Redbird Gymnastics Narrowly Loses To Eastern Michigan

Image courtesy of goredbirds.com

NORMAL, Ill. – ISU gymnastics was able to host their first home meet of the year on Friday night against Eastern Michigan. It was in front of that home crowd that the Redbirds lost 193.950-192.650. However, the meet certainly wasn’t all Eagles.

The night started on vault for the ‘birds, where they put up a season-best score of 48.725. They carried that momentum into the bars, where a score of 48.475 kept them ahead at the halfway point of the meet. “I thought our first two events were very solid,” said head coach Bob Conkling. “I was very happy with vault and bars.”

This is where the Eagles began to pull ahead. A score of 47.100 on the balance beam put the Redbirds in a hole during floor. “We all just fell apart,” said Conkling. “We just can’t do that if we want to win a meet.”

ISU did make up for it with a strong performance on the floor, earning a 48.350. However, it wasn’t enough to put ISU back in front, as Eastern Michigan avoided falls and finished strong on the beam. “I think that they picked themselves back up for floor,” said Conkling. “I thought we came back after balance beam and performed well.”

This overall loss doesn’t mean that the Redbirds didn’t shine individually. In addition to Sofia Iribarren taking home first place on the bars, ISU was able to earn a four-way tie for first place on vault.

Included in this tie was Jaye Mack, who also got her name called in a tie for first place on floor. “It was just great to be home,” said the freshman from Kansas City about experiencing her first home meet. “It was nice to see familiar faces in the crowd.”

ISU continues their season on Sunday, January 30, with a road meet at Ball State.