March 2, 2008
Final Stats
NORMAL, Ill. - On Sunday afternoon, the Illinois State gymnastics team (7-1) performed its best floor routine of the season to come from behind, and defeat Southeast Missouri State (3-5),193.025-192.900, in Horton Field House. The gymnasts split their regular season competitions with the Redhawks after SEMO defeated ISU, 192.200-194.050, on Jan. 25 in Cape Girardeau.
Illinois State started the afternoon off strong with its vault performance. The team had a score of 48.775 and easily took the lead after the first round of events. Junior co-captain Meaghan Koshman tied for first-place with a score of 9.875. The freshmen trio of Erica Schick, Hannah Deutsch and Robin Weissman tied for second-place in the event with a score of 9.750. The score set a career-best for all three gymnasts.
The Redbirds continued to look strong on the uneven bars, claiming the top-three places in the event. Senior co-captain Amanda Candler won the bars with a tally of 9.725. Mary Hankosky and Schick tied for second with a score of 9.65 and Cheryl Berezan finished third with a score of 9.650, tying her career-best.
ISU struggled on the balance beam routine and fell behind SEMO at the end of the event. Deutsch stepped up for the Redbirds and won the event with a score of 9.750. She was the only Redbird to score within the top-three. Jena Nguyen and Jennifer Dinan took second and third place with a score of 9.675 and 9.650, respectively.
The Redbirds performed their best floor routines of the season, with a team score of 49.125. Koshman and Candler tied with SEMO's Sandra Blake at 9.850 to win the event. The score set a career-best for both gymnasts. Emily Matko and Deutsch were in a two-way tie for second place with a score of 9.825. The score was also enough to set a career-best for both gymnasts. Brianna Gaddie, from SEMO, finished the top-three with a score of 9.800.
In the all-around, Koshman took second with a score of 38.225, while Schick came in fourth with 38.050.
Head coach Bob Conkling was proud of his team, but feels there is significant room for improvement.
"Our vault and floor routines looked the best they have in a long time," said Conkling. "However, it was unfortunate that we had to count falls today. We cannot have a breakdown in the middle of meet like we did on the (balance) beam today. I am glad we won, but we did not perform to our abilities, and need to continue to get better."
Illinois State will be back on the road Saturday March 8, 2008 to take on Eastern Michigan in Ypsilanti, Mich. The Redbirds will face off against the Eagles at 1 p.m. EST. The competition is a non-conference meet.
