MAC Gymnast of the Week
Tara Kofmehl, NIU, Junior
NIU’s Tara Kofmehl won three individual events and the all-around competition, establishing new personal bests on uneven parallel bars, on floor exercise and in the all-around, while surpassing her season high score on vault and matching her season best on balance beam. Kofmehl’s 39.325 total in the all-around marks the third straight meet she has bettered her previous best and is tied for the eighth-best mark in school history, and the best since 2018. Her 9.875 on uneven parallel bars surpassed her previous career best of 9.800, while her 9.925 on floor is tied for the sixth-highest score at NIU on floor and marks just the ninth time ever for a Huskie to reach that score on floor.
MAC Specialist of the Week
Jade Brown, Kent State, Senior
Brown had a weekend to remember, setting a new career high on bars and winning the individual title against Western Michigan with a score of 9.900. In the same meet, she tied a career-high 9.925 on floor to win the individual title. Against CMU on Sunday, she posted a 9.825 on both bars and floor to finish tied for fourth and fifth place, respectively. Her scores on Sunday helped the Golden Flashes post a season-high on bars as well as a season-high total score (197.325) and beat their MAC rival.
Other Nominees
Sierra DeMarinis, Central Michigan, Junior
DeMarinis won the all-around in CMU’s meet at Kent State with a score of 39.125. She also took second on vault (9.850) and on floor (9.850).
Payton Murphy, Western Michigan, Sophomore
Payton Murphy broke the WMU all-around record and tied a 17-year old beam record in win over Eastern Michigan, while also tying her personal-best on the floor. Her 39.375 all-around score against EMU is the highest all-around mark in the MAC this season
The 9.95 score on the beam against EMU is tied for the highest score on beam in the MAC this season. Murphy’s average beam score of 9.883 on the year places her among the top-15 nationally
She placed first (or tied for first) in four of eight events over two meets this week, while also winning all-around competition in one
Performances helped the Broncos go over 196 as a team in both meets on the week, including helping WMU to first win at Kent State since 1991. It marked the fifth and sixth times in school history the team exceeded 196.
Hadyn Crossen, Eastern Michigan, Sophomore
Sophomore Hadyn Crossen competed all-around for this first time in her career this weekend at Northern Illinois, Feb. 19, and at Western Michigan, Feb. 21. Crossen finished second in all-around competition against the Huskies, totaling 39.025 after hitting a career-high 9.800 on bars. The sophomore improved on her all-around score two days later at WMU, posting a 39.075 and finishing third. The Carmel, Ind. native placed fourth on beam, scoring 9.850, and helping the team reach a program-record beam score of 49.350.
Karlie Franz, Kent State, Sophomore
In just her second meet back since returning from injury, Franz put together her best meet of the season. She posted 9.800+ on three different events while helping the Golden Flashes to their best score the 2021 season (196.375). She posted a 9.850 on floor to finish in fourth place, while tying season highs on both vault (9.800) and bars (9.800) to finish tied for sixth and eighth, respectively.
Paige Bachner, Bowling Green, Junior
Paige Bachner set a new personal best on balance beam with a 9.825 to place third overall against Ball State Friday evening. Bachner added a season-best 9.750 on bars and posted a 9.525 on vault, just shy of her season-best of 9.550. Bachner helped the Falcons to their best team score of the season, as BGSU set team season-highs on each of the three events in which she competed.
Hannah Ruthberg, Ball State, Freshman
Hannah Ruthberg was the top all-around gymnast Friday night as Ball State moved to 12-0 in head-to-head scoring on the year. Ruthberg scored 39.225 all-around and was a top-3 scorer in three different events. She tied for first on vault and third on both bars and beam. Ruthberg is the top scorer for Ball State, a team that has not been outscored head-to-head yet this season.
Katie Kowalski, Central Michigan, Freshman
Kowalski took first on vault with a 9.875 in the meet at Kent State. The true freshman ranks second in the MAC on the event.
Clarissa Ludwig, Western Michigan, Junior
Tied with teammate Payton Murphy for first on floor exercise against Eastern Michigan with a personal-best 9.925. Tied for second on vault against the Eagles with a 9.8, trailing only teammate Sarah Moravansky (9.825). Helped the Broncos to go over 196 as a team in both meets this week, the fifth and sixth times in school history WMU exceeded 196, while also helping WMU to first win at Kent State since 1991
Shannon Gregory, Eastern Michigan, Junior
Junior Shannon Gregory competed on floor and beam against both Northern Illinois, Feb. 19, and Western Michigan, Feb. 21. Gregory placed third on beam at NIU, scoring 9.825, as well as posting a 9.550 on floor. At Western, the junior was a part of a historic beam lineup that set the program record for the apparatus (39.350), as she hit a career-high 9.875 in the event, again finishing third. The Edison, N.J. native also chipped in a floor score of 9.725, as the Eagles posted a season-high overall team score of 195.975.
Lily Harsch, Bowling Green, Sophomore
Lily Harsch set a personal best on the uneven bars with a 9.800 as Bowling Green set a new team season-best score in a meet against Ball State Friday. Harsch finished fifth overall on the event, posting BGSU’s second-best score of the evening on bars.
Brookelyn Sears, NIU, Sophomore
Sophomore Brookelyn Sears tied her career high with a 9.850 on uneven parallel bars to tie for second on the event (behind only Tara Kofmehl’s 9.875) versus Eastern Michigan on Friday night in DeKalb. Sears’ score matched her 9.850 set earlier this year (1-31).
Grace Evans, Ball State, Sophomore
Grace Evans scored a career-best 9.900 on bars Friday – a new career best – to help Ball State to a 195.550 score at Bowling Green on Friday. The 9.9 bars routine tied for second-best in the MAC this season and is the highest on the team since the 2018 season. Ball State is 12-0 head-to-head this season and has outscored Central, Kent, Western, Northern Illinois, BG and Eastern twice.
