After claiming its second win of the 2005 season on Saturday, the Illinois State gymnastics team travels to Columbia, Mo. for this weekends Cat Classic, using that victory as much-needed momentum.
Currently ranked 24th in the nation, the Missouri Tigers host this years 25th annual Mizzou Cat Classic. Illinois State will join Missouri, New Hampshire, and Towson as the competing schools. Unique among in-season competition, the two-day event features team competition on Friday, Feb. 25 and individual championships on Saturday, Feb. 26. Both days events will begin at 7 p.m. at the Hearnes Center.
Host Missouri leads the MU-ISU series 14-3; the Tigers last faced the Redbirds at the 2003 Cat Classic when Mizzou topped Illinois State 196.475-193.600.
New Hampshire boasts an 8-5 record on the season and is ranked 31st in national GymInfo standings. The Wildcats hold their highest marks on vault, 48.750, with a 15th place ranking. The squad also ranks 34th on the beam (47.405), 35th on the bars (47.645), and 39th on the floor (47.405).
Ranking 36th nationally, Towson owns a 9-5 record. They have picked up consecutive quad meet titles at Cornells Big Red and Towson Invitationals. Also, the Tigers are ranked 35th on the beam (47.385), 36th on the vault (47.970), 37th on the bars (47.580) and 43rd on the floor (47.890).
Illinois State head coach Kristin Montero looks to this weekends Cat Classic as a chance for her squad to face nationally-recognized teams.
Missouri always puts on a great meet and it will be nice to see teams that we dont get a chance to compete against very often, said Montero. I am hopeful that our team will put it all together on Friday night and the best performances will advance to Saturday. The finals (Saturday) are great because they highlight some of the girls who had outstanding performances the night before. The people who have been performing well deserve that recognition.
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