ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The 2019 season got off to a solid start for the Illinois State gymnastics team Friday night, as the Redbirds defeated the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves by a score of 192.975-188.925 at the Alaska Airlines Center.
Redbird Scoring Breakdown:
•   Vault: ISU – 48.500, UAA – 46.825
•   Bars: ISU – 48.275, UAA – 45.775
•   Beam: ISU – 48.500, UAA – 48.075
•   Floor: UAA – 48.250, ISU – 47.700Â
Thoughts from Coach Conkling:
"I was very happy with how the team performed tonight. They were positive, aggressive and worked together to get a win against a good team after a long travel day yesterday. We overcame some nerves and mistakes and didn't let those linger throughout the meet, which can happen to teams early in the season. Overall, I would have liked to see a better performance on floor, but being the first meet we knew it wasn't going to be perfect and I was impressed with how they competed."
Team Notes:
•   ISU took an early lead on bars (48.500), thanks to five of the top six scores on the apparatus
•   The Redbirds then extended the lead, after taking the top four spots on bars (48.275)
•   UAA bounced back and edged the Redbirds out on the floor on the third rotation to cut the gap a bit, but ISU finished the night strong on the beam (48.500) and tied for the high event score of the evening
Gymnast Notes:
•   Junior Gabrielle Cooke was stellar in the season opener, surpassing the 39-point mark in the all-around competition to win with a total score of 39.025
•   Cooke earned event wins on the floor (9.825) and vault (9.775) and finished in the top three on all four events to come away with her first all-around title of the season
•   Senior Meredith LaRoche picked up a win on bars (9.750) and Kylie Meyer recorded the highest event score of the night (9.850) to take home the beam title
•   Sophomore Savannah Remkus was consistent throughout the evening, posting a score of 9.725 on vault, beam and floor to post top-5 finishes in each event
•   Freshmen Sofia Iribarren, Charlise Doctor and Mia Quigg each made their collegiate debuts and finished in the top five in their respective events
Up Next:
•   The two squads face off once again Sunday in the second of two weekend meets. The second of the two-meet set begins at 5 p.m. (CST) and live stats will be available on GoRedbirds.com.
GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State Redbirds App: Â Your sources for Illinois State tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
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