KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan Gymnastics team heads just down the road to Battle Creek for the Next Level Podium Challenge on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Kellogg Arena.
 
Tickets can be purchased at the door. No live streaming will be available, but fans can follow along with live scoring at www.WMUSTATS.com.
 
The Broncos will compete against Pitt, George Washington and Illinois State. WMU defeated both GWU and ISU at last year's Next Level Podium Challenge.
 
Western Michigan officially opened the season last Saturday at No. 11 Michigan State, falling to the Spartans 196.850-194.675. The meet saw the debuts of freshmen Reilan Garvery, Tricia Mills, and Kennedy Cooper. Garvey competed in the all-around, posting a score of 9.725 on vault, bars, floor and finished with a score of 38.850.
 
The strongest individual performance came from sophomore Emily Krzciok on beam, winning the event with a career-best score of 9.900. Prior to that, Krzciok's only official collegiate completion was last season on beam against Eastern Michigan. The Freeland, Mich., native fell off the beam during her performance and was awarded an 8.500, marking a 1.400 jump in scores.
 
This will be Pitt and George Washington's first official meets of the season. Illinois State competed at the Mizzou Tri-Meet last weekend, posting a score of 194.800 to defeat Southeast Missouri State, but fell to Missouri and Ball State.
 
Western Michigan hosts New Hampshire and Fisk next Sunday at 1 p.m. for its Domestic Violence Awareness Meet. Tickets are available at www.wmubroncos.com/tickets.