Bowling Green State University sophomore gymnast Katrina Mendez Abolnik has secured a bid to the 2023 NCAA Regionals on vault, as announced on the NCAA Selection Show on Monday.
She will compete at the Pittsburgh Regional, which will be held March 29-April 2 at the Petersen Events Center on the campus of Pitt.
Mendez Abolnik (Bristow, Va.) has a vault NQS of 9.865 with a season-best 9.9 on vault. Her NQS score is the fourth-best in the MAC this season.
Mendez Abolnik is the first Falcon to secure an NCAA individual bid since Jovannah East and Lauren DeMeno in 2019. East competed in the all-around while DeMeno competed on vault.
Mendez Abolnik’s PR of 9.9 on vault happened twice this season and is tied for seventh all-time at BGSU in the event. She set the personal record at the Michigan State tri-meet with LIU and she equaled it again a week later at Eastern Michigan.
Most recently, Mendez Abolnik tallied a 9.825 on vault at the MAC Championship which placed her eighth. She has tallied a 9.8 or higher in six-straight meets.
Taylor Jensen set a PR on beam with a 9.9 to capture the MAC Championship in the event on Saturday afternoon at the M.A.C. Center on the campus of Kent State at the 2023 Gymnastics MAC Championship.
Jensen’s first MAC individual championship is the first by a BGSU Falcon since Jovannah East in 2019. East also won on beam in 2019. Jensen also finished second on vault with a 9.875 and was named to the MAC All-Tournament team following the meet.
Kathryn Weilbacher originally was given a 9.9 to share the championship with Jensen. It took over 30 minutes to determine an error that one of the four judges didn’t mean to flash a 10.
In MAC Championship scoring there are four judges, and the top and low scores are dropped with the remaining scores averaged. After the change, Weilbacher had a 9.95 and a 9.80 dropped. Weilbacher’s score feel to a 9.850 and she finished fourth in the event.
Isabella Rivelli tied her PR on bars with a 9.9, which also is tied for sixth all-time in program history in the event. Madison Coburn had her third-best vault of the season at 9.75 and Katelyn Goldstrom had her second-best vault of the season at 9.7.
Elise Brzoska had a PR 9.8 on beam and Lily Harsch tied her season best on bars with a 9.725.
“I am really proud of the effort by the team today,” BGSU coach Kerrie Turner said. “They really put four events together on the same day, which is tough to do at MACs with seven rotations going all on at once.
“We have seen them battle all season and really crush it here at the end.”
