MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – With just two regular-season meets remaining before the Midwest Independent Conference Championship in three weeks, Illinois State will travel north to take on another Big Ten opponent in the No. 15 ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers on Saturday at Maturi Pavilion.
SETTING THE SCENE
The Gophers are back home this weekend for their penultimate regular season meet, as they host the Redbirds at 4 p.m. CT. B1G+ will stream with Lexy Bergeland (Ramler) and Tiarre Sales on the call and live stats will be available via Virtius.
THOUGHTS FROM ISU HEAD COACH BOB CONKLING
“This will be the first time, since I started coaching here at ISU, that we will competing at Minnesota. The team, coaches and staff are looking forward to competing against another Big Ten team this season and are prepared, focused and ready for the challenge.”
SCOUTING ILLINOIS STATE
• ISU currently ranks No. 37 in the country as a team in the latest Road To Nationals rankings and sit at No. 25 in the national floor rankings and No. 26 on the vault.
• Senior Alana Laster looks to have a great shot at returning the NCAA Regionals, as she currently ranks No. 28 in the individual rankings on vault with an NQS of 9.865.
• The Redbirds posted a score of 49.075 on floor to close things out and jump to the top with a score of 195.725 to win the Redbird Quad against Central Michigan, Centenary and Bowling Green last Friday night. The team score was the second-highest of the year for ISU.
• For the second time this season, senior Sara Wabi was named the MIC Gymnast of the Week while Laster took home MIC Performance of the Week honors for the second time in 2025.
• Wabi had a solid meet for the Redbirds in their quad win, where she scored a career-high 9.900 on bars to take the top spot on the event. She also added a third-place finish on the floor with a 9.850 and competed on vault as well. Her marks helped the Redbirds post a team total of 49.100 on bars which tied for the third-highest score on the event in program history.
• Laster only competed on two events in Illinois State’s quad meet, but she picked up a pair of event wins for the Redbirds. Her best performance of the night came on the floor, where she tied for first with a 9.875, and she also tied for first place on vault with a 9.825.
SCOUTING MINNESOTA
• Minnesota is ranked at No. 15 in the latest Road To Nationals rankings and finished tied for second in the Big Ten regular season standings with No. 8 Michigan State.
• Individually, Mya Hooten (13 event titles) ranks No. 18 on vault and No. 8 on floor nationally this season. Jordyn Lyden ranks 29th nationally on the uneven bars and Ava Stewart ranks No. 24, while Sarah Moraw is 28th on vault.
• The Gophers scored a 196.625 to take first place at the Big 4 meet last Saturday evening. No. 15 Michigan (196.300) placed second, Maryland went third (196.125) and No. 24 Illinois (195.275) got fourth.
• Moraw tied for the title on vault (9.900), her second of the season, while Hooten tied for the floor title with a 9.925, her eighth of the year. Lyden also won the uneven bars title with a season-best 9.950.
For all latest on Illinois State gymnastics, stay tuned at GoRedbirds.com and follow the team on Instagram (@redbirdgymnastics), on X (@redbirdwgym) and Facebook.
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