Feb. 25, 2008

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - The Southeast Missouri State Redhawks (3-3, 2-1 MIC) start a tough road trip this evening as they face the No. 26 Southern Utah Thunderbirds. Southeast will then face the BYU Cougars on Wednesday, February 27 and the Illinois State Redbirds on Sunday, March 2.

The Redhawks are performing well this season and will look to use this week of competition to boost their Regional Qualifying Score and lock down a spot in the NCAA Regional.

The Thunderbirds just narrowly missed the top 25 this week as they are coming off their lowest scoring performance of the season, 193.100. They will be looking to use tonight's meet to springboard back into the top 25 and are led by junior Katie Hicks. Hicks won the Western Athletic Conference Specialist of the Week award on February 5 after winning two straight beam titles.

The Cougars are also coming off a hard fought loss, even though they scored a season-high 194.925 against No. 8 Oregon State. Senior Alethea Boon is one of the top gymnasts for BYU and she is coming off a remarkable meet where she finished the all-around with a 39.100.

The Redbirds are coming off a win against Alaska-Anchorage in which they scored a season-low 189.450. The Redbirds and Redhawks have already matched up once this season as Southeast gained the upper hand with a 194.050-192.200 win. In the meet, both teams were solid but Southeast was able to come away with a win in three of four events to earn a win in their MIC season opener.

Stay tuned to GoSoutheast.com for all the results of this week's competition.