Senior captain Lisa Klein led the Illinois State gymnastics team with team-high scores on both the beam and the floor, but her performance wasnt quite enough as the Birds picked up their second and third losses of the season Sunday in Michigan, losing to Central Michigan and Michigan State.
The Chippewas of Central Michigan took home first-place honors with a score of 193.975, edging out in-state opponent, Michigan State (193.025). Illinois State carded a 188.625, taking third at the triangular meet.
Klein led the Redbird squad with a team-high score of 9.800 on the balance beam and a 9.725 on the floor exercise. Klein tied for third place on the beam with Michigan States Victoria Iakounina. Her floor score secured a sixth-place tie with Jennifer Yarbrough of Michigan State.
Other high scores for Illinois State were turned in by Pam Hoover on the vault. Hoovers 9.575 on the vault was an improvement from her 9.550, which led the team in last weeks loss to Ball State. Freshman Whitney Albright led all Bird competitors on the uneven bars with a 9.600.
Illinois State slipped to 0-3 on the season. However, according to head coach Kristin Montero, the Birds made several improvements in the Michigan showdown.
The girls made many improvements in todays competition, said Montero. We werent necessarily happy with our overall team score but the judging was pretty tight this afternoon. Im not making any excuses. I understand that is how the scoring will be all year, but I did see some things today that we can build on and continue to improve upon in the upcoming weeks.
CMU improved its record to 6-1, while Michigan State is 2-3.
Sara Burtinsky of Central Michigan turned in the strongest performance of the afternoon on the beam. She took first place with a 9.925, it was the second-best performance in school history on the beam. Burtinsky has now taken first on the beam in her first two meets of the season. Central Michigans Kara Reighard was the all-round champion, with a combined score of 38.600, turning in a high score of 9.850 on the floor.
Montero is confident that her team will work hard this week in practice in order to build upon todays performance.
I believe that in the weeks to come, the hours of hard work spent in the gym will really pay off, said Montero. We are a team that is committed to getting better and we are confident that this rebuilding process will yield great results.
Returning to action on January 23, the Birds travel to Muncie, Ind. for a 7 p.m. meet against the Cardinals of Ball State. This will be the second meeting between the teams since the start of the season. Ball State defeated the Illinois State 191.775-189.075, during both squads first match of the season.
