FORT WORTH, Texas – For the first time in the history of the Illinois State gymnastics program, a Redbird will be competing at the NCAA Championship when sophomore Angelica Labat competes on the vault during Semifinal I on Friday, April 16, at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas.
Labat earned her spot at the NCAA Championship by posting a personal-best score of 9.950 on vault to win the NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional title. The Chesapeake, Virginia, native also finished fifth overall in the all-around competition at the regional, with a career-high score of 39.475.
"If she can do the same thing at Nationals and place, that would be fantastic," ISU head coach Bob Conkling said. "But we want her to enjoy the experience and learn from the experience and just have fun there. Whatever happens, happens. We're going to be excited no matter what."
The 2021 Midwest Independent Conference Gymnast of the Year will rotate with the Cal gymnastics team in the first session on Friday, which is set to begin at Noon CT and will be broadcast live on ESPN2. U.S. Olympic medalists and ESPN gymnastics analysts Bart Conner and Kathy Johnson Clarke will team up to call the action on Friday and the event will also include individual apparatus streams, a quad-box option and a Spanish-language viewing option online.
For updates on Illinois State Gymnastics, follow the Redbirds on Twitter (@RedbirdWGYM) and Instagram (@isu_redbirdgym).
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