Jan. 24, 2010
NORMAL, Ill. -
Illinois State gymnastics snagged its first win of the season in a quad-meet Sunday afternoon against Wisconsin-La Crosse, Air Force Academy and Western Michigan in front of a crowd of 400 in Horton Field House.
The Redbirds led the scoring with 190.925, followed by Western Michigan (190.525), Air Force Academy (185.150) and UW-La Crosse (183.300). After the first two rotations, the `Birds were at a close second to Western Michigan (94.975-94.450), but their performances on the balance beam (48.375) and the floor exercise (48.100) sealed the win.
The athletes' strong showing on the final two rotations was exactly what head coach Bob Conkling hoped his team would improve on.
"I feel really good about this meet," Conkling said. It's great to win, but how the athletes performed on the floor and balance beam was what I am most pleased about. We changed some of the routines around and added more difficulty, but the athletes responded well and hit both events."
Hannah Deutsch had a strong showing, taking first place on the balance beam (9.800) and on the floor exercise (9.800). She also competed on her first vault of the season and scored a solid, 9.625.
"I was really impressed by Hannah's performance tonight," Bob Conkling said. "She nailed the floor exercise and balance beam and I was really impressed by her performance on the vault. It was her first time competing on vault this season, and it was one of the best I've seen from her."
Junior, Erica Schick, took first on the uneven bars (9.525) and second in the all-around (38.325). Tori Sarantakis gave a strong performance on the vault and took second place (9.800). Another second place went to Melissa Mann, for her performance on the balance beam (9.775).
Conkling was pleased with the result of Sunday's meet, but is keeping the future in mind.
"I'm very proud of the athletes but we need to hit every event, every time," Conkling said. "In order to make it to regionals we need to put together all four events. But for now I'm happy with this win."
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