NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State gymnastics team was back in the friendly confines of CEFCU Arena on Friday night and the Redbirds responded with their third-best team score of the year, defeating Greenville by a score of 195.275-189.325 on Valentine's Day.
Scoring Breakdown:
•   Illinois State: 195.275
•   Greenville: 189.325
Thoughts From Coach Conkling:
"I'm very happy with our score tonight, being our third highest of the year. We started on vault and bars and were really strong, but then we had a hiccup on balance beam. However, they pulled things together, had each other's backs, went to floor, and had a great rotation. Overall, I'm very proud of the team and their performance today and they know they have more in them. So, we are going to push to get back to that 196 mark moving forward."
Team Notes:
•   The Redbirds just missed out on their fourth-straight event score of over 49 to start the meet, as they posted a 48.925 on vault and then followed that with a 48.975 on bars, a welcome score after a tough score on that event last weekend at Towson.
•   However, the third rotation on beam did not go as well for the Redbirds, as they had to count a fall and posted a score of 48.275.
•   ISU did bounce back in the final rotation, going big on floor with a team score of 49.100 to post the third highest team score of the season at 195.275.
Gymnast Notes:
•   Senior Sara Wabi took home the win in the all-around, scoring 38.500 to take the top spot in the dual meet.
•   The Redbirds had the top six scores on vault, with Alana Laster winning the event with a score of 9.875, followed by Mya Robinson in second with a 9.800 and Jaye Mack in third with a 9.775.
•   Jada Beswick and Wabi tied for the top spot on bars with matching scores of 9.850, followed by Reese Grolla in third with a 9.800.
•   Jaly Jones was the top finisher for the Redbirds on beam, finishing second overall with a score of 9.825 as Mack and Grolla tied for third with scores of 9.800.
•   ISU finished with the top four performers on floor, with the trio of Robinson, Laster and Mack all tying for the top spot with a score of 9.850.
Up Next:
The Redbirds will travel east on Interstate 74 to compete against a pair of Big Ten Conference foes in host Illinois and Washington on Friday, February 22, at 1 p.m. in Champaign.Â
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