Redbirds Return To Michigan For Dual Meet In Kalamazoo

NORMAL, Ill. – For the second weekend in a row, Illinois State will travel to the state of Michigan for competition as the Redbirds travel to Kalamazoo to take on Western Michigan Friday afternoon.

SETTING THE SCENE
The Redbirds will face off against the Broncos for the second time in as many weeks, as the Broncos picked up a 195.275-194.675 head-to-head vs. ISU last weekend at Eastern Michigan. Friday's meet is set to begin at 4 p.m. CT at the University Arena and live stats will be available via StatBroadcast.

SCOUTING ILLINOIS STATE
•    The Redbirds enter the weekend ranked 56th nationally, with an average score of 193.257. 
•    Last time out, Illinois State posted its 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 last Friday night.
•    Illinois State posted strong performances in a pair of meets last week against Northern Illinois and Eastern Michigan. For their efforts, a trio of Redbird gymnasts earned weekly honors from the Midwest Independent Conference. 
•    For the third time this season, freshman Mia LeBlanc won MIC Newcomer of the Week honors while junior Ally Lau took home MIC Performance of the Week honors for the second time this season. Rounding out the week's honorees was Courtney Woods, who was voted as this week's MIC Coaches Choice Award winner.
•    On Friday, LeBlanc competed in the all-around for the first time in her career (and first Redbird to do it this season) and finished in second place overall with a 38.675, with her best finish coming on the vault.
•    On Monday against Northern Illinois, Lau scored a career-high 9.900 on beam to win the event and help the Redbirds to a team victory over the Huskies.

SCOUTING WESTERN MICHIGAN
•    Western Michigan enters the weekend ranked 43rd nationally, with an average score of 195.032.
•    The Broncos claimed three of the four events last Friday, as they picked up wins over Eastern Michigan and Illinois State on Friday night at EMU. WMU finished with a score of 195.275 and edged out the Eagles and their score of 195.200. 
•    The Broncos started off on bars, with Reese Samuelson and Kate Parks tying for first place after scores of 9.850. Julie Korfhage posted a new career-high of 9.875 to take first place on floor, and WMU finished strong on vault to earn the meet win, thanks to Brooke Gelesko and Bella Ciolfi tying for first place with scores of 9.825.

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

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