Busy Weekend Ahead For Redbird Gymnasts With Two Meets

NORMAL, Ill. – A very busy weekend awaits the Illinois State gymnastics team, as it head to DeKalb, Illinois, for a tri-meet with Northern Illinois and Iowa State on Friday and then returns home to host a quad meet at Redbird Arena on Sunday against NIU, Central Michigan and Lindenwood.

"We are prepared and ready to have two strong meets this weekend," ISU head coach Bob Conkling said. "We've talked this week about going into the meets with positive energy and ready to hit our routines with confidence."

The Redbirds came in second place with a score of 194.125 behind Southeast Missouri in first place with a 195.050 last week in a tri-meet with Centenary in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.  The Redbirds were led in that meet by sophomore Angelica Labat, who was named the MIC Gymnast of the Week after she posted a career-high score of 39.100 to take home the top spot in the all-around competition. A pair of event wins on vault (9.900) and on bars (9.775) for Labat helped her post her fourth all-around win of 2021 and she currently ranks No. 47 in the country in the all-around.

The Redbirds will face off against Iowa State for the second time this season, after they upset the then No. 18 ranked Cyclones by a score of 194.150-193.875 on Feb. 21 at Horton Field House. Iowa State defeated West Virginia 196.375-193.900 on Monday night to improve to 3-3 on the season.

Northern Illinois posted a 3-3 mark in MAC regular season meets after defeating Kent State, 194.825-194.775, last Saturday. The Huskies are looking to surpass the 195-point threshold after back-to-back 194.825 scores in its last two meets and are led by all-arounder Tara Kofmehl, who ranks third in the MAC and sixth in the South Central Region.

Central Michigan is currently ranked No. 24 in the country and are coming off a MAC victory over Bowling Green last Sunday at McGuirk Arena. The Chippewas were led by Hannah DeMers, who was named the Mid-American Conference Gymnast of the Week after she posted a season-high 39.300 to win the all-around and lead CMU to a 195.975 team score, its second highest score of the season.

Lindenwood has outscored the Redbirds twice this season, as the two teams squared off twice in the same weekend two weeks ago. The Lions compiled a team score of 191.625 during their quad meet last Friday and were led by Aleah Leman, finished with a career-best 9.925 on vault, finishing in a tie for second in the event.

In accordance with state and local guidelines, fans are currently not allowed to attend home ISU Athletics events.

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