East and Pedrick Qualify For NCAA Championships
Tuscaloosa Regional Results
Columbus Regional Results
Stories Courtesy of MAC Sports Information
Central Michigan
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Denelle Pedrick is headed to the NCAA Championships.
The Central Michigan sophomore tied for first on floor exercise on Saturday at the NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional to punch her ticket to the NCAA Championships for the second consecutive year.
The 2018 NCAA Chammpionships are scheduled for April 20-21 in St. Louis. Pedrick scored a 9.900 on floor on Saturday to share the top spot with Sabrina Vega of Georgia. It is Pedrick's second collegiate regional title. She won the vault, and thereby earned a trip to the NCAAs, in 2017.
"Denelle has had that ability all year long," CMU coach Jerry Reighard said. "She just really came into her own tonight and did a really great floor routine. She hung in there with some former Olympians and I feel really good about that."
The Chippewas posted a 195.825 team score, finishing sixth in the six-team field. CMU was the lone team in the regional that was not ranked in the top 25 nationally. No. 4 Alabama, the host team, was first with a 197.225. No. 18 Georgia (196.500) was second. The Crimson Tide and the Bulldogs qualified for the NCAA Championships.
CMU scored a 48.850 on vault; 49.075 on bars; 48.975 on balance beam; and 48.925 on floor.
"Overall, the team did a really nice job," Reighard said. "We struggled a little bit with our first two people in the lineup on every event and that was costly. The senior class really came through and did a wonderful job. We have one individual qualifying onto nationals. That's exciting. I think we did a really good job."
CMU senior Katy Clements, who last week earned All-America honors, was second on balance beam with a 9.900. Kiana Winston of Alabama won with a 9.925.
Other top-10 finishes for CMU came from Bryttany Kaplan and Gianna Plaksa on bars, and from Pedrick on vault. Kaplan (9.900) and Plaksa (9.875) were fourth and 10th, respectively, on bars, and Pedrick (9.875) was fifth on vault.
Clements and Kaplan are seniors, two of five on the Chippewa roster. Courtney Campbell, Macey Hilliker and Miranda Wieczorek are the others.
CMU returned to championship form in 2018, winning its first Mid-American Conference Championships title since 2014. The Chippewas also captured the regular-season MAC title, their first since 2015.
The Chippewas scored a 197.025 in winning the MAC Championships. It was the third-best score in program history. Their vault score that day, 49.450, was the best in program history in that event.
"This senior class has been such an inspiration not just to the team, but to the coaching staff," Reighard said. "They have sacrificed. They have given us more than I think anyone thought they would. I couldn't be more pleased that they went out the way they did."
Bowling Green
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University gymnastics season lives on. At the NCAA Women's Gymnastics Central Regional, sophomore Jovannah East dazzled the St. John Arena crowd through four events and tallied an all-around total of 39.250. That result earned her a berth as an all-around competitor at the national championship meet. East becomes the first BGSU gymnast ever to compete in all four events at nationals and only the second to reach the season's final meet. Marny Oestreng reached the NCAA Championships in the floor exercise and ultimately won the national championship in that event during the 1999 season.
East joined teammates Lauren DeMeno, India McPeak, Laura Mitchell, and Kayla Rose at the regional, held in Columbus, Ohio on Saturday (April 7). DeMeno competed on the vault, while Rose traveled as the first alternate for the floor exercise. McPeak and Mitchell wrapped up their BGSU careers with performances on the balance beam.
East rotated with UCLA, who is ranked third nationally, and competed in this order: floor, vault, bars, beam.
She began the meet with her usual high-scoring floor routine, which includes her signature side pass, earning a 9.850 and a tie for 11th place. She has scored that well or better on floor in 11 of her 14 meets.
East moved to the vault for the second rotation and tallied a 9.825.
She placed in a tie for 15th in the event, but more importantly, reached the halfway point with a 19.675 total.
After a bye, she switched to the uneven bars. East began competing on bars midway through this season and continues to grow, posting a 9.725 on Saturday. Since taking a one-week break at Kent State, she has scored 9.7 or better in three consecutive meets.
East concluded the meet on the balance beam, where she has been on fire over the last two months. She earned an eighth-place tie by scoring 9.850 and solidified her nationals credentials by completing the all-around with a total of 39.250. She has featured a 9.850 or better on beam in six of her last eight tries.
