Redbirds Post Season-Best Team Score At Eastern Michigan

YPSILANTI, Mich. – It was Friday night gymnastics action against a pair of Mid-American Conference foes in Michigan, as the Redbirds posted their best team score of the season at 194.675 in a tri-meet with host Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan at the Gervin GameAbove Center.

Scoring Breakdown:
•    Western Michigan: 195.275
•    Eastern Michigan: 195.200
•    Illinois State: 194.675

Thoughts From Coach Ringer:
"There was a very good mindset from the team coming into tonight's meet. I can't say exactly what it was, but there was a focus on the details and the controllables tonight that we have talked about so much this season. Today, you could see all that hard work come to fruition with the season-high score. I told the team at the end that I didn't care about what the final score or the placement was, I was just so proud of them and especially how they finished the meet on beam. That was the type of outcome we have been looking for all year." 

Team Notes:
•    The Redbirds started the meet on the floor and fell behind early with a 48.375, however they bounced back in rotation No. 2 on vault with their highest score of the season on the event at 48.925.
•    ISU then went to the bars, where they scored 48.250 before finishing up with another season-high event score, this time on the beam with a 49.125. That score is the highest event score of the season for the Redbirds on any apparatus and helped propel them to a season-high team score.

Gymnast Notes:
•    Freshman Mia LeBlanc competed in the all-around for the first time in her collegiate career, finishing in second place overall with a 38.675 … her highest finish of the night came on vault, where she finished in a tie for 11th with a 9.750.
•    The Redbirds took the top four spots on beam, with Jaly Jones leading the way with a career-best score of 9.875 and Ally Lau coming in second with a 9.850 … Courtney Woods and Mia Oh each tied for third place with scores of 9.825 and Savannah Ray added a Top 10 finish in 8th with a 9.750.
•    Ray and Madyson Baucom also tied for the event in on the vault, with scores of 9.825 … that score was a career-best for Baucom, topping her previous high of 9.725.
•    Freshman Jercy Koliego posted a Top 5 finish on the bars, scoring a 9.800 to tie a career high and finish in a tie for fourth place overall … Jada Beswick added a Top 10 finish in a tie for seventh place with a 9.775.
•    On the floor, Woods and Jones were the top finishers for the Redbirds as they tied for 10th with scores of 9.700.

Up Next:
Illinois State is back in action next Friday night, March 6, when they head back to Michigan this time to Kalamazoo to face off once again against Western Michigan. Action is set to begin at 4 p.m. CT and the meet will be broadcast live on ESPN+ with live stats available via Virtius. 

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