The Mid-American Conference gymnastics championships is the conference championship meet for women's gymnastics in the Mid-American Conference, a Division I member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). All conference members qualify for the championship meet, which is held in three rounds. The tournament began in 1981 and is rotated between the home arenas of the seven conference members. Through the 2021 championship, Central Michigan has won the most championships with 20, followed by Kent State with 12.
History and format The championship was organized in 1981 after the Mid-American Conference added women's gymnastics as a sponsored sport. The NCAA began sponsoring women's gymnastics as a sport in 1981 and held the first championship tournament in 1982. Prior to 1981, most MAC member schools had women's gymnastics teams who competed in the Division for Girls' and Women's Sports (DGWS), which staged its first national championship in 1968. The DGWS later became the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) in 1973. Teams also participated in regional and state-level championship meets, such as the Ohio Association of Intercollegiate Sports for Women and the Midwest Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women. Many of the programs were founded in the mid-1970s as a result of Title IX, though some programs originated earlier as clubs, such as Kent State in 1959.
The first MAC championship meet was hosted by Kent State University on March 21, 1981, in the Gymnastics Center at Memorial Gym and included the seven current members of the conference who sponsor women's gymnastics. Initially, eight conference members sponsored women's gymnastics, though Miami University was only able to participate in the 1982 championship meet and dropped the sport after the 1982–83 season. Northern Illinois University left the conference in 1986, reducing conference women's gymnastics membership to six teams, which stood until NIU returned to the conference for the 1997–98 season. The championship is rotated every year to the home arenas of the different member schools, so each school hosts every eighth year under the current format. At the meet, each team competes in four rotations: balance beam, uneven bars, vault, and floor exercise. In addition to the team champions, the conference recognizes an all-around winner and individual winners for each rotation. The team champion is awarded a regional berth in the NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championships.
By year The following is a list of conference champions, individual all-around winners, and championship locations listed by year. 1981 Memorial Gymnasium • Kent, Ohio Kent State Sonya McGhee (Eastern Michigan) 1982 Anderson Arena • Bowling Green, Ohio Bowling Green Laurie Garee (Bowling Green) 1983 Irving Gymnasium • Muncie, Indiana Bowling Green Julie Bender (Bowling Green) 1984 Chick Evans Field House • DeKalb, Illinois Kent State Julie Bender (Bowling Green)Darlene Davis (Northern Illinois) 1985 Rose Arena • Mount Pleasant, Michigan Bowling Green Sharon McNie (Eastern Michigan) 1986 Read Fieldhouse • Kalamazoo, Michigan Western Michigan Sharon McNie (Eastern Michigan) 1987 Bowen Field House • Ypsilanti, Michigan Western Michigan Linda Moran (Western Michigan) 1988 Memorial Gymnasium • Kent, Ohio Kent State Dainty Hiser (Kent State) 1989 Anderson Arena • Bowling Green, Ohio Kent State Sue McCarthy (Western Michigan) 1990 Irving Gymnasium • Muncie, Indiana Central Michigan Michelle Owens (Ball State)Shelby Root (Central Michigan) 1991 Rose Arena • Mount Pleasant, Michigan Central Michigan Allyson Newman (Eastern Michigan) 1992 Read Fieldhouse • Kalamazoo, Michigan Central Michigan Allyson Newman (Eastern Michigan) 1993 Bowen Field House • Ypsilanti, Michigan Central Michigan Robin Loheide (Eastern Michigan) 1994 Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center • Kent, Ohio Kent State Michelle Naessig (Kent State) 1995 Worthen Arena • Muncie, Indiana Central Michigan Jenny Snell (Central Michigan) 1996 Anderson Arena • Bowling Green, Ohio Kent State Shelly Stambaugh (Kent State) 1997 Rose Arena • Mount Pleasant, Michigan Kent State Michelle Naessig (Kent State) 1998 Chick Evans Field House • DeKalb, Illinois Central Michigan Amber Gaskill (Central Michigan) 1999 University Arena • Kalamazoo, Michigan Central Michigan Marny Oestreng (Bowling Green) 2000 EMU Convocation Center • Ypsilanti, Michigan Central Michigan Marny Oestreng (Bowling Green) 2001 Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center • Kent, Ohio Kent State Sarah Dame (Central Michigan)Marny Oestreng (Bowling Green) 2002 Worthen Arena • Muncie, Indiana Ball State Kara Reighard (Central Michigan) 2003 Anderson Arena • Bowling Green, Ohio Central Michigan Kara Reighard (Central Michigan) 2004 Rose Arena • Mount Pleasant, Michigan Central Michigan Sarah Burtinsky (Central Michigan) 2005 NIU Convocation Center • DeKalb, Illinois Kent State Sarah Burtinsky (Central Michigan) 2006 University Arena • Kalamazoo, Michigan Western Michigan Jennifer Sturgis (Western Michigan) 2007 EMU Convocation Center • Ypsilanti, Michigan Eastern Michigan Jolene Worley (Eastern Michigan) 2008 Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center • Kent, Ohio Kent State Andrea de la Garza (Central Michigan) 2009 Worthen Arena • Muncie, Indiana Kent State Katie Simon (Central Michigan) 2010 Anderson Arena • Bowling Green, Ohio Central Michigan Katie Simon (Central Michigan) 2011 McGuirk Arena • Mount Pleasant, Michigan Central Michigan Kristin Teuber (Central Michigan) 2012 NIU Convocation Center • DeKalb, Illinois Central Michigan Bethany Petzold (Central Michigan) 2013 University Arena • Kalamazoo, Michigan Central MichiganWestern Michigan Marie Case (Kent State) 2014 EMU Convocation Center • Ypsilanti, Michigan Central Michigan Marie Case (Kent State) 2015 Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center • Kent, Ohio Kent State Anna Corbett (Western Michigan) 2016 Worthen Arena • Muncie, Indiana Eastern Michigan Lauren Feely (Bowling Green) 2017 Stroh Center • Bowling Green, Ohio Eastern Michigan Rachel Stypinski (Kent State) 2018 McGuirk Arena • Mount Pleasant, Michigan Central Michigan Gianna Plaska (Central Michigan) 2019 NIU Convocation Center • DeKalb, Illinois Northern Illinois Denelle Pedrick (Central Michigan) 2020 University Arena • Kalamazoo, Michigan Cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic 2021 University Arena • Kalamazoo, Michigan Eastern Michigan Sarah Moravansky (Western Michigan) 2022 George Gervin GameAbove Center • Ypsilanti, Mich Central Michigan Hannah DeMers (Central Michigan) 2023 Memorial Gymnasium • Kent, Ohio Central Michigan Hannah DeMers (Central Michigan) 2024 Worthen Arena • Muncie, Indiana Western Michigan Zoe Middleton (Ball State) 2025 Worthen Arena • Muncie, Indiana Central Michigan Hannah Appleget (Central Michigan) 2026 Anderson Arena • Bowling Green, Ohio Central Michigan Luciana Alvarado-Reid (Central Michigan)
By school The following table lists all teams that have been part of the championship, the years they have participated, and the years the respective program has won the team championship.
Central Michigan 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2018, 2022, 2023, 2025, 2026 Kent State 1981, 1984, 1988, 1989, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2015 Western Michigan 1986, 1987, 2006, 2013, 2024 Eastern Michigan 2007, 2016, 2017, 2021 Bowling Green 1982, 1983, 1985 Ball State 2002 Northern Illinois 2019 Miami
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