With over 40 years of coaching experience, Bob Conkling enters his 20th season as head coach at Illinois State.
During his time at ISU, Conkling has brought great strides to the gymnastics team. In his previous 19 seasons as head coach, Conkling has secured well over 100 wins and sent 30 student-athletes to the NCAA Regionals. Under Conkling's leadership, 41 gymnasts were MIC Conference Individual event or All-Around Champions, five Redbirds have been named Midwest Independent Conference Gymnast of the Year and four have been named MIC Senior of the Year. In addition, over 65 gymnasts earned spots on the All-Midwest Independent Conference First-Team.
In 2024, the Redbirds saw two gymnasts advance to the NCAA Regional in Jaye Mack and Angelica Labat, as eight different gymnasts earned All-MIC honors. As a team, the Redbirds posted the second-highest team meet score in school history with a 196.275 and also posted the fifth-best score with a 195.975. ISU also posted the second-best vault (49.325), floor (49.425) and beam (49.325) event scores in program history during the year.
The 2023 campaign was magical one for the Redbirds, as they headed into the MIC Championships with the highest team National Qualifying Score (NQS) in the conference at 195.010. Illinois State also posted the highest average meet score in the conference during the season of 194.517, thanks to strong efforts on floor and vault throughout the year.
The 2023 MIC Championship came down to the final routine of the night to decide which team would taking home the trophy and thanks to a clutch performance on floor by Jaye Mack, Illinois State clinched the MIC title with a program-record score of 196.375. The title was the second of Conkling's career at ISU and the first for the Redbirds since 2012.
Conkling was named the Midwest Independent Conference Coach of the Year following the 2022 season, after leading the team to one of their best seasons in school history. On February 25 against Southeast Missouri, Conkling helped lead the Redbirds to their season high score of a 195.875. The team's floor score of a 49.325 set in the regular season finale is the highest score he's seen on the event since his start at ISU and ranked third all-time. Not only did the Redbirds score the highest Conkling has seen on floor, but also the highest he's seen on vault, when the Redbirds crushed the previous school vault record by two tenths, scoring 49.350 at the GymQuarters Invitational on March 18.
The 2021 season was one to remember for ISU, as Angelica Labat became the first Redbird in school history to advance as an individual to the NCAA Championships. She earned her spot at the NCAA Championship by posting a personal-best score of 9.950 on vault to win the NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional title. The 2021 MIC Gymnast of the Year and all-around champion also helped the Redbirds finish second at the MIC Championships and was joined at the NCAA Regional by teammate Cameron Topp.
In 2012, Conkling led the Redbirds to the Midwest Independent Conference Championship with a team score of 194.800, the team’s first championship since 2001. Kim Genereux led the team with a first-place finish in the all-around competition and was one of five Redbirds to earn All-MIC First-Team honors.
A graduate of Indiana Wesleyan University (formerly known as Marion College), Conkling received his bachelor's degree in physical education in 1982. Conkling taught swimming and gymnastics at Indiana Wesleyan as a student, while receiving credit for his instruction.
A Rockford Ill., native, Conkling was both an athlete and a coach at the Gymnastics Academy of Rockford. He competed in tumbling, diving and trampoline, which became an Olympic sport in 2000. He also competed in the double mini-trampoline. His strengths in tumbling led him to qualify for national and international competitions, including the World Age Group Championships in Toronto and Rockford, Ill., and Nationals at Miami (Ohio).
After taking a 5 year break from coaching, Conkling returned to his hometown and the Gymnastics Academy of Rockford to take on the position of program director. He spent three more years there before his arrival at Illinois State in 2005.
