Finishing the night with two first-place finishes, Illinois States Megan Goetting led the Redbird gymnastics team in a 187.225-185.300 conference loss to Southeast Missouri State, Saturday evening in Horton Field House.
Goetting, a junior, competed in only two events, the balance beam and the floor exercise, but claimed first place in both. The St. Joseph, Ill. native carded a 9.525 on the beam and a 9.650 on the floor. Goetting shared first place honors on the floor with fellow Redbird Tove Fjordholm.
Despite the loss of Whitney Albright, who injured her ankle during her vault, Illinois State was leading after the first rotation. However, the Birds were shaky as a team as the dual meet continued, struggling on the uneven bars and the balance beam. The squad was able to come back in the fourth and final rotation, as they posted a 47.425 on the floor, the highest event score of the night for the Redbirds.
Southeast dominated the all-around competition, claiming the three top spots. Brystol Powelski and Tara Boldt shared the all-around title, both scoring 37.750.
Other top finishers for Illinois State were Carolina Posada, who finished fourth overall on the vault with a score of 9.475. Fellow freshman Amanda Candler led the Birds on the uneven bars, turning in a 9.475 and claiming third place.
Illinois State head coach Kristin Montero had mixed feelings about the teams third loss of the season.
We were shaky, said Montero. We started off okay but simply had too many falls to come out on top tonight. I was happy with how we ended things with our floor routines this evening. We made some improvements that we have been trying to make in that event. But overall I expect much better things, much stronger things, from this team.
The Redbirds, who are now 0-3, will compete again on January 21 as they travel to Ball State. The dual meet will begin at 7 p.m.
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