Jan. 7, 2009
Complete Results
NORMAL, Ill. -
The Illinois State gymnastics team hosted its season opener on Sunday afternoon, and fell to Southeast Missouri State, 191.525-191.725, in a Midwest Independent Conference meet held at Horton Field House.
Head coach Bob Conkling was extremely pleased with the way his team performed on vault and bars in the first meet.
"For our first meet we did great. There are some things we need to work on, but overall we did excellent," said Conkling. I thought bars and vault went really well. We had some mistakes on beam and floor, but it wasn't anything we can't fix. I think starting off with that kind of score, with the possibility of scoring even higher, is amazing. I just think it is going to be a great season."
The Redbirds started the afternoon on the vault, posting a score of 48.275. Senior Meaghan Koshman won the event with a score of 9.825, while sophomores Erica Schick and Robin Weissman placed third for the Redbirds with a score of 9.675.
On the uneven bars, the Redbirds continued to gain momentum as Weissman placed first with a score of 9.750. The Redbirds scored 48.525, on the bars, which was the highest score of the day for either team in any event.
In the next event, the balance beam, ISU was unable to maintain its consistency. As a team, the Redbirds had their lowest event score 47.125. However, junior Jessica Prousa tied for first in the event with a score of 9.775, and sophomore Hannah Deutsch took second in the event with a score of 9.750.
The Redbirds were still unstable in their final event, the floor routine. Deutsch placed first in the event with a score of 9.775 and sophomore Emily Matko tied for fourth in the event with a score of 9.625.
Weissman was the only Redbird to compete in the all around, placing third with a score of 37.225.
"I was extremely proud of how the day went," said Conkling. "For us to get above a 48.000 in our first meet on vault is great. Last year, we were averaging right around a 48 all season so I was very pleased with vault. On bars, I think they hit everything, but there are still things that need to be cleaned up. As for balance beam, we had the first meet jitters. I think the girls will work hard to correct their mistakes and we will be fine on beam. On floor, I think they expended a lot of energy prior to this event and by the time they got to floor they were a little tired. We had some mistakes but we had some really great hits too.
The Redbirds will travel to Mount Pleasant, Mich., on Friday Jan. 9, 2009 to compete against the Central Michigan Chippewas. The meet begins at 7 p.m.
