Feb. 14, 2008

By Matthew C. Worthington, Gymnastics Contact

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast will compete in their toughest meet of the year on Friday, February 15 against the No. 14 Missouri Tigers, with the action beginning at 7:00p.m.

Southeast (3-2, 2-1 MIC) is coming off an impressive meet in which they cracked into the Southeast All-Time Record Book four times and earned a dominating (194.925-192.575) victory over Centenary College. The team total was good enough to break into the top 10 all-time scores list at Southeast. In the meet, sophomore Jacqueline Heath (St. Cloud, Minn./St. Cloud Tech) won her first career individual title on bars as she scored a 9.900, the third best score in Southeast history. Junior Sandra Blake (Tri-Cities, Wash./Mid Columbia), freshman Brianna Gaddie (East Grand Forks, Minn./Red River Valley) and sophomore Jena Nguyen (Sioux Falls, S.D./All-American) shared the individual title on floor with a 9.825. Blake also won the title on vault with a 9.825. Sophomore Rikara Turner (Hastings, Minn./Twin City Twisters) was able to capture her first all-around title of the season with a career-high 39.075 to round out the impressive evening.

The University of Missouri (4-1) has also been impressive after setting another season-high team score of 195.800 against Centenary College. The Tigers have some outstanding sophomores, including Sarah Shire who currently ranks fifth in the nation in the floor exercise, 28th in the all-around and 22nd on vault. Shire is this week's Co-Big 12 Gymnast of the Week and will look to help her team achieve victory again.

The Tigers lead the series, 20-6, and Southeast will be looking to add another win to the series. The meet will definitely be full of exciting, top-notch performances, and the Redhawks would love to see a big show of support.