Jan. 6, 2006
Results
Normal, Ill. -
Victory was shared among the Illinois State gymnasts for their first win of the season over Winona State and University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse on Friday, January 06, in Horton Field House. The Redbirds swept first places in all four events and ISU's Whitney Albright led the all-around competition with a score of 36.875 followed by teammate Cheryl Berezan, who earned a 36.500.
Coach Conkling was pleased with this start for their season.
"I am happy with my team and how they performed," said Conkling. "It was a strong showing for our first meet. Walking away with a win and still having room for improvement means we will only get better throughout the season."
ISU's freshman, Meaghan Koshman, set the tempo with a 9.825 vault. This was the high vault of the meet with the closest competitor trailing behind at 9.7. The 'Birds began in the lead and remained there the entire competition.
"We had a great start on vault considering I was only able to have five out of six in the line up due to Shanelle Richardson's injury this week," said Conkling. "This was the event that I was most concerned with, but all five hit and I was so proud of them. Meaghan had been injured so for her to come back in such a short period of time was remarkable."
After success on the vault, ISU moved onto the uneven bars where their lead did not waiver.
Amanda Candler led the meet with her 9.175 bar routine. The next four places were held by ISU, placing them first through fifth on the bars. The closest competitor to ISU on this event scored a 8.5.
"Amanda did great on her bar routine," said Conkling. "She covered up one mistake, but to win on that event with a mistake says a lot about how great the rest of her performance was."
Senior Amy Biedenharn carded a 9.625 on beam.
"Amy's routine was rock solid," said Conkling. "She had a great performance on the beam. She is definitely a leader in this event and her routine showed."
In the Redbirds last event, the floor exercise, Tove Fjordholm led the team with her 9.525.
"I thought we had a great night with our floor routines," said Conkling. "I was pleased with everyone's and Tove's routine was a big highlight of the meet. I couldn't have been more pleased about our performance."
The Redbirds travel to Kentucky on Saturday, January 14 at six p.m. for their next meet.
