NORMAL, Ill. - Illinois State gymnastics head coach Bob Conkling has announced the team's gymnastics schedule for the 2019 season, which includes three consecutive home meets.
The team will also compete in eight road meets, before ending the season at the Midwest Independent Conference Championship.
"We have a tough, but strong schedule this year," Conkling said. "We are going to Alaska to compete against Alaska Anchorage, which will be a great start for our season. We have some other very strong competitions this year, with the last regular-season meet at Nebraska being the toughest."
The Redbirds will begin the season traveling to Anchorage, Alaska, to compete against Alaska Anchorage on Friday, January 4, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, January 6, at 2 p.m. The team will hit the road again to compete against Central Michigan on Friday, January 11, at 7 p.m., then travel to compete at Iowa State on Friday, January 18, before returning home to host Southeast Missouri State on Friday, January 25, at 7 p.m. at Horton Field House.
The team will then host Central Michigan on Friday, February 1, at 7 p.m., and the following weekend welcome UIC on Saturday, February 9, at 4 p.m. The Redbirds will then hit the road to compete against Denver on Saturday, February 16, at 6 p.m. The following weekend, the team will compete at Ball State on Sunday, February 24, at 1 p.m.
In the final month of the season, the Redbirds will compete at Northern Illinois on Friday, March 1, at 6 p.m. and then travel to Champaign-Urbana to compete in the Illinois Classic on Saturday, March 9, at 2 p.m. To finish the regular season, the team will compete against a tough field in Nebraska, with Kentucky and Boise State on Saturday, March 16, at 7 p.m.
The gymnastics season comes to an end with the MIC meet on Saturday, Mar. 22, and the NCAA Regionals on Saturday, April 6.
"The team is motivated and training hard and I believe we could have a very strong season ahead of us, as long as we stay focused on daily improvements during our pre-season training," Conkling said. "This season will be very exciting with the team competing against at least five if not more nationally ranked teams."
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