Gymnastics Prepped For Two Meet Weekend

Gymnastics at GymQuarters Invitational \| vs. Kent State
Date	Friday, Feb. 12 - 4 p.m. CT \| Sunday, Feb. 14 - 3 p.m. ET
Venue	St. Charles, Mo. - The Family Arena \| Ypsilanti, Mich. - Convocation Center
Preview Info	EMU Notes \| Virtual Program
Live Stats	Live Results
Watch	FloGymnastics
Twitter	@EMUGym \| @EMUAthletics

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) -- The Eastern Michigan University gymnastics team will enjoy a busy weekend as it flies to St. Charles, Mo. for the GymQuarters Invitational Friday, Feb. 12, with the action scheduled to start at 4 p.m. CT. The team will have a quick turnaround as they come back to Ypsilanti to host Kent State University Sunday, Feb. 14. The Valentines Day excitement will begin at 3 p.m inside the Convocation Center.
   The Eagles (5-2; 2-2 MAC) are coming off a second place finish at their own quad event, the Eagle Invitational, Feb. 6. EMU scored a season-high 195.800 to come in second behind Ball State University (195.975). Western Michigan University followed in third (195.575), and Kent State in fourth (194.825).
   The GymQuarters Invitational includes competition between six collegiate teams; Eastern Michigan, Air Force, Ball State, Illinois State, Lindenwood, and Southeast Missouri State. The event will take place at The Family Arena in St. Charles, Mo.
   Following the invitational, Eastern plays host to the Golden Flashes for the second-consecutive weekend, and competes against them for the third-straight week. The Green and White are even with KSU in the season series, 1-1.

FOLLOWING THE MEET: The GymQuarters will be streamed on FloGymnastics. Due to staffing issues beyond EMU's control, the scheduled ESPN3 production of the meet on Saturday, Feb. 14, has been cancelled. Please visit the team's social media accounts or link results for full coverage of the meet.

BEAMTOWN: Move over Boston, its not Beantown, its Beamtown here in Ypsilanti. The Eastern Michigan beam squad currently ranks 27th in the nation, with three EMU gymnasts owning the top-10 spots in the Mid-American Conference: 2nd- Caitlin Satler, 3rd- Hadyn Crossen, and 7th- Jada Rondeau. Most recently at the Eagle Invitational, Feb. 6, Satler and Crossen scored career-highs in the event, earning 9.925 and 9.900, respectively. The junior and sophomore's performances move them to tie for second and fourth, respectively, all-time on beam at Eastern.

THE SATLER SALUTE: Junior Caitlin Satler once again leaves no doubt who the best on beam is with her final salute. Saturday, Feb. 6, Satler scored a career-high 9.925 on balance beam, and claimed first place. This comes after just tying her career-high of 9.900 at Kent State and being honored as MAC Specialist of the Week. The Orland Park, Ill. native is cementing herself in the EMU record book as she now ties former Eagle Natalie Gervais for second all-time in the event.

HELLO HADYN: Eastern Michigan sophomore Hadyn Crossen has burst onto the scene this season, and etched her name into the record book. Crossen tied for fourth all-time on beam after scoring 9.900 at the Eagle Invitational, Feb. 6. The sophomore ties Eagle legends such as Natalie Hashimoto, Lacey Rubin, and Kendall Valentin. The Carmel, Ind. native finds herself currently ranked third in the conference on beam.

THE DIVINE NINE: Saturday, Feb. 8 at the Eagle Invitational, eight EMU gymnasts recorded career-highs. First it was the bars squad with three personal-best performances from freshman Raisa Boris (9.800), and sophomores Hadyn Crossen (9.775) and Molly Parris (9.850). On beam, junior Caitlin Satler and Crossen both saw top performances, scoring 9.925 and 9.900, respectively. Finally, the season-high floor score of 49.200 was helped by career-bests from juniors Shannon Gregory (9.875), Carly Kosanovich (9.825), Kara Roberts (9.900), and senior Jada Rondeau (9.900).

ETCH IT IN STONE: Three Eagles saw their names written into the record book, and one saw her name climb after the Eagles Invitational, Feb. 6. For their performances on floor, junior Kara Roberts and senior Jada Rondeau are now tied for 15th all-time with scores of 9.900. Sophomore Hadyn Crossen is now tied for fourth in program history on beam, scoring 9.900. Junior Caitlin Satler saw her name join past legends last season when she recorded a 9.900 on beam against Northern Illinois, Feb. 7, 2020. This time she moves up to tie for second with former Eagle Natalie Gervais, after earning 9.925 on the apparatus.

SCOUTING THE QYMQUARTERS INVITATIONAL: The GymQuarters Invitational is set to take place at The Family Arena in St. Charles, Mo., Friday, Feb. 12 at 4 p.m. CT. The competition will feature five teams that Eastern has met before: Air Force, Ball State, Illinois State, Lindenwood, Southeast Missouri State.
   The Eagles most recently saw the Cardinals at the Eagle Invitational, Feb. 6, falling to BSU 195.800-195.975. In the 2020 season, Eastern defeated Lindenwood (195.325-193.625) and Air Force (194.700-192.575), Feb. 2 and Feb. 29, respectively. 2018 is the last time the Green and White saw ISU, as they won 194.000-192.550, Feb. 15. Finally, going all the way to back to Jan. 24, 2016, Eastern Michigan took down the Redhawks, 195.050-191.900.

GOLDEN FLASHES TRILOGY: Eastern Michigan is in the process of competing against Kent State in three-consecutive weeks. The Eagles lost in Kent, Ohio, Jan. 31, 194.050-194.875. Feb. 6, EMU invited KSU to the Eagle Invitational where the teams finished second and fourth, scoring 195.800 and 194.825, respectively. With the seaso series tied 1-1, the Golden Flashes come to Ypsilanti Sunday, Feb. 14, for a Valentines Day trilogy match. The action starts at 3 p.m. and the winner claims bragging rights for the season.

STACK AGAINST THE MAC: In the current team rankings, Eastern sits second in the Mid-American Conference, behind Western Michigan (194.925), with an average score of 194.756. The Green and White lead the MAC on beam, averaging 48.675 in the event. On bars, EMU is third in the conference (48.704), chasing Kent State in second place (48.719). The Eagles sit fifth in the league on vault and floor, averaging 48.619 and 48.756, respectively.

LAST TIME AGAINST KENT STATE: At the Eagle Invitational, Feb. 6, the Eagles started the day with energy and carried it through the end of the meet, finishing second with a season-high team score of 195.800. EMU wrapped up the day with nine career-highs, including four scores of 9.900-or-higher. The Golden Flashes saw a 9.900 of their own from Abby Fletcher on beam, but ultimately finished fourth, totaling 194.825.
   Eastern started on vault where senior Cali Harden tied her personal-best score of 9.800 asthe squad recorded 48.625 in the event. Bars saw three career-best performances, including a lineup leading 9.850 from sophomore Molly Parris that bumped the team score up to 97.600. Beam is where the Green and White picked up steam as sophomore Hadyn Crossen scored a 9.900 and junior Caitlin Satler followed up with a 9.925, both personal-bests. The party did not stop on floor, EMU added another four career-highs, including scores of 9.900 from senior Jada Rondeau and junior Kara Roberts. Eastern Michigan finished the rotation with a season-high floor score 49.200.

EASTERN MICHIGAN 49ERS?: The Green and White again hit 49+ during the Eagle Invitational, Feb. 6. Eastern earned a season-high score of 49.200 on floor. The squad's tally makes it the second time EMU has hit 49.000-or-better this season. The feat was accomplished by four total personal-bests with performances from senior Jada Rondeau (9.900), and juniors Kara Roberts (9.900), Shannon Gregory (9.875), and Carly Kosanovich (9.825).
   The Eagles hit their first event score of 49.000+ this season against Bowling Green, Jan. 24. The Green and White tallied 49.050 on beam, and swept the podium with Gregory leading the charge and tying her career-high of 9.850 to claim first place.

BEZOLD, THE BARS BALLAST: Senior Cortney Bezold, the only gymnast on the team to have competed in a NCAA regional competition, once again leads the bars lineup for Eastern. Bezold is averaging 9.806 on the apparatus in the young season and sits fifth in the Mid-American Conference. The senior was tied for third in the conference when the 2020 season ended. Furthermore, the Maineville, Ohio native earned MAC Specialist of the week honors, Jan. 26, for the fourth time in her career.

EAGLES ON ESPN3: For the fourth consecutive season, the Eagles will have their home meets broadcast on ESPN3. This season, fans will be able to watch their Eagles competes against MAC-opponent Bowling Green, Jan. 24, Western Michigan and Ball State for the Eagle Invitational, Feb. 6, followed by Kent State, Feb. 14, and close out the season with Senior Night against Bowling Green and Air Force in the Eastern Michigan Triangular, March 7.

ON THE HORIZON: Following this action packed weekend the Eagles will double up again next week, traveling to Northern Illinois, Feb. 19, and then to Western Michigan, Feb. 21. The meets are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. CT and 1 p.m., with the WMU meet streaming on ESPN3.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Cortney Bezold

Raisa Boris

Hadyn Crossen

Natalie Gervais

Shannon Gregory

Cali Harden

Carly Kosanovich

Molly Parris

Kara Roberts

Jada Rondeau

Lacey Rubin

Caitlin Satler

Kendall Valentin

Eastern Michigan Athletics