Redbirds Look To Defend Their Title At 2026 MIC Championship

NORMAL, Ill. – An exciting year of record-setting scores, career bests and weekly honors have all led to CEFCU Arena, as the Illinois State gymnastics team will look to defend its championship at the 2026 Midwest Independent Conference Championship on Friday.

The host Redbirds will compete against host Centenary, Southeast Missouri State and Texas Woman's for the 2026 MIC title, and the meet will be streamed live on ESPN+ with live stats available via Virtius at 6 p.m. CT. The Redbirds are looking to win their third conference championship in four seasons, following their win at the 2025 MIC Championship with a score 196.025 (fifth-best in program history).

Redbird Team Notes:
•    The Redbirds head into the MIC Championships with the third-best National Qualifying Score (NQS) in the conference at 193.222 in the latest Road To Nationals rankings.
•    TWU is the top-ranked team heading into the championship ranked No. 45 (194.940), followed by SEMO at No. 50 (193.978)
•    ISU's highest national ranking comes from the bars, where the Redbirds sit at No. 53 in the country.
•    The Redbirds high score of the season came on February 27 at Eastern Michigan, where they scored a 194.675. That was one of two scores for ISU over 194.000 on the year.

ISU Gymnast Notes:
•    Sammie Wolff heads into the championship ranked third in the conference on the vault with an average score of 9.786 and Savannah Ray is close behind in fifth place.
•    Jada Beswick has been strong on the bars all year, and heads into the meet ranked third in the conference with an average of 9.593.
•    Ally Lau, who tied for the highest score on beam in the conference with a career-best 9.900, heads into the meet ranked fourth among MIC gymnasts on the event with an average of 9.527.
•    Senior Jaly Jones, a multiple-time MIC individual champion and All-MIC performer, heads into the final meet of her illustrious career ranked fifth on the floor with an average of 9.789, followed closely by Leah Davis in sixth with an average of 9.775. 

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

GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State Redbirds App: Your sources for Illinois State tickets, Weisbecker Athletic Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.