The freshman combination of Emily Gianfrancesco and Kayla Shaw has grown tremendously throughout their first seasons and are poised to build up the Bowling Green gymnastics program alongside first-year head coach Brittney Emmons.

They are the only two freshmen on the team and have helped lead Bowling Green’s strong underclassman presence this season.

“Being able to have them come in and be as successful as both of them have been this year has been awesome,” Emmons said.

Gianfrancesco, a former competitive dancer, tumbler, and cheerleader, joined the sport of gymnastics in her multisport youth.

“I ended up liking gymnastics the most, so I just stuck with it,” Gianfrancesco said.

Gianfrancesco played club gymnastics for Lakeshore Academy in Mount Prospect, Illinois, before joining USA Gymnastics (USAG) and coming to Bowling Green.

Her choice to be a Falcon was due to the athletic and academic sides of the university.

“I chose to come to Bowling Green because it provided a really good opportunity for me to do gymnastics in college,” Gianfrancesco said. “I also really loved the campus….as a business major, they [also] just redid the business building.”

Shaw’s path to wearing the Orange and Brown started farther north, growing up in a city in the Greater Toronto Area.

“I went to All-Star Sports Centre in Brampton, Ontario,” Shaw said. “My coach saw my potential and just pushed me to get to here.”

Both gymnasts had a bit of a learning curve moving from youth club gymnastics to playing for Bowling Green.

“In club gymnastics, you only compete like three times a year, so just learning how to be consistent every weekend was something that I had to learn and am still learning,” Shaw explained.

Coach Emmons and her coaching staff are preparing the freshman gymnasts for the transition from the individualized aspect of club gymnastics to the team component of collegiate gymnastics.

“Each individual makes up the team,” Emmons said. “Being able to have them recognize that their training from club prepares them for these moments of being able to be a part of the team is something that we continue to reiterate.”

One of these standout moments for Gianfrancesco was her career-high 9.800 score on the balance beam in the Towson quad meet, finishing in fourth place in the event.

“Our whole beam lineup did great so it was fun to be able to end it off with one of my best routines,” Gianfrancesco said.

Coach Emmons was especially proud of Gianfrancesco’s personal-record performance because of her willingness that day to be ready when called upon to sub into the starting lineup.

“To be like ‘hey, you’re going in, we need you to step up’ and for her to be rewarded for that was amazing to be able to see,” Emmons said.

Gianfrancesco isn’t a regular for the Falcons but stays mentally focused and ready for opportunities like the Towson meet career-high by competing in the exhibition performances at meets that don’t count towards the team’s final scores.

“It helps you stay in check and in the mental game because you’re still doing the gymnastics and you’re still showing the routine to judges,” Gianfrancesco said.

Shaw has had record-breaking performances of her own this year as one of the top-scoring gymnasts on the team, winning two events, coming in second place three times, and coming in third place two times.

The two-time former National Canadian Vault Champion has had this success despite transitioning into performing mainly in bars, beam, and floor events throughout her first year.

“Vault was my favorite event coming into here,” Shaw said. “Learning how to be consistent [on the other events] is really just a key thing for me this year.”

The floor exercise has been a particularly consistent strong suit for Shaw this season as she’s scored over a 9.800 six times and gotten both of her first-place victories on the mat.

Shaw’s first key to her floor success is not taking herself so seriously when performing her routines.

“For me, when I do gymnastics, I have to not be serious because when I’m too serious that’s when it goes bad,” Shaw said.

Her second key to her success is being confident in her gymnastics abilities.

“I just need to relax…chill…remember my training…know that I can do it and know what I’m capable of,” Shaw said.

Coach Emmons elaborated on Shaw’s mindset as a reason for her improvement over the year and the great success she’s achieved.

“Kayla has been someone that’s truly blossomed over this time,” Emmons said. “She’s trusting her training, her gymnastics, her teammates, and herself, most importantly.”

When reflecting on her first year at Bowling Green, Gianfrancesco cited the upperclassmen as a big influence in helping her to improve.

“They just welcomed me in personally,” Gianfrancesco said. “[They] helped me adjust to the new school and there’s a lot of support coming into a whole [new] team.”

As a fellow first-year Falcon, coach Emmons has also helped Gianfrancesco to grow throughout the year.

“She’s pushed myself to be better and pushed myself to clean up my routines to get more consistent,” Gianfrancesco said.

Coach Emmons praised the rookies for their coachability and positive character in their first season.

“They’re great people to be able to work with, they have put their best foot forward in and out of the gym,” Emmons said.

Bowling Green gymnastics is in good hands with Gianfrancesco and Shaw already performing at such high levels, and Emmons is ready to help guide them into their sophomore season.

“It’s been a lot of fun to be able to coach them and I’m excited for their future,” Emmons said.