NORMAL, Ill. – Illinois State gymnastics returns home this weekend for a Valentine's Day meet against a familiar foe, when the Redbirds host MIC rival Southeast Missouri State in a dual at CEFCU Arena. The Redbirds will honor their six seniors in a special Senior Night ceremony following the conclusion of the competition.
SETTING THE SCENE
The Redbirds will face off against SEMO for the third time so far in 2026, when the two squads do battle on Valentine's Day. The meet is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. CT at CEFCU Arena and following the meet, the Redbirds will honor their seniors in their final regular season contest at CEFCU Arena. The meet will be streamed live on ESPN+, and live stats will be available via Virtius.
SCOUTING ILLINOIS STATE
•   The Redbirds enter the weekend ranked 54th nationally, with an average score of 193.254.
•   Last time out, Illinois State posted a season-high score on bars and sophomore Savannah Ray posted a career-best on the vault, as the Redbirds came in third with a score of 193.975 at Ball State.
•   For the second week in a row, freshman Mia LeBlanc was honored as the MIC Newcomer of the Week, while Ray earned MIC Performance of the Week honors.
•   LeBlanc posted her best score of the night on bars of 9.725, as the Redbirds set a team season high on the event, while also competing on vault and floor.
•   Ray picked up an event win with a tie for first on vault with a career-high score of 9.850. That score is the highest for a Redbird gymnast this season on vault and ties for the highest score of the season on any event.
SCOUTING SOUTHEAST MISSOURI STATE
•   SEMO ranks No. 50 in the national rankings, coming in at No. 44 nationally on beam as a program.
•   Southeast Missouri scored a season-high 194.850 last time out to win their SEMO Quad-Meet. Taylor Ingle's all-around score of 39.150 won the all-around event, marking the 20th straight time Ingle has competed in the all-around.
•   Ingle took home MIC Gymnast of the Week honors, while Jordan Napolitano was selected for the MIC Coaches Choice Award voted on by the league's head coaches.
•   In addition to her all-around title, Ingle recorded a trio of event title victories on vault (9.775), bars (9.825), and floor (9.875).
•   Napolitano, who battled injury most of last season, returned to the beam lineup for the first time this year and recorded a 9.700 to finish tied for fifth place.
For all latest on Illinois State gymnastics, stay tuned at GoRedbirds.com and follow the team on Instagram (@redbirdgymnastics), on X (@redbirdwgym) and Facebook.
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.
