Jan. 26, 2007
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
NORMAL, Ill. -- The Illinois State gymnastics team came out with a win Friday night after competing for the first time against Alaska Anchorage (188.375-185.425.) The Redbirds (3-2) had a night of great performances achieving the higher score on each event against the Seawolves.
Senior Whitney Albright placed in the top three in each event; as well as tying for first place in the all-around (38.350.) Head coach Bob Conkling was extremely happy with Albright's performances throughout the evening.
"This was Whitney's night and she was four-for-four. She does what she is supposed to do and puts in the effort all of the time," said Conkling. "She has been prepared for months and she has been hitting every event. She deserves it."
Meaghan Koshman led the competition on vault with a season high (9.800) helping with the night's top event score of 47.875. The second highest event score of the night was on the floor exercise (47.125). Carolina Posada placed first and tied her career high score with a 9.725. A balance beam lineup change replaced Anne Fjordholm to take care of a bothersome leg injury. Twin sister Tove Fjordholm came in and scored a 9.400. She also placed second overall on the floor exercise with a 9.6.
"It was Anne's choice because her confidence level wasn't there with the pain she was feeling. She can always put up a great beam set," Conkling said. "We put Tove in and she did great."
Oustanding performances were held by Amanda Candler and Mary Hankosky on their uneven bar sets. The two gymnasts tied their career high scores with a 9.8 and 9.725 and came in first and second place respectively.
Conkling is pleased with the bar sets the girls threw tonight.
"Amanda added in a new element and had a nice bar set," Conkling said. "She is the only who has bumped her difficulty up and it paid off. Mary did a great job too and I am very happy she is in this lineup."
Assistant coach Steve Avgerinos felt the sets tonight went well especially since it was a recovery week.
"Overall, it was a good night and we didn't get a lot of routines in before we began. Mentally, it's a different place to be walking into a competition," Avgerinos said. "Whitney had a fabulous night and Amanda (Candler) was great on bars. The lineup has been solid on vault all year and we are confident with it."
