Conference Championship On The Line For Illinois State In Texas

DENTON, Texas – A season full of high scores, career bests and weekly honors has all led to Denton, Texas, as Illinois State will look to bring home a conference championship on Friday at the 2022 Midwest Independent Conference Championship hosted by Texas Woman's University.

The Redbirds will compete against Centenary, Lindenwood, Southeast Missouri State and TWU for the conference title, which will be streamed live on the Lone Star Conference Digital Network beginning at 5 p.m. CT. The teams are all closely grouped in the latest Road To Nationals rankings, which should result in a competitive championship meet.

"The team looked great this week in workouts and are ready for a strong showing at the MIC Championships," ISU head coach Bob Conkling said.

Redbird Team Notes:
•    The Redbirds head into the MIC Championships with the highest team National Qualifying Score (NQS) in the conference at 195.230. 
•    ISU is currently ranked No. 49 in the country, just ahead of TWU at No. 50 (194.995) and Lindenwood at No. 54 (194.555).
•    Illinois State has also posted the highest meet score in the conference this season of 195.875 (third highest in school history), when they defeated SEMO on February 25 in Cape Girardeau.
•    The Redbirds also hold the highest event NQS scores in the MIC on vault, bars, and floor.
•    ISU's vault squad set the school record on February 18 with a 49.350 and have also posted top three all-time scores on bars (2nd, 49.150) and floor (3rd, 49.325).

ISU Gymnast Notes:
•    Angelica Labat heads into the meet as the favorite to win the all-around crown for the second year in a row. The six-time MIC Gymnast of the Week has only improved in her junior season, as she posted the highest all-around score of the year in the conference at 39.475, which tied her career high set last season at the NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional. 
•    Labat also heads into the meet with the highest NQS on vault in the league, but she will be challenged by a couple of her teammates in the 2021 MIC vault champion J'Chelle Heard and freshman Alana Laster who rank in the top four on the event.
•    Senior Sofia Iribarren will look to defend her title on bars, as she heads into the meet ranked second in the conference in NQS and also holds the second highest even score of 9.900 behind Southeast Missouri's Jolie Miller.
•    The floor title figures to be a battle between Illinois State freshman Jaye Mack and SEMO's Anna Kaziska, who head into the meet tied in NQS score.
•    Laster, a three-time MIC Newcomer of the Week selection in 2022, could also make some noise in her first MIC Championship as she ranks second behind Labat in the all-around rankings and is in the top 10 in several events.

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