Jan. 25, 2006
Normal, Ill. -
After the Illinois State gymnastics squad (3-2) inched by Southeast Missouri State by a point last Saturday, the Redbirds travel to Ohio (1-2) to see what kind of competition the Bowling Green State Falcons have to offer at 6 p.m. Saturday.
Bowling Green State's scores from its last two meets have not eclipsed ISU's season high of 189.425 achieved last weekend, although BGSU has higher team averages than ISU.
"I think that this Saturday will be a great competition," said ISU head coach Bob Conkling. "It will come down to which team hits their routines, because as of now we are evenly matched."
The first time on the road, ISU returned with losses to Southeast Missouri State and Kentucky. Conkling believes traveling to Bowling Green will take a slight toll on the athletes, but he's confident about the athletes' positive attitudes.
"We travel well together," said Conkling. "We are starting to put more importance on the little stuff, like eating better and getting enough sleep. Eating poorly is like putting bad fuel into a car; it won't run as well. I think that the girls will do whatever it takes to have the feeling that they had after their last victory over Southeast Missouri State."
This weekend's meet will contain a few small changes in the line-up. Junior Whitney Albright will be returning to the bars, but will be absent from the all-around competition due to her recovering sprained ankle.
"I am really looking forward to having Whitney back in our line-up," said Conkling. "Although right now I will probably just have her on bars, she is still an asset to the team."
Cheryl Berezan, a sophomore, has not yet missed a meet or an event. Conkling is eager to see more of Berezan's top-notch routines.
"I look for Cheryl to improve even more during this meet," said Conkling. "She wants it very badly and although she had some major achievements last week with her personal best of 9.650 on the beam and her season best floor routine (9.7), she is capable of more and I look forward to her bringing that out as the season progresses."
