Gymnastics Hosts Kent State Sunday

Gymnastics vs. Kent State
Date	Sunday, Feb. 26 \| 1 p.m.
Venue	Ypsilanti, Mich. \| George Gervin GameAbove Center
Preview Info	EMU Notes (PDF) \| Media Guide (PDF)
Live Stats	Live Results
Watch	ESPN+
Twitter	@EMUGym \| @EMUAthletics

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) - After a five-meet road stand, the Eastern Michigan University gymnastics team (0-12, 0-4 MAC) hosts Kent State University (5-6, 2-2 MAC) for its annual Purple Meet inside the George Gervin GameAbove Center Sunday, Feb. 26, at 1 p.m. Brent Balbinot (play-by-play) and former Eagle Kristin Borg (analyst) will have the call on ESPN+.

FOLLOWING THE MEET: Fans can follow the meet through live results or watch the stream on ESPN+. Links can be found on the EMU Gymnastics schedule page located on EMUEagles.com

FOR ELLA: EMU Gymnastics' Purple Meet is held annually to comemorate honorary team member Ella Dover's fight with epilepsy. In unison with Team IMPACT in 2016, the Eagles signed Dover to a ceremonial letter of commitment to join the team for practices, meets and team activities. Dover suffers from chronic epilepsy and has multiple seizures daily. This, however, does not have an impact on her attitude, as she is always smiling and approaching life with a positive mentality.

WELCOME BACK BORG: Former Eagle Kristin Borg (née Griseto) returns to Ypsilanti as the on-air analyst for this weekend's meet. Borg was a five-year member of the EMU Gymnastics program between 2000 and 2004 where she competed mainly as a member of the squad's bars lineup.

THAT WAS A CLOSE ONE: The Eagles dropped a tight meet to Northern Illinois University, 195.350-195.075, inside the NIU's Convocation Center Friday night, Feb. 17. EMU led NIU 97.475 - 97.400, after the second rotation but ultimately dropped the meet. Raisa Boris highlighted the night's competition for Eastern with three team best event scores and a first place all-around finish. The Green and While also earned season high scores on vault and beam in the setback.

BEAM'S BEST: Eastern Michigan tallied a season-best 49.100 score on beam against Northern Illinois, Feb. 17. All five scores counted towards the team total came in at 9.775 or better, including an impressive 9.925 by Ella Chemotti that earned her first place overall. Kyrie Lowe scored a career-high 9.800 on the apparatus in her second straight meet while Cassie Bergin set a personal best with a 9.800 performance as well to add to the team score.

SPRING(BOARD) FORWARD: EMU recorded a season-high 48.800 on vault at Northern Illinois, Feb.17. Raisa Boris, Alana Fisher and Molly Parris all posted 9.825 scores to boost the team total. Boris and Fisher's marks were good for career bests while Parris, and Emma Lewis' 9.725, were season high scores for the gymnasts.

STELLAR ELLA: Ella Chemotti scored her second 9.925 on beam this season at Northern Illinois, Feb. 17. The impressive performance earned the sophomore first place overall on the apparatus, her fifth first place beam finish of the season. Chemotti recorded top scores on beam against Arizona State, Jan. 13, Iowa State, Jan. 20, Ball State, Jan. 22, and West Virginia, Jan. 29. The Michigan native's latest score is her seventh career 9.900 or better performance in the event.

BACK & BETTER THAN EVER: With an NQS of 9.870, Ella Chemotti sits alone atop the Mid-American Conference beam rankings through the seventh week of competition. Chemotti's latest 9.925 performance at Northern Illinois brought her back to the top after she dropped from the spot last week. The sophomore has owned the conference's beam title for four weeks so far this season.

"RAI"SING TO THE TOP: Raisa Boris continues to rise through the Mid-American Conference's top ten event performers after the seventh week of competition. The junior's jumped to second in the MAC from fifth last week with a 39.080 all-around NQS. Boris also climbed to third overall on bars from fourth with a 9.850 NQS.
    The Minnesota native also owns a spot in the conference's beam and floor leaderboards. Boris' 9.785 NQS ties for eighth on beam with Ball State's Hannah Ruthberg while her 9.820 NQS on floor sits in a three way tie for tenth.

YPSILANTI 49ERS: Eastern Michigan has recorded five event scores of 49.000 or better so far this season. The Eagles tallied its highest event score of the 2023 campaign, a 49.175 on bars, at home against Ball State, Jan. 22. The score is the second highest bars total among MAC programs through seven weeks of competition this season.
    In its most recent meet against Northern Illinois, Feb. 17, the Green and White posted a season-best 49.075 on beam. At Central Michigan, Feb. 12, posted two scores of 49.000 better, with a season-best 49.000 on floor and an impressive 49.150 on bars. Eastern Michigan also recorded a 49.000 on beam at the West Virginia Quad, Jan. 29.

FIRST YEAR PHENOM: Kyrie Lowe matched her career high with a 9.800 on beam in her second consecutive meet at Northern Illinois, Feb. 17. Lowe also scored a personal-best 9.650 on floor against the Huskies.
    Against Western Michigan, Feb. 12, the freshman notched two career-best 9.800 scores as part of the beam and bars lineups. Lowe has recorded three 9.800 performances on bars this season against Ball State, Jan. 22, Central Michigan, Feb. 3, and in the most recent meet at Western Michigan, Feb. 12.

CHANGE YOUR BEST: Four Eagles set career highs across three events against Northern Illinois, Feb. 17. Raisa Boris and Alana Fisher started the night off for EMU with two 9.825 personal best performances on vault. In the third and fourth rotations, Kyrie Lowe scored a career-high of 9.650 on floor before Cassie Bergin recorded her own personal best of 9.800 on beam.

KEY EAGLE: Awarded after every contest, the Eastern Michigan gymnastics coaching staff choose one gymnast to anoint as that meet's Key Eagle. Molly Parris earned the title for her efforts against Northern Illinois, Feb. 17. Parris posted both a team and season-high 9.825 on vault against NIU, along with another season-best 9.775 performance on bars.

FAMILIAR FACES: Cassie Bergin and Kent State's Dakota Lee both competed for Apex Athletics under Head Coaches Rob Wing and Amanda Depaola in St. James, N.Y. before their collegiate careers began last season. Both qualified for the 2021 Level 10 Region 6 Championships where Lee took second on bars and Bergin landed in third on vault.

NQS: Qualification for national competition is based on a team's and an all-around competitor's six best regular-season meet scores, of which three must be away. To obtain the national qualifying score (NQS), the high score is eliminated and the remaining five scores are averaged. In former years, this was known as the Regional Qualifying Score (RQS), which was changed for the 2019 season to reflect the new postseason format.

LAST TIME VS. KENT STATE: The Eagles finished third at the Kent State Triangular, March 6, 2022 behind Ohio State University (197.525) and KSU (196.550) with a 194.575 team score. Anna Grace McCullough and Emma Lewis recorded personal bests on floor and vault with 9.850 and 9.750 scores respectively. Molly Parris also posted a then career-high 39.025 in her hometown meet.

ALL TIME VS. KSU: The Golden Flashes own a 16-6 advantage over the Eagles since 2003. EMU also stands at 5-6 against KSU when the contest is held in Ypsilanti. Eastern Michigan defeated Kent State in two consecutive matches twice between 2015-2016 and in 2021.

ON THE HORIZON: Eastern Michigan will host Long Island University and Michigan State University in the EMU Triangular Friday, March 3, inside the George Gervin GameAbove Center. Brent Balbinot (play-by-play) and Kim Dowis (analyst) will have the call. Meet time is slated for 6 p.m.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Cassie Bergin

Raisa Boris

Ella Chemotti

Alana Fisher

Emma Lewis

Kyrie Lowe

Anna Grace McCullough

Molly Parris

Eastern Michigan Athletics