Feb. 19, 2010
NORMAL, Ill. -
Illinois State gymnastics will travel to Muncie, Ind. for a tri-meet against Ball State and Midwest Independent conference rivals, Texas Women's, Sunday, Feb. 21, at the John E. Worthen Arena at 1 p.m.
The Redbirds are on a four meet winning-streak and hold a 7-2 record this season. This meet marks the Redbird's second consecutive meet away from home. The `Birds hosted Ball State Feb. 5, and finished with a season-high team score of 194.150 in the win. ISU has not competed against Texas Women's since last season, when the `Birds came out ahead, 191.750-191.300.
Head coach Bob Conkling is looking forward to facing Ball State for the second time this season.
"During our last meet against Ball State, it came down to the final routines and that's what makes for an exciting meet," Conkling said. "Texas Women's is also a great school. I think this meet will come down to whoever performs best and has the cleanest routines that day."
In their last meet, the `Birds travelled to Illinois-Chicago and sealed their first away win of the season (191.375-189.350). Erica Schick led the Redbirds with a first-place score on the uneven bars (9.775) and in the all around (38.675) and placed second on the balance beam (9.650) and floor exercise (9.725). Melissa Mann and Hannah Deutsch tied for first place on the balance beam (9.725), while Deutsch tied for first on the floor exercise (9.750). Tori Sarantakis' vault (9.700) earned her second place.
Conkling has been pleased with the team performances and has been working the team to clean-up any execution errors.
"Practice this week has gone really well," Conkling said. "We have been focusing on eliminating all deductions and perfecting the routines. I'm very confident in how the team will perform."
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