Redbirds To Honor Seniors In Final Home Meet At Redbird Arena

NORMAL, Ill. – Illinois State will honor its four seniors on Saturday, when the Redbirds host Southeast Missouri State in their final home meet of the season at Redbird Arena. Doors open at 5 p.m. and the senior quartet of Charlise Doctor, Isabelle Fox, Sofia Iribarren and Mia Quigg will be honored following the meet and before the final awards presentation.

"We are excited to finally be home and at Redbird again," ISU head coach Bob Conkling said. "The team has worked hard this week to show our fans just how strong we are this season.  It's Senior Night, so I hope to see our fans in the stands to celebrate our seniors."

The Redbirds and Redhawks have faced off twice previously this season, with ISU coming out on top twice previously. Illinois State topped SEMO 195.175-193.075 on Feb. 18 at the GymQuarters Invitational and then a week later posted a season high score in a 195.875-194.200 defeat of the Redhawks in Cape Girardeau.
ISU heads into this meet with the top National Qualifying Score (195.140) among MIC members, and rank No. 39 in the country on vault. The Redbirds are led by junior Angelica Labat, who has been named the MIC Gymnast of the Week five times this season and has the highest NQS score among all-arounders in the conference. She is currently tied for No. 28 nationally in the all-around. Right behind her is freshman standout Alana Laster, who ranks second in the conference in the all-around in NQS and has been named the MIC Newcomer of the Year three times this season. 

SEMO heads into the meet after a fourth-place finish in last week's quad meet with Oklahoma, Air Force and TWU. The Redhawks were led by senior Anna Kaziska, who was named the MIC Gymnast of the Week for her performances last weekend. Kaziska registered four scores of 9.700 or higher and won two individual event titles in SEMO's double-meet road swing. Freshman Nyah Reader was also solid, as she earned MIC Newcomer of the Week honors after registering a trio of scores of 9.700 or higher.

Live stats and video links for the meet are available on the gymnastics schedule page on GoRedbirds.com.

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