SHREVEPORT, La. – An exciting year of record-setting scores, career bests and weekly honors has all led to Shreveport, Louisiana, as the Illinois State gymnastics team will look to return to top form at the 2025 Midwest Independent Conference Championship hosted by Centenary at The Gold Dome on Friday.

The Redbirds will compete against host Centenary, Southeast Missouri State and Texas Woman's for the conference title, and the meet will be streamed live via Virtius at 4 p.m. CT. 

"I think the entire team is excited for the MIC Championship," Illinois State head coach Bob Conkling said. "They are ready and prepared to battle for the title. It should be a very interesting competition with a lot of good gymnastics from all four teams."

The Redbirds are looking to win their second conference championship in three seasons, following their win at the 2023 MIC Championship with a program-record score of 196.375. That conference title was the first for the Redbirds since 2012.

Redbird Team Notes:
•    The Redbirds head into the MIC Championships with the highest team National Qualifying Score (NQS) in the conference at 195.545 in the latest Road To Nationals rankings.
•    ISU is currently ranked No. 42 in the country, just ahead of Texas Woman's at No. 48 (195.130). SEMO sits at No. 59 (193.535) and Centenary rounds out the group at No. 80 (187.415).
•    Illinois State has also posted the highest average meet score in the conference this season of 195.169, with a season-high score of 196.150 that is the second highest in the conference this season (TWU scored 196.600) and third-best in program history.
•    The Redbirds also hold the highest event NQS scores in the MIC on vault, bars, beam, and floor.
•    ISU ranks No. 30 in the country on vault and No. 32 on floor.

ISU Gymnast Notes:
•    Senior Alana Laster heads into the conference championship meet with the highest individual NQS on both the vault (9.870) and floor (9.875) and looks to be a favorite to win both events. However, fellow senior Jaye Mack will have something to say about that as she ranks second in the conference NQS on vault (9.860) and third on floor (9.860), where she has won three-straight individual MIC titles.
•    Senior Sara Wabi has also put herself in the individual conference title hunt, as she leads the MIC in NQS on bars (9.840) and is second on the floor (9.865) behind Laster. 
•    Sophomore Reese Grolla is also one to watch for the Redbirds, as she heads into the championship with the top NQS in the conference on beam (9.830), just ahead of Mack in second (9.825) and TWU's Kaitlyn Hoiland in third (9.795). Grolla also ranks third in the conference on bars (9.820) behind Wabi and Hoiland.
•    Senior Mya Robinson has been the most consistent all-around performer for the Redbirds in 2025, and she heads into the meet ranked second behind Taylor Ingle of SEMO. 

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