NORMAL, Ill. – After two meets last weekend, the Illinois State women's gymnastics team travels to Denver, Colorado, to face No. 8 nationally-ranked Denver and No. 22 nationally-ranked Illinois in a dual meet on Sunday, Feb. 26, beginning at 2 p.m.
"We are looking forward to competing against both Denver and Illinois," ISU head coach Bob Conkling said. "Both teams have been strong this season and are ranked nationally. Our goal will be to focus on ourselves during the competition and on hitting all of our routines on each of the four events."
The Redbirds finished second in a tri-meet against Iowa State and Gustavus Adolphus last Friday night. The Cyclones won the meet with a score of 195.625, followed by the Redbirds with a 192.700, and Gustavus Adolphus was third with a score of 186.275. Their second-place finish was aided by sophomore Meredith LaRoche, who finished second in the all-around competition with a 38.975. Anna Marema also continued her impressive work on the uneven bars, as she tied for first place with a 9.825.Â
ISU also beat the two-time defending National Collegiate Gymnastics Association (NCGA) National Champion Wisconsin-La Crosse inside Horton Field House on Sunday night. LaRoche won the all-around competition, and helped the Redbirds to a 193.950-190.975 win over the Eagles. Freshman Gabrielle Cooke also had solid routines, scoring 38.400 to finish second in the all-around behind LaRoche.
Denver moved up three spots to No.8 in the lastest rankings, released by Road to Nationals last week. Freshman Maddie Karr was named Big 12 Newcomer of the Week, following her score of 10.00 on vault last week.
Illinois is coming off a win over Michigan State last Friday. The 196.300-195.575 victory was their season-best team score. The Fighting Illini also accomplished a record-breaking beam total of 49.425 to aid their victory.
 "The goal this week in workouts was for everyone on the team to eliminate at least one tenth in deductions in each of their routines," said Conkling. "They showed consistency on Sunday, but still gave away deductions that they are capable of correcting."
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