Feb. 8, 2012
After competing in two consecutive meets on the road, the Illinois State gymnastics team will return to historic Horton Field House to host back-to-back meets.
The Redbirds will host Seattle Pacific, Wisconsin-Stout, and Temple Friday Feb. 10, at 7 p.m. Head coach Bob Conkling is excited to be back at Illinois State.
"It is always great to be back at home," said Conkling. "Using our equipment and competing in our facility makes the team feels comfortable. Not having to travel, and most important having the home crowd support, all play into the home court advantage."
The Redbirds placed second last week in the second-annual Illinois-Michigan meet, with a team-score of 192.875. UIC swept the meet, with a team-score of 194.125. Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan placed third a fourth respectively, with team-scores of 192.200-191.775.
Junior Tori Sarantakis placed third in a four-way tie on vault with a score of 9.800. Junior Kim Genereux placed third on the uneven-bars, with a score of 9.775, and senior Melissa Mann placed third on balance beam, with a score of 9.775.
Conkling hopes to improve scores this week in another tough quad meet.
"This week we have been working on details of the routines like sticking dismount landings on bars and beam, and better landing of the tumbling passes on floor," said Conkling. "We are really trying to get their routines to score higher, by eliminating any chance of deductions from the judges."
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