Pair of Weekend Meets With Northern Illinois Await The Redbirds

NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State and Northern Illinois gymnastics teams will become very familiar with each other after this weekend, as the two squads will compete against each other twice in a busy weekend of competition.

The Redbirds and Huskies will first compete at CEFCU Arena on Friday night at 7 p.m., before ISU heads to NIU on Sunday for a 2 p.m. meet at the Convocation Center with Winona State competing as well in the tri-meet.

"We are looking forward to our dual weekend with Northern Illinois," ISU head coach Bob Conkling said. "NIU has been strong these past few years and it's always a tight competition when we meet. It should be a great night of gymnastics on Friday at home, so we hope our fans come out and cheer the Redbirds on at our Pack The Arena night."  

Friday's meet will be the Redbirds' Equity, Diversity and Inclusion meet, with a PRIDE koozie giveaway and free pizza for students while supplies last. Admission is FREE to the meet, and fans are encouraged to wear black and pack CEFCU Arena as ISU takes on NIU. 

The Redbirds head into the meet winners of two-straight and are coming off last Saturday's win at Greenville where they posted a season-high team score of 194.625. Freshman Nirel Bart-Williams was back at it for ISU, as she was the meet MVP for the Redbirds after winning the all-around competition with a career-high score of 39.000. Her win in the all-around was fueled by an event win on vault, as she paced the Redbirds by tying her career-best score of 9.825. 

Senior Angelica Labat was a double event winner for ISU, as she 9.775 on bars to place first overall and picked up a win on beam with a season-best score of 9.800. Coming off a strong performance on the floor the previous week against Western Michigan, sophomore Jaye Mack recorded a solid score of 9.825 to take the top spot on floor with Bart-Williams coming in second with a score with a 9.775.

The Huskies head into the weekend with a 1-2 record and are coming off a 195.425 to 193.600 defeat last Saturday at Central Michigan. NIU picked up its lone win of the season to date in the opener against Bowling Green, with a season-high team score of 194.725.

Five Huskies recorded season-high scores on their respective events last weekend against the Chippewas, while freshman Kiera O'Shea and senior Jacklyn Dolitsky earned career high scores for their performances on vault and floor exercise, respectively. O'Shea had NIU's top score on vault with a 9.775 to tie for third in the meet, while Dolitsky scored a 9.700 to contribute to the Huskies' season high team score of 48.875 on floor.

Live video and stat links for both meets can be found on the gymnastics team schedule page on GoRedbirds.com.

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