Eagles Set to Compete at Michigan State

Gymnastics at Michigan State
Date	Saturday, March 7 \| 2 p.m. ET
Venue	East Lansing, Mich. \| Jenison Field House
Preview Info	EMU Meet Notes
Live Stats	Live Results
Watch	Big Ten Plus
Twitter	@EMUGym \| @EMUAthletics

EAST LANSING, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University gymnastics team will take a short trip to East Lansing, Mich. to compete against Michigan State University Saturday, March 7 at 2 p.m.
   The Eagles enter the meet having snapped a four-meet losing streak after defeating the U.S. Air Force Academy, 194.700-192.575, Feb. 19. The Spartans are coming home after a loss to Iowa State University, 196.225-194.175, Feb. 28.

FOLLOWING THE MEET Fans can watch the meet on the Big Ten Network Plus. Spectators can also follow the meet through the live results link on EMUEagles.com or on Twitter by following @EMUGym.

LAST TIME VERSUS MSU: Eastern Michigan dropped the last meeting between the Eagles and the Spartans, 195.850-194.650, inside the Convocation Center, March 1, 2019. The Green and White hold a 1-3 record against MSU since 2010.
   In the meet last season, EMU put up a season-high vault score of 48.900 but was unable to come away with the win. Then-junior Emili Dobronics earned a career-high on vault, scoring a 9.800, and finished second in the all-around competition with a score of 39.100. Then-freshman Shannon Gregory led the team on beam with a career-high score of 9.775. Fellow classmate Carly Kosanovich also scored a personal-best 9.750 in the event. Bars and floor were led by scores of 9.825 by then-sophomore Cortney Bezold and graduated Eagle Ciara Greshman, respectively.

LAST TIME OUT: EMU defeated USAFA, 194.700-192.575, Feb. 29. The Green and White had a few notable performances in the meet, including senior Emili Dobronics scoring a 9.900 on floor for the first time this season, and the fourth time in her career, earning herself first-place in the event. Junior Jada Rondeau had a great day herself, claiming two first-place showings and one second-place finish. Rondeau tied for first on bars with classmate Cortney Bezold, who both scored 9.825. She then tied for first again, this time on beam, hitting another 9.825. On floor, she finished behind Dobronics with a score of 9.875, tying her career-high in the event.
   Eastern Michigan had two gymnasts record career-high efforts. Freshman Hannah Hartung scored a 9.750 on bars to earn fourth, and sophomore Carly Kosanovich hit a 9.750 on floor to claim sixth.

RQS TO NQS: The NCAA orders gymnasts based on their National Qualifying Score (previously referred to as Regional Qualifying Score). This score is calculated by a team or competitor's six best regular season scores, of which three must be away, then dropping the highest of those scores. The five remaining scores are averaged to get the NQS. This order is what determines who qualifies for the post-season.

IF THE SEASON ENDED TODAY: If the season ended today, the Eagles would have five individual regional qualifiers. Leading the charge, junior Jada Rondeau would compete in the all-around competition, making the first regional appearance of her career. Sophomore Caitlin Satler would also qualify for the first time of her career, doing so on beam. Both junior Cortney Bezold and senior Emili Dobronics represented EMU last year at the regional meet in Ann Arbor. Bezold would again qualify on bars, while Dobronics would make it four straight years of qualifying to the event. The senior would currently compete on beam and floor.

COACH MINASOLA RETURNS TO EAST LANSING: Head Coach Katie Minasola will return to East Lansing, Mich. for the second time in three years. Minasola was the an assistant gymnastics coach at Michigan State for seven years (2004-11), prior to her time at EMU and holds an 0-2 record against her former team.

RELIABLE RONDEAU: Junior Jada Rondeau has been reliable for the Green and White so far this season. The Savage, Minn. native ranks in the top-10 in the MAC on bars (second), in all-around (third), and on beam (tied for sixth). Rondeau is ranked 40th nationally in all-around as well.

THE DIVINE 9.9: Senior Emili Dobronics joined her cousin, sophomore Caitlin Satler and junior Cortney Bezold as the only EMU gymnasts to hit the 9.900 mark this season. Dobronics did so at Air Force on floor, Feb. 29. This is the fourth time in her career that the senior has earned a 9.900.
   Bezold hit the second 9.900 of her career on bars at Lindenwood, Feb. 2. Satler reached the feat for the first time in her career against Northern Illinois, Feb. 7.

ATTACK THE MAC: The Eagles are making noise within the Mid-American Conference, sitting third in average overall score (194.590), 39th nationally. The Green and White rank high in a few categories throughout the conference, including first on beam (48.843), third on bars (48.496), and third on floor (48.868).

BEZOLD ON BARS: Junior Cortney Bezold has started her season where she left off last year, having already hit two scores of 9.850 before tying her career-high of 9.900 at Lindenwood, Feb. 2. The junior ranks fourth in the MAC on the apparatus with an average score of 9.830.

DARING DOBRONICS: A three-time regional qualifier, senior Emili Dobronics is working towards making it four-straight. The senior and co-captain of this year's squad is currently tied for fourth on floor in the Mid-American Conference and tied for 90th nationally, averaging 9.828 in the event. The Orland Park, Ill. native has already hit a score of 9.850, four times this season, and tied her career-high of 9.900 at Air Force, Feb. 29.

FRESHMAN FORCE: The Eagles brought in seven freshmen gymnasts this year and put them to work. EMU has four freshman that have competed so far this season in Hannah Hartung, Arileyah Harris, Molly Parris, and Mickayla Stuckey. In the MAC, only Central Michigan has more freshman seeing the competition floor at this point in the season with five.

BEZOLD, WE HAVE A WINNER: Sophomore Cortney Bezold claimed Mid-American Conference Specialist of the Week honors from the league office, Feb. 5. Bezold tied her career-high of 9.900 on bars at Lindenwood, Feb. 2, to earn the award. The Maineville, Ohio native clinched the first MAC award of the season for the Green and White, and the second of her career.

ON THE HORIZON: The Eagles will close out the regular season at Kent State Saturday, March 13, at 7 p.m. The Green and White look for back-to-back wins against the Golden Flashes, having defeated KSU to close out the season in 2019, 196.025-193.900.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Cortney Bezold

Emili Dobronics

Shannon Gregory

Arileyah Harris

Hannah Hartung

Carly Kosanovich

Molly Parris

Jada Rondeau

Caitlin Satler

Mickayla Stuckey

Eastern Michigan Athletics