March 4, 2009
NORMAL, Ill. -
The Illinois State gymnastics team will be back on the road Friday as it travels to Norman, Okla., to compete against Oklahoma and Texas Women's University. The meet is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. CST.
Head coach Bob Conkling knows this is going to be a tough meet for the Redbirds, but is excited to compete against a top-10 ranked school. Conkling is also looking forward to seeing how the `Birds match up with Midwest Independent Conference foe Texas Women's University.
"It's hard to say how well we will do at this meet because Oklahoma is ranked in the top-10 teams in the nation," said Conkling. "I think the main competition during Friday's meet will be between Texas Women's University and us. TWU is in the MIC, and their scores are continuing to rise throughout the season. Illinois State is currently ahead of TWU in the GymInfo rankings, but you never know what will happen during the event, considering a few of our top gymnasts are out for this meet."
Conkling is anticipating a few lineup changes for Friday's meet due to three of Illinois State's top gymnasts being out due to injuries and illness.
"Melissa Mann can't compete in Friday's competition due to an illness," said Conkling. "It is hard to lose Melissa, because she was placing in first or second on beam constantly for us all season. She has also been placing very well on the vault. Having her out on two events really hurts us especially when Jessica Prousa is also out with two sprained ankles. She was a three-event athlete and one of our top performers on beam, bars, and floor. Meaghan Koshman has also dropped back down to only doing vault and floor."
The Redbirds competed against Midwest Independent Conference rival Illinois-Chicago Feb. 25 and 28. Illinois State fell to UIC during both meets with a score of 193.725-192.400 and 194.100-192.325.
According to the GymInfo polls, the Redbirds are ranked No. 44 in the country in team totals.
Four Redbird gymnasts are placing in the top-five for the Midwest Independent Conference in individual events. Sophomore Hannah Deutsch is leading the MIC on the balance beam with her average score of 9.772, while freshman Melissa Mann is ranked fourth with a 9.669. Senior Meaghan Koshman is ranked third overall on the vault with her average score of 9.775. Sophomore Erica Schick is ranked in the top-four in the conference for her all-around performance average of 38.511.
