ISU Gymnastics Dominates on Senior Night
Written by Braden Fogerson on March 17, 2022
Photo courtesy goredbirds.com
NORMAL, Ill. – Illinois State gymnastics put on a show for their senior night on Saturday, topping Southeast Missouri State with a final score of 195.350-192.750.
The meet started out strong with a vault score of 48.900, as expected for a team that has dominated that event this season. However, they scored even better on bars, scoring a 49.150 in the event to make it not only their best score on bars this season, but also the second highest score in school history.
The Redbirds gave themselves a sizable lead heading into the second half of the meet, when they would compete in their most difficult event, the beam. The beam would be the only event where ISU was outscored by the Redhawks.
“Even after a couple falls on beam, we rocked the last three routines,” said Head Coach Bob Conkling.
Despite SEMO closing in on their deficit when they scored a 49 on the floor, the Redbirds still managed to top that score with a 49.325, clinching the victory as well as another season-best score.
Coach Conkling talked about how their last meet in Utah did not go their way, and the team needed to find a way to put it behind them. “We talked about making sure that didn’t happen again, and if we made a mistake to have your teammate’s back on the next routine,” said Conkling. “I think we did well with that tonight.”
In the top two spots in the all-around for the event were teammates Angelica Labat and Alana Laster. Their performances earned them both recognition in the MIC, as Labat won Gymnast of the Week and Laster won Newcomer of the Week for the final week of the regular season.
For Labat, it was the sixth time this season where she earned the award. As for Laster, it was the fourth award she won this season, alongside her other two Newcomer of the Week Awards and a Performance of the Week Award.
What’s next for the Redbirds is the 2022 Midwest Independent Conference Championships, hosted by Texas Woman’s University. The meet, held in Denton, Texas, will begin Friday at 5.
