NORMAL, Ill. – Throughout the entire meet, Illinois State and Central Michigan were within close range in scores, with the Chippewas holding a slight advantage headed into the final rotation. However, the Redbirds posted a score of 49.075 on floor to close things out and jump to the top with a score of 195.725 to win the Redbird Quad meet Friday night inside Horton Field House.
Scoring Breakdown:
•   Illinois State: 195.725
•   Central Michigan: 195.500
•   Bowling Green: 193.575
•   Centenary: 189.250
Thoughts From Coach Conkling:
"I was very happy with how the team remained positive, focused, and confident from the start of the meet to the end. This team still has more they can do to improve on each event and I'm excited to see how they can continue to push themselves for the remainder of the season."
Team Notes:
•   The meet started on vault for the Redbirds, as they scored a 48.675 to fall behind Central Michigan after the first rotation.
•   Rotation two was a different story for ISU, as the Redbirds scored 49.100 on bars to pull ahead of the Chippewas halfway through the meet. The 49.100 ties for third highest score on bars in school history and is the team's best score on that event since 2022.
•   ISU was solid on the beam in rotation No. 3 with a 48.875, however the Redbirds trailed Central Michigan by .025 headed into the final event of the night.
•   The Redbirds closed the meet out strong, as a 9.875 on the final counting routine pushed ISU to the win in the quad meet.
•   The 195.725 is the second highest score of the season for the Redbirds, just behind their 196.150 score set on January 24 at Northern Illinois.
Gymnast Notes:
•   Alana Laster tied for the top spot on vault to start the meet off, matching Central Michigan's Lia Kmieciak's score of 9.825 to share the top spot on the event … Jaye Mack tied for third with a score of 9.800 along with Avah Bootz of Central Michigan.
•   The Redbirds took three of the top four spots on bars, led by Sara Wabi's personal-best score of 9.900 which was good enough for first place … Jaly Jones was third with a 9.850 and Reese Grolla tied for fourth with a 9.825.
•   Ally Lau picked up an event win on balance beam, scoring 9.850 to finish just ahead of Mack in second place with a 9.825 … Jones tied for fourth on the event with a score of 9.800.
•   Laster added her second win of the night on the floor, as she tied for the top spot with Central Michigan's Luciana Alvarado-Reid with a score of 9.875 … Wabi was third with a score of 9.850 and Mya Robinson tied for fifth with a 9.800.
Up Next:
The Redbirds return to action on Saturday, March 8, when they travel to Minneapolis to take on Big Ten Conference member Minnesota with action set to begin at 4 p.m. CT at Maturi Pavilion. Â
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