April 10, 2010
COLUMBIA, Mo. -
Juniors Erica Schick and Hannah Deutsch represented the Illinois State gymnastics team in the 2010 NCAA South Central Regionals hosted by Missouri University Saturday night. Schick placed 13th in the all-around, while Deutsch tied for 39th on the balance beam.
Head coach Bob Conkling was pleased with both student-athletes performances.
"I am just really proud of both student-athletes," Conkling said. "They did their job all season and they deserved to make it this far. Overall, being at this competition was great for the athletes; the gymnasts got to see some great teams and a very exciting meet."
Schick made her third appearance in regionals competing in the all-around. She placed 13th in the all-around with a score of 38.700. Schick posted her highest score of the night on the balance beam with a score of 9.775, landing her in a four-way tie for 12th place. She scored a 9.625 on the floor exercise, a 9.750 on the uneven bars and 9.550 on the vault.
"Erica did well on all four events," Coach Conkling said. "Floor exercise and vault weren't her best events of the night, but there were no major mistakes. When she got to bars and balance beam in the final rotations, she just hit both events extremely well."
Tonight's meet marked Deutsch's first appearance post-season, as she competed on the balance beam. She posted a score of 9.100, tying her for 39th place in the region.
"Hannah looked fantastic in warm-ups but one simple mistake led her to fall on the balance beam," Conkling said. "She is so consistently strong on the beam, it was just a fluke and the rest of her performance was excellent."
The meet host, Missouri took first place with a team score of 196.500. Georgia and Oregon State tied for second place with a team score of 196.275. The top-two all-around gymnasts that will advance to the championship are Sarah Shire from Missouri, as well as Oregon State's Mandi Rodriguez.
"This meet was under difference circumstances than most," Conkling said. "It's hard to not be rotating with your team and having that support, but I'm so proud of both the athletes and all the hard work they put in this season paid off tonight."
GoRedbirds.com: Your online source for Illinois State Athletics, tickets, TRC gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
