McLean County Times

Road Meet At Southeast Missouri Awaits The Redbirds

With just two regular-season meets remaining before the conference championship meet, the Illinois State gymnastics team looks to keep its recent streak of strong performances going on Friday when it travels to Cape Girardeau, Missouri, for a dual meet with MIC foe Southeast Missouri State. The meet is set to begin at 6:30 p.m. at Houck Field House.

"We are looking forward to the team competing at SEMO this weekend," ISU head coach Bob Conkling said. "They are hosting the MIC conference meet in a couple weeks, so it will give the team a chance to see and compete in the same venue that the championship meet will take place. We keep pushing to improve every workout and are striving to head into each meet with confidence and the ability to score higher."

The Redbirds came in second overall with their second-highest team score of the season of 195.600 last weekend to defeat Pitt and Southern Connecticut State but fell to host New Hampshire at the Whittemore Center in a highly-contest quad meet.   On floor, ISU put up its best score of the season with a 49.275 which put the Redbirds in second place halfway through the meet and on vault, ISU posted the highest score of any of the teams on the event in the meet with a 49.225 to set a season high.

For their efforts in the meet, freshman Nirel Bart-Wiliams and sophomore Jaye Mack were each honored with MIC weekly awards. Bart-Williams was named the MIC Newcomer of the Week, after she posted a career-best score of 39.325 in the all-around to come away with a win. Mack posted a score of 9.925 for the second meet in a row and finished in a tie for first place in the meet to earn the league's Performance of the Week honor. 

SEMO scored a 192.950 to win last Saturday's meet against Greenville at the American Farm Heritage Museum in Greenville, Ill. Freshman Taylor Ingle and junior Lyida Webb finished first and second, respectively, in the all-around. Senior Mallory Desch brought home the MIC Coaches Choice Award last week, after she competed in her first rotation of the season (outside of exhibition routines) for SEMO on the bars and registered a 9.275 for the rotation.

Links to live results and video can be found on the gymnastics schedule page on GoRedbirds.com.

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

Original source can be found here