Gymnastics Welcomes WMU to the Convocation Center

Gymnastics vs. Western Michigan
Date	Friday, Jan. 24 \| 6 p.m.
Venue	Ypsilanti, Mich. \| Convocation Center
Preview Info	Meet Notes
Live Stats	Live Results
Watch	ESPN3
Twitter	@EMUGym \| @EMUAthletics

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University gymnastics team closes out its short two meet homestand by welcoming Western Michigan University to the Convocation Center Friday, Jan. 24. The Eagles are coming off a home loss to Central Michigan University Sunday, Jan. 19, 195.100-194.875. The Broncos come to Ypsilanti, Mich. after a road win against Mid-American Conference foe and defending MAC champions, Northern Illinois, 193.900-192.775.

FOLLOWING THE MEET: Fans can follow the meet by catching the broadcast on ESPN3 with Joel Godett and Ashlee Buhler or through live stats. Links can be found on the EMU gymnastics schedule page located on EMUEagles.com

LAST TIME OUT: The Eagles fell to the Chippewas of Central Michigan, 195.100-194.175, Jan. 19. EMU started strong on vault, scoring 48.525 and led after the first rotation, but CMU stormed back as the Green and White weren't able to hold them off. Junior Cortney Bezold tied for first on bars, hitting 9.850. Senior Emili Dobronics earned second on floor with a score of 9.800 and third on beam (9.775). Juniors Jada Rondeau and Brianna Price tied for fourth on beam with a score of 9.750. Sophomore Kara Roberts finished the day second in the all-around competition, accumulating a score of 38.875, which included a third-place performance on floor of 9.775.

AGAINST WESTERN MICHIGAN LAST SEASON: Eastern Michigan faced off with WMU three different times in the 2019 season, finishing with a record of 2-1 against the MAC foe. The first meeting between the two came in the way of the Northern Illinois Triangular, Jan. 18, 2019, that saw EMU best Western Michigan, 194.300-192.000. Then-sophomore Jada Rondeau had a career day, hitting a personal-best on vault (9.800), floor (9.875), and all-around (39.000). Inside the Convo, the Eagles beat the Broncos for the second time in one month, 194.850-193.725, Feb. 8 2019. The Green and White saw two personal-bests of 9.875, by then-sophomore Cortney Bezold on bars and then-junior Emili Dobronics on beam. EMU was unable to complete the season sweep, falling to the Broncos in its final meeting of the season, 194.750-193.950, March 10, 2019.

ATTACK THE MAC: Entering week three of the season, the Eagles are second in the Mid-American Conference in average score, 194.525, behind Central Michigan (195.388). Sophomore Cortney Bezold is tied-for-third on bars, averaging a score of 9.825, while senior Emili Dobronics is tied-for-third on floor with an average score of 9.825. Junior Jada Rondeau is sixth in the league in the all-around competition, averaging 38.925 and is followed by sophomore Kara Roberts average of 38.900. As a team, EMU tops the conference on bars, averaging 48.788 in the event and ranks second on beam, averaging 48.775 a meet, once again behind the Chippewas (48.950).

EPILEPSY AWARENESS DAY: Eastern Michigan will host an Epilepsy Awareness Day, Jan. 24 at 6 p.m. against Western Michigan. The event will honor Ella Dover, a valued member of the team through Team Impact. EMU gymnastics asks that fans wear purple in support of Epilepsy awareness.

PICKING UP WHERE WE LEFT OFF: Eastern Michigan is starting the season where it left off in 2019, ranking 33rd in the country overall. The Green and White ranks 23rd on beam, after hitting a score of 49.100 to start the year, against the Falcons, Jan. 11, a score that tops the season high of 2019 (49.025). EMU also ranks 23rd on bars after junior Cortney Bezold came out and tied-for-first on the event, scoring 9.850 against CMU, Jan. 19.

KEY RETURNERS: Eastern lost four seniors at the end of the 2018-19 season, and added seven freshman. Key returners for the Eagles will be senior Emili Dobronics and juniors Jada Rondeau and Cortney Bezold. Dobronics will be a key contributor in her senior season as one of three Eagles to qualify for NCAA Regionals last season, and the only one to qualify for all-around, having finished the year with a regional qualifying score (RQS) of 39.165 in all-around and ranking 13th in the central region. The senior tied her career-high of 9.900 three times and recorded a new career-high all-around score of 39.250 against Western Michigan, Feb. 2, 2019. The Orland Park, Ill. native was selected to the All-MAC Second Team last season, MAC All-Tournament Team and her score of 9.900 on floor at the MAC Championships made her the first EMU gymnast to take home gold on an event since Leah Hashimoto, Natalie Hashimoto, and Sarah Wasilenko split the floor title in 2002. Rondeau was a workhorse for Eastern Michigan in the 2019 season. The junior posted personal-bests in all four events including 9.875 on floor at the Northern Illinois Triangular, Jan. 18, and 9.850 on bars at the George Washington Quad, Feb. 22. The Savage, Minn. native also earned a career-high in all-around, hitting 39.275 against Kent State, March 15. Bezold was another NCAA Regional qualifier last season, qualifying for bars with a RQS of 9.850, and ranking 19th on the apparatus in the central region. The sophomore hit 9.900 for the first time in her career at the George Washington Quad, Feb. 22, for a new career-best. The Maineville, Ohio native was selected to the All-MAC First Team for her efforts on bars in the 2019 season.

ON THE HORIZON: The Eagles travel to St. Charles, Mo. to compete against Lindenwood University, Feb. 2 at 1 p.m. This will be the second consecutive season that the Eagles will compete on Super Bowl Sunday.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Cortney Bezold

Emili Dobronics

Ella Dover

Brianna Price

Kara Roberts

Jada Rondeau

Eastern Michigan Athletics