Jan. 17, 2009
Final Stats
EAST LANSING, Mich. -
The Illinois State gymnastics team (0-3) struggled after the loss of senior Meaghan Koshman due to an ankle injury during Saturday's meet at East Lansing. The Redbirds finished fourth with a total score of 190.700. Iowa won the competition with a 194.350 followed by Michigan State in second with a score of 194.200, and third place went to West Virginia 193.700. The event was hosted by Michigan State at Jenison Field House.
Head coach Bob Conkling felt that despite a few minor mistakes he was really proud about how the team pulled together after a rough start.
"We started off the night on a rough note when we lost Meaghan on vault and floor due to an ankle injury," said Conkling. "Our first event, the uneven bars, didn't go very well we had our lowest team score of the season. However, the team picked it up on beam and floor with top team scores. On the vault, Katie (Witty) really stood up. She replaced Meaghan in the event without a chance to warm-up her routine. I was really proud of how the team rallied and pulled together with all the unfortunate things that happened."
The Redbirds struggled on their first event of the night the uneven bars. Schick tied for fourth with two Michigan State gymnasts with a score of 9.775. ISU finished with a team score of 45.775 their lowest team score of the season in the event.
ISU managed to gain momentum going into the vault. Sophomore Robin Weissman was the top-performer for the Redbirds on the vault. Weissman tied for 12th with a season best of 9.700. Junior Erica Schick placed 15th with a score of 9.675. As a team, the Redbirds finished with a score of 48.175 on the event. Katlyn Roggensack from MSU, Jennifer Simbhudas from Iowa, and Chelsi Tabor from WVU tied for first place in the event with a 9.825.
ISU finished the next event with its best balance beam score of the season, 48.075. Sophomores Hannah Deutsch and Melissa Mann led the Redbirds in the event. Deutsch marked the Redbirds first top-three finish of the night with a score of 9.800, while Mann took seventh in the event with a 9.725. Kelsey Morley and Nicole Curler from Michigan State won the event with a 9.850.
On the floor routine, juniors Jessica Prousa and Schick stepped it up for the Redbirds, with a third place score of 9.775. Deutsch finished in 11th place with a score of 9.725. The floor routine was the best event of the night for the Redbirds with a total team score of 48.675, another team high for the `Birds. Amy Bieski from West Virginia won the event with a 9.850.
ISU had two all-around gymnasts competing in the meet. Weissman finished in fifth place with a total score of 38.550, while Schick took sixth in the all-around with a 38.375.
Illinois State will return home Friday for their second home meet of the season. The gymnasts will take on Bowling Green at 7 p.m. inside Horton Field House.
