Lightning Strikes: Celebrating Victory Over West Virginia!

MORGANTOWN, W. Va. – On Thursday night, the Kent State gymnastics squad traveled for the first time this season to compete in a dual meet against West Virginia at WVU Coliseum. The Golden Flashes advanced to 3-0 for the season, as their cumulative team score of 193.775 outperformed the Mountaineers’ score of 192.325.

The Flashes secured victories in three out of the four individual events, with Nene Alvine finishing the competition as the leading all-around performer, amassing a score of 38.550. This win signifies the Flashes’ first triumph over West Virginia since 2005, breaking an eight-meet winning streak by the Mountaineers in the series.

ROTATION 1 – BARS

The Flashes commenced the dual meet on the bars, where 9.800 scores from Mya Migliore and Heidi Schultz led the effort. The pair tied for third place in this event, which was the only competition of the evening not claimed by a Kent State gymnast. Close behind, Brynne Tsipis and Nastia Rudnitskaya recorded scores of 9.775 and 9.700 respectively.

ROTATION 2 – VAULT

Alvine’s impressive performance continued on vault, where she seized the event title with a score of 9.850, the highest score across all events for the night. Both Charlie Behner and Gabby Riley achieved the second-highest scores for Kent State in this event, each obtaining a score of 9.675.

ROTATION 3 – FLOOR

On the floor, Alvine showcased another stellar performance, matching her vault score of 9.850 to again lead the Flashes and claim victory in the event. Following closely, Behner secured a score of 9.825 to finish as the joint runner-up, while Riley’s score of 9.750 marked Kent State’s third-best performance in this event.

ROTATION 4 – BEAM

In the final rotation, Schultz led the Flashes to their third event victory of the night by scoring 9.850 on beam. Both Alvine and MAC Specialist of the Week Alyssa Guns achieved scores of 9.775, tying for second place in this event.

FLASHES BY EVENT

Vault

Nene Alvine – 9.850 (1st)

Charlie Behner – 9.675 (T-2nd)

Gabby Riley – 9.675 (T-2nd)

Mya Migliore – 9.650

Nastia Rudnitskaya – 9.525

Avery Compson – 9.525

Jersey Bingman – 9.475

Bars

Mya Migliore – 9.800 (T-3rd)

Heidi Schultz – 9.800 (T-3rd)

Brynne Tsipis – 9.775

Nastia Rudnitskaya – 9.750

Charlie Behner – 9.700

Sophia Balko – 9.475

Nene Alvine – 9.075

Beam

Heidi Schultz – 9.850 (1st)

Nene Alvine – 9.775 (T-2nd)

Alyssa Guns – 9.775 (T-2nd)

Gabby Riley – 9.650

Zoe Rankin – 9.500

Mya Migliore – 9.275

Nastia Rudnitskaya – 8.950

Floor

Nene Alvine – 9.850 (1st)

Charlie Behner – 9.825 (T-2nd)

Gabby Riley – 9.750

Alyssa Guns – 9.600

Nastia Rudnitskaya – 9.000

Emma Masse – 8.850

UP NEXT

After a ten-day respite, Kent State will embark on another journey to commence MAC competition at Eastern Michigan on Sunday, January 26, at 1 p.m.