Jan. 31, 2009
Final Stats
SACRAMENTO -
The Illinois State gymnastics team came from behind in the final rotation to secure a road win over Sacramento State, 192.825-192.800, Friday night. The score was the Redbirds' highest of the season and evened their dual-meet record at 2-2.
"Overall, I was really proud of our performance," said head coach Bob Conkling. "This was our highest score of the year so far. One of our goals is to make sure our scores keep going up every meet and this one was almost a full point more than our previous high. The win is the icing on the cake, but scoring higher than we had all year was the highlight of the night."
The Redbirds started on the uneven bars and posted a 48.225, their second-highest score of the season. Sophomore Erica Schick was the top-Redbird performer in the event, tying for second with a score of 9.750. Sophomore Robin Weissman came in close behind her with a 9.725. Sacramento State opened with a 48.050 on the vault, giving ISU the early lead.
"We did very well on bars," Conkling said. "Everyone hit on bars, even our exhibition gymnast whose score didn't count towards our team total."
The Redbirds then moved to vault and had three-of the top-five scores for a 48.300 total. Senior Meaghan Koshman won the event with a 9.775. Weissman placed third with a 9.700 and Schick came in fourth with a 9.675. Sacramento State scored a 48.575 on the bars, the highest event score of the meet, to take the lead, 96.625-96.525, after two events.
"We were solid all the way through on vault, too. We performed really, really well on vault," Conkling said. "Meaghan Koshman was our top scorer and she had a great vault."
ISU moved on to the floor exercise and recorded a score of 47.800. Koshman tied for first place with a 9.750, followed by junior Jessica Prousa in third with a 9.725 and sophomore Hannah Deutsch in fourth with a score of 9.675. The Hornets scored a 48.375 on the balance beam and maintained a slight edge, 145.000-144.925, heading into the final rotation.
"Our scoring was a little bit low on floor, but the scoring was low for both teams," Conkling said.
The meet closed out with the Redbirds on the balance beam and the Hornets on the floor. Prousa posted the top Redbird score on the beam, tying for fourth with a 9.750. The Redbirds scored a 47.900 on the beam and that proved to be enough to overtake Sacramento State, who matched the ISU score of 47.800 on the floor.
"We were a little shaky on the beam, but it was still one of our top scores this year," Conkling said.
The Redbirds continue their California trip when they face California-Berkeley Sunday at 2 p.m. CST.
