BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – Illinois State received votes in the Women's Collegiate Gymnastics Association preseason poll announced on Friday by the organization.
The Redbirds tallied 26 votes in the preseason poll of the top women's collegiate gymnastics teams in the country. Michigan is the top team heading into the 2022 season and Missouri, who the Redbirds open the season win on Jan. 7 along with Ball State and Southeast Missouri, came in at No. 16 on the list. The Redbirds will also take on No. 19 BYU this season, when they travel to Utah on March 4.
Illinois State finished the 2021 season ranked No. 43 overall in the national rankings, with a National Qualifying Score of 195.338. The Redbirds finished second at the Midwest Independent Conference Championship and took home a total of 19 all-conference honors at the meet. They were led by 2021 MIC Gymnast of the Year Angelica Labat, who along with teammate Cameron Topp qualified for the NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional.
Labat returns for a third season, looking to build on her NCAA Regional championship-winning performance on the vault and adding another trip to the NCAA Championships to her resumé. She will be joined by 2021 MIC Champion on vault J'Chelle Heard and MIC Champion on bars Sophia Iribarren as returning conference champs looking to bring ISU its first league title since 2012. Â
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.
