Illinois State, Southeast Missouri Face Off In MIC Showdown

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – The Illinois State gymnastics team has been busy of late and will continue its run of three meets in eight days on Friday night, when the Redbird travel to Cape Girardeau, Missouri, to compete against fellow Midwest Independent Conference member Southeast Missouri State in a conference dual meet.

SETTING THE SCENE
The Redbirds and Redhawks will face off for the second of three times during the regular season on Friday night at Houck Field House. Action is set to begin at 6:30 p.m., with live stats available via Virtius with links available on GoRedbirds.com.

THOUGHTS FROM ISU HEAD COACH BOB CONKLING
"This has been a busy last week and we felt like we were not our best on Tuesday, despite doing enough to pull off a win. Our team is  determined and focused to get back on track and hit all of their routines at SEMO." 

SCOUTING ILLINOIS STATE
•    ISU currently ranks No. 26 in the country as a team in the latest Road To Nationals rankings and sit at No. 18 in the national floor rankings and No. 23 on the vault.
•    The Redbirds defeated Northern Illinois for the second time in five days, when the two teams faced off on Tuesday in Normal.
•    It was another solid all-around performance for senior Mya Robinson, who took first place with a total score of 38.825 highlighted by a strong score on floor, where she took first with a 9.850.
•    Senior Julia Heiner tied for the event win on bars, as she posted a 9.775 to tie with NIU's Natalia Kraus, and a pair of Redbirds tied for the event win on balance beam, as Leah Davis and Jaye Mack each scored 9.825 to finish in a three-way tie with NIU's Ellery Werner.
•    For the third time in as many weeks, transfer Jaly Jones was named the MIC Newcomer of the Week and sophomore Reese Grolla earned MIC Performance of the Week honors for their work in ISU win last Friday at Northern Illinois.

SCOUTING SOUTHEAST MISSOURI STATE
•    NIU is ranked at No. 62 in the latest Road To Nationals rankings and a is off to a 4-8 start to the season.
•    Southeast Missouri placed third at the BGSU Tri-Meet with an overall score of 192.375 lastSunday afternoon.SEMO placed third right behind Bowling Green, who scored a 192.600, and Central Michigan who won the meet with an overall score of 195.600.
•    Taylor Ingle finished second in the all-around with a score of 39.150 which broke her previous season high score of 38.700. Ingle led the Redhawks in every rotation and tied for first on the vault, placed sixth on the bars, second on the beam, and third on the floor.
•    Earlier in the week, the Redhawks competed in and won the Centenary Tri-Meet with a final score of 192.325, led by Ingle once again who finished in first place in the all-around with a 38.225.
•    For her efforts, Ingle took home her second-straight Midwest Independent Conference Gymnast of the Week Award.

For all latest on Illinois State gymnastics, stay tuned at GoRedbirds.com and follow the team on Instagram (@redbirdgymnastics), on X (@redbirdwgym) and Facebook.

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