Jan. 23, 2008

By Matthew C. Worthington, Gymnastics Contact

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - The Southeast Missouri State University Redhawks (1-0, 0-0 OVC) will host their first Midwest Independent Conference foe this season as Illinois State will travel to Cape Girardeau, Mo. on Friday, January 25 for a 7:00 p.m. meet.

The Redhawks are coming off an explosive season opening win against the former No.18, Kentucky Wildcats. With the win, Southeast has moved to No. 27 in the nation, and first in the MIC. The Redhawks uneven bars team is also off to a great start as their team score of 48.275 is No. 25 in the nation.

Southeast was pretty consistent against Kentucky, winning 3-of-4 events as a team. Leading the Redhawks on the vault were Sandra Blake (Tri-Cities, Wash./Mid-Columbia) and Amber Garlotte (Lee's Summit, Mo./Eagle Gymnastics), who tied for second overall.

On the bars, Blake again led the Redhawks as she finished third overall and was followed by teammates Bryanna Wong (Parkville, Mo./Edge Gymnastics), Rikara Turner (Hastings, Minn./Twin City Twisters) and freshman Lauren Dinan (Doniphan, Neb./Nebraska Twisters), all finishing tied for fourth.

The only weak spot for the Redhawks came on the balance beam. Wong was the lone Redhawk finishing in the top three as she placed second overall. Freshmen Amanda Schoenbaum (Bentonville, Ark./The Williams Center) and Christina Sundgren (Richland, Wash./Mid Columbia) helped keep Southeast in contention by tying for the fifth spot overall in their collegiate debuts.

With the meet on the line, the Redhawks pulled together an impressive floor performance as Turner and freshman Brianna Gaddie (East Grand Forks, Minn./Red River Valley) finished in a three way tie with a Wildcat gymnast for the individual title. Jena Nguyen (Sioux Falls, S.D./All-American) also finished strong as she tied for second.

The Illinois State Redbirds (2-0, 0-0 MIC) have defeated Ball State and Central Michigan this season and are currently ranked No. 37 nationally. The Redbirds are led this season by junior co-captain Meaghan Koshman, who is currently first in the conference on the vault and floor exercise. Koshman earned a MIC Gymnast of the Week honor this season and has been a top performer for Illinois State since her freshman campaign.

The Redhawks and Redbirds are both undefeated and are entering their first conference meet. With much on the line, gymnasts from both teams will be turning in top performances and the event will surely be a crowd pleaser.