Jan. 29, 2010
NORMAL, Ill. -
Illinois State gymnastics is set to host its fourth consecutive home meet as it welcomes Wisconsin-Oshkosh and Winona State to Horton Field House, Sunday, Jan. 30, at 2 p.m.
The Redbirds return to action, following their first wins of the season over Wisconsin-La Crosse, Air Force Academy and Western Michigan. Head coach Bob Conkling is focused more on his team than their previous win.
"Of course winning is always nice," Conkling said, "But we're going into this meet focusing on our performance, not our competitors. I hope we do well and come out with a high team score."
At the quad meet last weekend, 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. 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).
The `Birds faced Winona State once last season, and came out on top, 189.200 - 180.750. According to national rankings, Illinois State, ranked 43, trumps both UW-Oshkosh (70) and Winona State (75).
Conkling is using this meet to continue to strive for clean routines and consistency.
"Our focus during this meet is to eliminate deductions," Conkling said. "As a team, we need to eliminate small errors and continue to be consistent in the routines. I know we can do better on all four routines."
Conkling says some changes to the line-up may also be expected.
"A lot of the student-athletes are really pushing themselves to make line-up," Conkling said. "Melissa has been doing fantastic, as well as Hannah, Erica and Andrea Orris. The freshmen are also getting comfortable with competing. It's hard to say who will step-up this week, but I'm excited to see how the team will perform."
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