March 4, 2008

By Matthew C. Worthington, Gymnastics Contact

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri State Gymnastics has earned the No.29 ranking in this week's GymInfo National Poll. The Redhawks have also moved into first place in the Midwest Independent Conference.

The Redhawks (3-6, 2-2 MIC) have been stellar this season, battling their way into NCAA Regional contention. In addition to the overall ranking, Southeast holds first place in every event in the MIC and are ranked in the National Top 25 in two events as a team; vault-No.25 and floor exercise-No.24.

Rikara Turner wowed the crowd with her beam routine (Photo courtesy of Patrick

Junior Sandra Blake (Tri-Cities, Wash./Mid Columbia) is currently the top gymnast in the MIC on the floor exercise and the all-around. Nationally, she is No.53 on the floor and No.33 on the all-around. Sophomore Rikara Turner (Hastings, Minn./Twin City Twisters) is also ranked nationally as she is No.46 on the all-around and is second in the MIC only to teammate Blake. Freshman Brianna Gaddie (East Grand Forks, Minn./Red River Valley) has been very consistent on her events this season and has earned the No.52 spot nationally on vault, which is also good enough for second in the MIC.

The Redhawk's current Regional Qualifying Score is 193.840 and the women will have two more opportunities to increase that score before the Midwest Independent Conference Championships. The Top 36 teams in the country earn a NCAA Regional berth, so the Redhawks are fighting hard keep their ranking.

Qualification for NCAA Regional competition is based on the team's six best regular-season scores. Three of the scores must be from away meets. To calculate the RQS, the high score is eliminated and the remaining five scores are averaged.

The Redhawks will be back in action this Saturday, March 8 as they travel to Chicago, Ill. and face the University of Illinois Chicago. Stay tuned to GoSoutheast.com for the results of the meet.