Feb. 9, 2006

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - (Thursday, February 9, 2006) Freshman Sandra Blake (Tri-Cities, Wash./Mid-Columbia) was named Midwest Independent Conference (MIC) Gymnast of the Week for the second straight week for her performance last weekend in a conference dual meet against No. 33 Texas Woman's University.

Blake led the Redhawks (3-2, 1-1 MIC) to their second-straight victory of the season as she won her third-straight all-around title against the Pioneers in the Redhawks 192.925-192.200 victory at Houck Field House.

She was a main reason in the Redhawks scoring a season best score of 192.925 and extend their home dual meet winning streak to four dating back to last season.

Her all-around score of 38.975 set a new season-high for the fourth-straight meet.

She was also the lone Redhawks gymnast to win an individual title as she took home her second-straight floor title with a season-high score of 9.825.

She finished second on the bars with a season-high 9.850 which helped the Redhawks score a 48.925 as a team which ranks third on the school's all-time charts.

On the beam she again added a runner-up finish by scoring yet another season-high 9.750.

She finished ninth on the vault with a score of 9.550 to complete her outstanding all-around performance.

She currently ranks 68th nationally on the bars with an average of 9.737 which also ranks 16th in the South Central Region. She also ranks 26th in the Region with an all-around average of 37.912.

Blake joins teammate Tara Boldt (Lakeville, Minn./ T.A.G.S) as the only two Redhawk gymnasts to win the weekly honor since it's inception. Boldt won it last season for the week of February 22, 2005.

The MIC is made up of five schools; Southeast Missouri State, Illinois State, Illinois-Chicago, Centenary and Texas Women's University, who's sports information directors vote on the weekly award.

Blake and the Redhawks return to the gym this weekend when they travel to 30th-ranked Illinois-Chicago on Saturday, February 11 in Chicago. Start time for the dual meet is 7:00 p.m.