March 9, 2008

By Matthew C. Worthington, Gymnastics Contact

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - (Mar. 8, 2008) The Southeast Missouri State Redhawks (5-6, 3-2 MIC) increased their chances at earning a NCAA regional berth as they defeated conference foe University of Illinois-Chicago and Ball State (194.350-193.050-193.175). The team now boasts an RQS of 194.035 and look to hold their ranking of No. 29 in the nation.

Freshman Brianna Gaddie (East Grand Forks, Minn./Red River Valley) led the Redhawks to a vault total of 48.825 as she earned the individual title with a 9.850. Tying for third were teammates Amber Garlotte (Lee's Summit, Mo./Eagle Gymnastics) and Sandra Blake (Tri-Cities, Wash./Mid Columbia) as they finished with 9.775. Rikara Turner (Hastings, Minn./Twin City Twisters) followed the pair as she scored a 9.750.

Freshman Lauren Dinan tied for first on bars with a 9.750 (Photo courtesy of Patrick Clark)

The Redhawks rebounded from last week's disappointing uneven bars performance as they took first on the event with a 48.450. Freshman Lauren Dinan (Doniphan, Neb./Nebraska Twisters) was the top Redhawk as she scored a 9.750 and shared the individual title with Ball State's Cobie Zuk. Turner followed with a second place 9.725 while Blake and Bryanna Wong (Parkville, Mo./Edge Gymnastics) tied for third with 9.675. Sophomore Jacqueline Heath (St. Cloud, Minn./St. Cloud Tech) also had a good showing as her 9.650 was good enough for fourth.

Southeast was able to improve on beam from their previous performances as they scored 48.175. While they didn't take first place as a team on the event, Blake and Jena Nguyen (Sioux Falls, S.D./All-American) were in a five-way tie for first place as they scored 9.800. Wong scored a 9.650 and Starlyn Schwartz scored a 9.625 as they finished sixth and seventh, respectively.

The top performance for the Redhawks was again on the floor exercise as they tied Ball State for first on the event with 48.900. Leading the Redhawks was Blake as she scored a second-place 9.850, tying her season-high. Turner (9.825) set a career-high-high following Blake in third and Nguyen (9.800) picked up the fourth spot.

After a solid outing in the meet, Blake captured the all-around title for the Redhawks with a 39.100, followed by teammate Turner with a 38.600.

The Redhawks will now prepare for their final regular season meet against the Texas Women's University Pioneers in Houck Field House on Thursday, March 20.