March 6, 2005

Complete Results

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - (Sunday, March 06, 2005) It was "Senior Day" in Houck Field House on Sunday afternoon and the three seniors on the Southeast Missouri State gymnastics team made their last meet at home a memorable one as seniors Katie Bloom (Snellville, Ga./ Gwinnett Gymnastics Center), Alexis Traylor (St. Charles, Mo./ All American) each won individual titles and Crystal Eberhardt (Chaska, Minn./ Classic Gymnastics) finished fourth on the beam to help lead the 36th-ranked Redhawks over conference opponent Illinois State, 192.975 - 189.125.

The Redhawks (5-6, 3-2 MIC) had little problem defeating the Redbirds as they started the meet off strong with a solid 48.275 on the vault. Freshman Danyelle Aber (Gurnee, Ill./ Ultimate Gymnastics) recorded yet another strong vault as she picked-up her first collegiate title. The former high school vault champion finished first with a career-high score of 9.700.

Four of her teammates swept the spots behind her as Tara Boldt (Lakeville, Minn./ T.A.G.S) finished second (9.675), freshman Jennifer Kaye (Brookfield, Wis./ Salto Gymnastics) returned from an injury to finish third with a score of 9.650. Junior Amanda Grimes (Lone Jack, Mo./ GAGE Gymnastics) and freshman Allison Ezell (Kansas City, Kan./ Alpha Omega) finished tied for the fourth spot with scores of 9.625. Ezell's score tied a career-high.

"I'm extremely pleased by our performances on the vault," said Head Coach Tom Farden. "The freshmen performed like veterans."

On the bars, the Redhawks once again swept the top-four spots. Bloom won her first bars title of the season with a score of 9.650. Boldt (9.600), Ezell (9.550) and Natalie Watts (Pasco, Wash./ Mid Columbia Gymnastics Academy) finished second thru fourth respectively.

The Redhawks started-off on the balance beam at the start of the third rotation and put in their best performance of the meet scoring a 48.475, besting the Redbirds by over one point as they only managed a score of 47.175.

Boldt tied a season-high with a score of 9.800 to finish first on the beam. Ezell again made an impact, scoring a 9.700 to finish third. Eberhardt finished fourth with a season-high score of 9.675.

In the final rotation, Traylor dominated the floor exercises as she finished first with a 9.850, adding further proof that she is one of the best floor performers in Southeast history. Boldt collected her third second-place finish with a score of 9.775. Ezell tied a career-high with a score of 9.750 to finish third.

In the all-around it was once again all Redhawks has Boldt won her fifth all-around title of the season with a score of 38.850. Ezell capped-off her outstanding meet with a runner-up finish to Boldt with a career-high 38.625. Bloom completed the sweep with a score of 38.075 to garner third-place honors.

"I've been starting to stress the need for focusing on our team," said Farden. "Today they showed that focus and it resulted in a solid performance. If this team wants to make it to the NCAAs we need to continue focusing and performing at this level and better for the remainder of the season for us to reach our goals."

The Redhawks hit the road to face conference opponent Centenary in Shreveport, Louisiana on Saturday, March 12. Start time for the dual meet is 4:00 p.m.