Jan. 15, 2009
NORMAL, Ill. -
The Illinois State gymnastics team (0-2) is set to compete in East Lansing, Mich., Saturday against Michigan State, Iowa, and West Virginia at the Flip for a Cure meet. The meet, which is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. CST, will be hosted by Michigan State in efforts to raise breast cancer awareness.
Head coach Bob Conkling knows this is going to be a tough meet for the Redbirds, but is hoping to come out of the competition with a better sense of how Illinois State ranks amongst the top teams in the nation.
"It is going to be a tough competition," said Conkling. "I knew when I set up the meet that this was going to be a tough meet for the girls because these are teams that are consistently making regionals. I like tough competitions. I think it is good for the girls to see what a tough competition is. It inspires the team to rise to that caliber of gymnastics. It really does make the girls work to reach that top-20 status."
The Redbirds are coming off a close loss to Central Michigan Jan. 9., but are hoping to carry the momentum they had on balance beam and the vault into this week's competition.
"In terms of consistency, vault has been the best event for us," said Conkling. "Strength wise balance beam is our best event. I think we have the depth and the talent that can get high scores on the beam. At least three or four girls are more than capable of getting a 9.800 or higher."
The Redbirds have at least one gymnast in the top-three in every individual event in the Midwest Independent Conference. Sophomore Hannah Deutsch was also awarded MIC Gymnast of the Week on Wednesday.
"Going into this meet we really need to focus on ourselves and what we can do to hit our routines," said Conkling. "I think the girls are really prepared well for this meet. I am excited and think we will do really well."
