NORMAN, Okla. – Collegiate gymnasts work all season with the hopes of competing on a national stage at the end of the year, and for a pair Illinois State gymnasts that goal has become a reality once again. The Redbird duo of Alana Laster and Jaye Mack have each punched their postseason tickets and will compete at the 2023 NCAA Women's Gymnastics Norman Regional on Thursday, March 30, at 7 p.m. at the Lloyd Noble Center.
Laster and Mack are both competing at the Norman Regional for the second year in a row and each will perform in the second session on Thursday. Laster will be rotating with the host Oklahoma Sooners and will compete on vault during the third rotation, while Mack will go early in rotation one on floor with the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Laster heads into the Regional tied at No. 44 with a National Qualifying Score (NQS) of 9.885. The 2023 Midwest Independent Conference all-around champion has been stellar all season for the Redbirds and helped lead ISU to its first Midwest Independent Conference Championship since 2012. At the MIC Championship, Laster took home the conference all-around title with a career-high score of 39.350 and earned All-MIC First-Team honors on vault as she finished second behind teammate Angelica Labat with a 9.900. She has posted scores of 9.9 or better in three out of her last five meets on the event, including tying her season high with scores of 9.925 at home against SEMO and then on the road at SEMO.
Mack's performance on floor all season has been inspired, as she heads into the regional tied for No. 60 in the country with a NQS of 9.905. The back-to-back MIC champion on floor has posted scores of 9.925 or better in four out of her last five meets, with a career-best of 9.950 achieved in the tri-meet with nationally ranked Kentucky and Illinois on March 11. The MIC Championship came down to the final routine of the night to decide which team would taking home the trophy and thanks to a clutch performance on floor by Mack with a score of 9.925, the Redbirds clinched the title.
Last year at the NCAA Regional in Norman, Mack's score on floor of 9.925 tied her for second overall at the regional but after tiebreaker scenarios were sorted through and the advancing teams were known, her score came out on top as the highest for an individual on floor (who was not on an advancing team). That resulted in Mack receiving an automatic berth to the NCAA Championship.
The top 12 all-around competitors and top 16 event specialists were selected to compete at the NCAA Regionals based on national qualifying scores and were placed geographically, keeping individuals from the same team together. The top two teams and the top individual event performers not part of an advancing team from each regional will advance to the NCAA Championships, April 13-15, in Fort Worth Texas.
Links to live results and video can be found on the gymnastics schedule page on GoRedbirds.com.
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