No. 33 Illinois State gymnastics team travels to DeKalb, Ill., to compete in a quadrangular meet against host NIU (1-4), Ball State (5-3) and Division III University of Wisconsin-Whitewater (8-5), at Chick Evans Fieldhouse on Feb. 3 at 2 p.m.
In the last three competitions against NIU, the Redbirds have come out on top, most recently posting a 195.175 -192.00 win over the Huskies. No. 27 Ball State will prove to be the toughest competition, as the Redbirds fell short to the Cardinals in the teams two meetings last season.
The Redbirds spent this week regrouping after last weekends loss at the Rocky Mountain Invite to host Air Force Academy, and were forced to face the loss of a second gymnast due to injury. Prior to the meet, senior Jaime Reineck suffered a broken wrist on vault warm-ups, while sophomore Lisa Klein was injured at the home season opener, where she suffered a torn ACL. Despite losing Reineck and Klein, according to head coach Beth Larson, the team is ready to step up and have great performances.
This week we have focused on starting fresh. The loss of Jaime and Lisa is tough on us because they are strong competitors, said Larson. But individuals on the team are taking the realization that it is their time to focus on being mentally prepared to be in the line up. It will be exciting to see individuals step up and have some huge performances for the team.
