The No. 22 Illinois State gymnastics team will travel to Winona State University on Saturday to close out its regular season at the Midwest Independant Conference (MIC) Championships and compete against Illinois-Chicago, Winona State and Southeast Missouri State.
Although Illinois State is ranked higher both nationally and regionally than Illinois-Chicago, the Redbirds have yet to beat the Flames in a head-to-head matchup this year. UIC has won all three meetings but by less than two points on each occasion.
ISU is 2-0 against Southeast Missouri State, while the Winona State Warriors and the Redbirds have yet to meet this season.
Illinois State leads all MIC opponents in terms of average scores, national rankings and overall performance level, and appears to be the class of the field.
But head coach Jill Hollembeak doesnt believe a win is necessarily important this weekend.
I dont want to focus on where we stack up as a team, said Hollembeak. Weve had a fantastic season and I think our goal this weekend is to really celebrate that and enjoy what weve accomplished. I think doing this will provide for confidence and consistency should we qualify for regionals. With or without regionals, we have nothing to lose.
If all goes well for the Birds, who are currently ranked No. 4 in the South Central region, they will be the fourth team in Illinois State history to qualify for the NCAA Regional Championships as a team. Redbird gymnastics has only competed as a team at regionals three times (1986, 1988, and 1995). Head coach Jill Hollembeak was a member of the 88 Redbird gymnastics team which made it to regionals.
With two high-scoring meets over spring break, not only did the Redbirds strengthen their regional qualifying score (RQS) by nearly two-tenths of point, but in the process, they elevated their national ranking three spots and bypassed the University of Arizona who is always a top contender in regional rankings. With a 9.9 on the floor exercise last weekend, Senior captain Michelle Huston also earned the No.1 South Central regional ranking last Monday.
To qualify for the NCAA Regional Championships (Apr. 7 at the University of Nebraska), the Redbird gymnasts must remain within the top five teams in the South Central region.
