Conference Awards

Several gymnasts on the Illinois State gymnastics team were honored at the MIC Conference Championships this year. Two of the girls were named First Team All-Conference, which means that they placed in the top three in at least one event or in the all-around competition. Erica Schick, for her second place finish on the uneven bars with a score of 9.825 and Apollonia Barrientos, who tied for third on the floor exercise after scoring a 9.675.
Erica Schick was also named Midwest Independent Conference Gymnast of the Year, an honor voted on by the head and assistant coaches of the conference. Although Erica was out of the all-around during conference because she sustained an injury the week before, Coach Conkling thought she was very deserving of the award. “Erica worked hard all year so it was nice to see her get gymnast of the year,” he was quoted at GoRedbirds.com.
The following competition is no longer a team competition, like the Redbirds were shooting for, but the NCAA Regional Competition. Erica was one of the top five all-around finishers in the region that Illinois State is a part of and has thus qualified for an all-around spot at the individual competition. Hannah Deutsch, after attending the competition last year, will be going as an alternate on the balance beam. There were several surprisingly absent teams from the NCAA Regional and Deutsch’s score was just not quite enough to qualify her for the individual competition, as there is only one event specialist per region.