Gymnastics Opens Regular Season at Kent State

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YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University gymnastics team officially opens up the 2010 regular season Friday, Jan. 22, when the Eagles head to Kent, Ohio to square off against the reigning Mid-American Conference champions and preseason favorites from Kent State University. The competition is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. at the Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center.

LAST MEETING: The Eagles and Golden Flashes met twice last season, with KSU topping EMU in both instances. Then No. 25 Kent State posted a team score of 195.450 at the Eagle Invitational, March 7, finishing third overall behind No. 13 Missouri (195.700) and Central Michigan (195.675), while EMU finished fourth with 193.375 points. At the 2009 MAC Championship, Kent State took home the title with a score of 194.500, while the Eagles tied for fifth with Ball State with a score of 191.675.

RINGING IN THE NEW YEAR: EMU returns 12 letterwinners from last year's squad, while six newcomers enter their first season. This season marks the 28th year for Head Coach Steve Wilce, who looks for improvements in 2010 after a 6-10 finish and fifth place finish at the MAC Championship last year.

THE SENIORS: The Eagles have three seniors on this year's squad, including Mickayla Balow (Blaine, Minn.-Spring Lake Park), Samantha Golden (Denville, N.J.-Morris Knolls) and regional qualifier Erin Grigg (North Bay, Ontario-Widdifield). Grigg ranked in the top 25 in the MAC in every event last season, including fourth all-around, earning Academic All-MAC honors and MAC Scholar Athlete of the Week honors twice.

HALF A DOZEN: The team welcomes six newcomers this season, including Brittany Byrd (Plano, Texas-Plano East), Brittany Cassar (Kings Park, N.Y.-Kings Park), Camille Cicchini (Royal Palm Beach, Fla.-Royal Palm Beach Community), Kristina Kurkmilis (Eagleville, Pa.-Methacton), Erica Mahan (Rochdale, Mass.-Notre Dame) and Kaylyn Millick (Washington, Pa.-Trinity).

HOME SWEET HOME: EMU returns to the friendly confines of Bowen Field House for its home opener when the Chippewas from CMU come to Ypsilanti for a Jan. 30 meet at 7 p.m. EMU will compete at home just two more times following the CMU competition, as the Eagles host Western Michigan, Feb. 13, at Warner Gymnasium for Senior Day, followed by the Eagle Invitational, March 13, when the team hosts WMU, Northern Illinois and Seattle Pacific.

HEADING WEST: The Eagles will make their annual spring break trip to the West Coast this season when they compete in the Stanford Invitational, Feb. 28, against the Stanford Cardinal, North Carolina Tarheels and California Bears. The team will remain in California for the California-Davis Invitational, March 5, when they take on UC-Davis and Sacramento State.

ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE: The National Association of Collegiate Gymnastics Coaches/Women (NACGC/W) announced the completion of its 2009 Scholastic All America Award Winners and National Academic Champions at the end of last season and the Eagles finished the season ranked No. 8 in the country with a 3.51 team GPA. A total of 13 EMU gymnasts had a GPA of 3.5 or higher.

MAC PRESEASON POLL: The Eagles were picked to finish fifth in the MAC, according to the league's head coaches, while the Golden Flashes were dubbed the preseason favorites. Central Michigan was picked to finish second, followed by Northern Illinois, Bowling Green, EMU, Western Michigan and Ball State.

Eastern Michigan Athletics

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