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March 25, 2007
DEKALB, Ill. -
All-arounder Meaghan Koshman tied for third place on the vault with a 9.825 for the Illinois State gymnastics team at the Illinois Classic in DeKalb, Ill. ISU finished fourth with 188.5 points, behind Illinois (193.725), Northern Illinois (194.125), and Illinois-Chicago (194.625).
Head coach Bob Conkling was pleased with Koshman's performance against top competitors.
"At the Illinois Classic meet we are competing against Illinois who is No. 20 in the country, UIC who won the meet today, and were are facing Northern Illinois who we have never competed against before," said Conkling. "To have Meaghan in the top three against those three teams says a lot about her vaulting ability."
The Redbirds got off to rough start on the uneven bars and the balance beam, but were able to pull their routines together and hit solid performances on vault and floor. On vault, the Redbirds had four gymnasts hit season highs. All-rounder Jessica Prousa tied her season best score with a 9.50, Amanda Candler also tied her personal season best with at 9.650, Carolina Posada scored a 9.650 and Koshman vaulted a third place 9.825.
Other strong performances came from Prousa, who swung a solid bar performance notching another personal season best (9.775). Freshman Lisa Mulchek had a career best performance on the balance beam, scoring a 9.625
Conkling was proud of his teams perseverance as they had mistakes in the first two events but pulled though in the end.
"I am happy with how the girls came back and pulled off floor and vault after five mistakes in the first two events, said Conkling. "Vault has been our most consistent event all year, but to hang with the big boys we are going to have to step up and do more difficult vault routine. I am just pleased that they stepped up and pulled themselves together in the last two events."
The ISU gymnasts will be looking to finish the season strong March 31 at the Midwest Independent Conference Championships in Chicago, Ill.
