March 21, 2009
Final Stats
NORMAL, Ill. -
The Illinois State gymnastics team competed in its final regular season meet of the year on Saturday evening. The Redbirds finished in second place with a score of 192.775 at the Midwest Independent Conference Championship meet. First place went to Southeast Missouri State with a score of 193.825, while third place went to Texas Women's University with a 192.725. Fourth place went to Centenary with a score of 191.300, followed by Illinois-Chicago with a 190.975.
Head coach Bob Conkling felt that his team did good overall, but the team made a few mistakes that could have been easily fixed.
"I think the meet went ok," said Conkling. "I thought we could have done a lot better on vault and bars, but we made up for it on the floor. Erica did a great job in the all-around. For her to be ranked second in the conference, it shows the hard work and dedication she puts into this team. I was also proud of Hannah for winning on the floor and Koshman for having one of her best vaults of the season."
On the vault, senior Meaghan Koshman led the Redbirds with her second place finish of 9.850. Sophomore Robin Weissman scored a 9.675, and finished in a tie for ninth place. ISU had a team vault score of 48.000.
The Redbirds ran into trouble on the uneven bars. The team had a total score of 47.750, their lowest score of the evening. Sophomore Erica Schick tied for fifth place with a 9.750, followed by junior Jessica Prousa in sixth place with a 9.725.
The `Birds picked up momentum going into the balance beam and finished with a team score of 48.100. Schick tied for first on the beam with a 9.775, while freshman Melissa Mann placed fourth with a score of 9.750.
Illinois State finished strong with their best event of the evening, the floor exercise. The Redbirds captured two of the top-three spots. Sophomore Hannah Deutsch won the event with a 9.850, and Schick tied for second with a 9.825. The `Birds had a team total of 48.925.
In the all-around Schick placed second for ISU with a 39.000 and Weissman picked up eighth place with her 38.825.
Four Illinois State gymnasts picked up first-team all-conference awards at the conclusion of the meet Saturday. The gymnasts included: Meaghan Koshman, Erica Schick, Hannah Deutsch, and Melissa Mann. In addition assistant coach Steve Avgerinos was named MIC Assistant Coach of the Year.
