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Redbirds Break Their Season Record Score With 191.650
March 5, 2006 Chicago, Ill. - Although the Illinois State gymnastics team was defeated at Illinois-Chicago (UIC) Sunday, five Redbirds managed to break their individual career records. UIC finished with a 193.125, while Illinois State posted a score of 191.650, topping its previous high of 189.425 for the 2006 season. Redbird head coach Bob Conkling has anticipated his team breaking the 190 mark the entire season, and they finally surpassed it. "I am so pleased with everyone's performance today," said Conkling. "The girls came out with more energy and used their aggravations from the mistakes they made Friday in a positive way to compete today. I made a few alterations to the beam and floor line-up and that seemed to pay off as well." Along with setting a new team record for the season, the `Birds also collectively topped their season balance beam score with 48.250. Individual highlights were Cheryl Berezan carding her new all-around career high of 38.525. Berezan's 9.525 vault, 9.650 bar set, 9.800 beam and 9.550 floor routine helped her to achieve that goal. Amanda Candler, another stand-out during this meet, broke two personal bests with her 9.775 bar routine and 9.675 vault. Chipping in additional high scores were Nina Posada's 9.625 bar set and Meaghan Koshman's 9.700 beam score, which is also a personal best for Koshman. Also shining on beam were Anne Fjordholm and Whitney Albright with scores of 9.725 and 9.650 respectively. Albrights 9.650 beam routine was a personal best for her and Andi Berry's 9.650 on floor also gave her a personal best. For events that previously gave the team difficulty, the `Birds possessed nothing but balance and steadiness on beam and floor.
"Having a positive attitude for the entire meet really helped us today," said Conkling. "This team kept fighting despite low scores on Friday and acted more like a Division I gymnastics team. They competed like they belonged here, which they certainly do and I'm really happy that we finally took the next step. Our underclassmen really stepped up this meet. Senior steadiness has been with us all season and it was nice to see the other girls perform to their capabilities as well." UIC won vault and bars, while Illinois State's battle on beam and floor gave them the higher score on those two events. Breaking their team beam score was a big step for the `Birds who vaulted a 47.600, scored a 47.750 on bars and a 48.050 on floor. "I was thrilled to see us finally have a good day on beam," said Conkling. "Although we lost today, we will take away team and individual accomplishments and that is what I am the most proud of. I knew from the first day that I had 190 plus team, so it was great to see them exceed that expectation." After the breakthrough meet for the `Birds, they will travel to Eastern Michigan on Saturday to compete at 4 p.m. against the Eagles of Eastern Michigan and the Rams from the University of Rhode Island. |
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