Illinois State at SEMO

Recap 

The Big Storyline: SEMO and Illinois State traded 9.9s back and forth in an exciting conference matchup that doubled as the Redhawks’ senior night. Both teams posted season high team scores. Madison Kipp was lights out again, collecting a pair of 9.9s of her own on bars and beam. Anna Kaziska had herself a night, claiming two event victories. Both teams are coming into their own just in time to prepare for the conference championship. This meet showed that the MIC has a lot of great gymnastics to offer. 

Implications: Considering the amount of things stacked against SEMO this year, the Redhawks have refused to take no for an answer. The Redhawks lost Jordan Jones to an ACL injury a couple meets ago and have not missed a beat. SEMO has mastered the art of the pivot. Thanks to the it’s third 194-plus in the last four weeks, the team will tentatively move into fourth in the USAG rankings. Next week, SEMO will begin the trek to dropping its two 191 away scores. Illinois State will remain at the top of the conference this week. The Redbirds are approaching the regional qualifying bubble, ranked No. 40 in the nation. The team will need to keep this same energy and improve beam consistency to contend for a potential regionals berth. These two teams will meet once more prior to the conference championship, this time at Illinois State. 

Records: Jolie Miller collected a share of the SEMO program record on bars with a 9.950. Angelica Labat tied a career high in the all-around thanks to a trio of 9.875s. Kipp tied her beam career high of 9.900. Lydia Webb entered her first all-around competition with a 39.075 thanks to a career high 9.875 on beam. Senior Anna Kaziska’s 9.950 on floor was her new best on the event.