronics, and Smith Head to NCAA Regional Championships

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Players Mentioned

Cortney Bezold

Emili Dobronics

Ciara Gresham

Caitlin Satler

Allie Smith

Kendall Valentin

Eastern Michigan Athletics