ST. CHARLES, Mo. – Thanks to a school-record breaking performance on the vault, Illinois State finished second in the annual GymQuarters Invitational quad meet Friday night at the Family Arena in St. Charles, Missouri. The Redbirds posted a team score of 195.175 to finish behind Iowa State (196.325), but in front of fellow Midwest Independent Conference foes Lindenwood (194.400) and Southeast Missouri (193.075).
Scoring Breakdown:
•   Iowa State: 196.325
•   Illinois State: 195.175
•   Lindenwood: 194.400
•   Southeast Missouri: 193.075
Thoughts from Coach Bob Conkling:
"This was another strong meet for our team. We started rough on our first event, but I'm so proud of how the team pulled together for the rest of the meet. The highlight was our vault team breaking the school record. Everyone on the vault team did big, strong vaults and all had good landings. We still have more to give on Sunday at Lindenwood, especially on bars and beam."
Team Notes:
•   The Redbirds shined on vault, breaking the previous school record of 49.150 with a score of 49.350 which was the highest team score of the night on the event … the score is also the highest score for a MIC team in a regular season meet and sits only behind the league record of 49.500 set by Lindenwood at the MIC Championship meet in 2015.
•   ISU was also strong on floor, just missing out on another 49.000 as a team with a score of 48.975.
•   A solid score of 48.775 on bars and a score of 48.075 on beam rounded out the night for the Redbirds.
Gymnast Notes:
•   The two-time defending MIC Gymnast of the Week Angelica Labat seemed to not want to give up that crown, as she powered to a season-high score of 39.325 to win the all-around title.
•   Madison Kipp tied for first place on bars with a career-high score of 9.900 to lead the way for the Redbirds, and Sofia Iribarren added a top-5 finish in a tie for fifth with a 9.825.
•   Labat and J'Chelle Heard tied for second on vault with matching scores of 9.900 to help the Redbirds set a new school record on the event.
•   A score of 9.800 on beam for Labat put her in a tie for fifth overall to lead the way for ISU.
•   Jaye Mack tied a career-high with a 9.900 on floor to finish in second place overall, with Labat and Laster each posting top-10 finishes in a tie for eighth place with scores of 9.825.
Up Next:
Illinois State will stay in St. Charles until Sunday, when the Redbirds will take on Lindenwood in a dual meet set to begin at 1 p.m. at Robert F. Hyland Arena. Â
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