BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. -- Fairmont State has been picked to win the 2020 Mountain East Conference Acrobatics & Tumbling Championship, the league announced today after a vote of the league coaches.
The Falcons finished atop the poll with 24 points, including four first-place votes. Fairmont State was 8-2 last year and won the first-ever MEC Championship before advancing to the NCATA Championship as the No. 5 seed. However, Fairmont State lost all five all-conference athletes from last season and will feature just one senior in the lineup in base/tumbler Madeline Rushing. A group of five juniors will also help lead the team in 2020, led by Alexis Smith, who was an event finalist in open tumbling at the national championships last year.
West Liberty was slotted second in the poll with 21 points and had two first-place votes. The Hilltoppers will be led this year by first-year head coach Kelsey Kyle, who competed last season for Fairmont State. West Liberty brings back four student-athletes who earned All-MEC laurels last season, led by first-team selection Theresa Evangelista. Kylee Buzzard, Kenzie Kyle and Lexus Ficca all earned second-team honors last year and return to the lineup for West Liberty.
Glenville State, the runner-up at last year's conference championship, was picked to finish third with 15 points. The Pioneers went 6-2 last year, but will have to replace several student-athletes who earned all-conference recognition a season ago.
Davis & Elkins was picked fourth with 12 points. The Senators return sophomore Nina Day as they try to qualify for the MEC Championship. Picked fifth with 11 points, West Virginia Wesleyan will be led by a pair of first-team All-MEC selections in Nicole Johnson and Joniah Howell. Urbana was sixth with seven points. The Blue Knights return two student-athletes who earned second team All-MEC honors last year in top/tumbler Sarah Calk and base/tumbler Kate-Lynn Sidenstacker.
The 2020 MEC Championship will be held April 10-11 on the campus of Fairmont State University.
2020 Mountain East Conference Acrobatics & Tumbling Preseason Poll
1. Fairmont State -- 24 (4)
2. West Liberty -- 21 (2)
3. Glenville State -- 15
4. Davis & Elkins -- 12
5. West Virginia Wesleyan -- 11
6. Urbana -- 7