Redbird Gymnasts Return Home To Host No. 18 Iowa State

NORMAL, Ill. – A busy weekend in St. Charles, Missouri, last week for the Illinois State gymnastics team resulted in some strong individual performances and a season-high team score. The Redbirds look to keep the momentum going on Sunday, when they welcome in No. 18 ranked Iowa State to historic Horton Field House.

"Iowa State is the highest national-ranked team that we have competed against so far this year," ISU head coach Bob Conkling said. "Our goal is to put the best possible routines out on the floor during the competition and build on what we did last Sunday at Lindenwood. The team has worked hard this week to increase their scoring potential on each one of their routines and we are excited to get another chance to show how much we have improved."

Illinois State competed against five other programs last Friday at the GymQuarters Invitational, and then stuck around for a dual meet with Lindenwood to wrap up the weekend. After a disappointing finish Friday, the Redbirds bounced back to post a season-high team score of 194.900, the highest for the squad since posting a 195.075 on March 9, 2019, at the Illinois Classic.

A pair of all-around wins last weekend for Angelica Labat resulted in her being named the Midwest Independent Conference Gymnast of the Week. Labat won the all-around in both meets last weekend for the Redbirds, besting four other gymnasts to win the all-around competition at the GymQuarters Invitational with a score of 38.925. Then against Lindenwood, she bested her career high of 38.950 by winning the all-around with a total of 39.000, thanks in part to a 9.850 score on beam that helped her win that event. 

Iowa State is riding a two-meet win streak as they head to Normal, after pausing activities for a week and withdrawing from the Metroplex Challenge. The Cyclones hope to continue with momentum from their victory over West Virginia in which they had eight competitors set season highs.

In accordance with state and local guidelines, fans are currently not allowed to attend home ISU Athletics events. Game dates, opponents, times and locations are all subject to change.

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