Feb. 14, 2008
NORMAL, Ill. -
After scoring its best team total against Rhode Island last Friday, the Illinois State gymnastics team (4-1) will travel to Anchorage, Alaska to take on Alaska-Anchorage (3-5) in its fourth road trip of the season. The first competition is set to begin Friday at 10 p.m., and the second meet is scheduled to start at 5 p.m. on Sunday. Both meets will be held in the Wells Fargo Sports Complex.
Head coach Bob Conkling feels that his team has an excellent chance of coming out of the weekend with great results.
"The team is very strong right now," said Conkling. "I expect the gymnasts to do great this weekend. I have high expectations of what they can do and what they will do. It is an excellent opportunity for the gymnasts to have two meets in the same weekend."
According to the GymInfo polls, the Redbirds are ranked No. 38 in the country in team totals.
In the meet against Rhode Island on Fri. Feb. 8, the `Birds scored a 193.975 team total, the highest score in Conkling's three-year tenure at Illinois State.
Three Redbird gymnasts lead four individual events in the Midwest Independent Conference (MIC). Junior co-captain Meaghan Koshman leads the conference in the vault routine with an average score of 9.845. Senior co-captain Amanda Candler averages a score of 9.775 on the bars, allowing her to lead the conference in the event. Freshman stand-out Hannah Deutsch leads two events in the conference, averaging a score of 9.785 on the balance beam and a 9.770 on the floor routine.
The `Birds are in the top-three in all of the events in the MIC standings. ISU is ranked second in the uneven bars with an average team score of 48.320, and is second in the floor routine with an average team score of 48.190. The Redbirds are ranked third in the vault and on balance beam.
The Seawolves won their last meet by a score of 189.600-189.250 against Yale. Alaska-Anchorage will go into Friday's meet on a 12-day break.
The double-meet competition is the first time this season that the Redbirds will compete twice in the same weekend.
