NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State gymnastics team will honor its two seniors at its final home meet of the season on Friday, when the Redbirds host Midwest Independent Conference foe Southeast Missouri State at 7 p.m. at CEFCU Arena. Admission is FREE and fans are encouraged to stay after the meet to get autographs from the Redbirds.
"SEMO has had a great season, so this will be a battle between the top two teams in the MIC on Friday night," ISU head coach Bob Conkling said. "We have been on an upswing lately and expect to continue to compete at a high level in our final home meet of the year. Â It will be a close and fun meet to watch, so we need all the fan support we can get to cheer on the Redbirds to victory."
The Redbirds are coming off a strong performance against some of the best programs in the country last weekend in Texas at the Metroplex Challenge. Rotation in the afternoon session with No. 4 Utah, No. 18 Georgia and No. 22 Illinois, the Redbirds posted their highest team score of the season at 195.850, which is the fourth-highest team score in school history. Â ISU started things off on bars with a solid score of 48.900, tying for their second-highest score of the year on the event, and then followed with its highest score of the year on beam of 48.925. Those scores, along with solid marks on floor and vault, helped the 'Birds smash their season high with five meets left in the regular season.
Senior Angelica Labat finished second overall in the session in the all-around with a 38.950, behind Georgia's Naya Howard in first place, and was the top finisher for the Redbirds on vault with a 9.825 and on bars with a 9.850. Freshman Nirel Bart-Williams was the top finisher for the Redbirds in the other two events, with a career-high score of 9.850 on beam and a career-best tying score of 9.900 on floor. For her efforts, Bart-Williams was named the MIC Newcomer of the Week and junior J'Chelle Heard earned the MIC Coaches Choice award as well.
SEMO currently sits at No. 50 in the most recent Road To Nationals rankings, just two spots behind Illinois State, and has posted a season high score of 196.175. The Redhawks competed in their second tri-meet of the season last Friday night and took home a victory, registering a 194.500 to defeat MIC member Lindenwood (193.800) and Fisk (189.175). Taylor Ingle was selected as last week's MIC Gymnast of the Week, after recording her best all-around score of the season with a 39.150 to take first place in that meet.
Live video and stat links for both meets can be found on the gymnastics team schedule page on GoRedbirds.com.
GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State Redbirds App: Â Your sources for Illinois State tickets, Weisbecker Athletic Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
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