April 25, 2006

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - (Tuesday, April 25, 2006) The Southeast Missouri State gymnastics team finished ranked 35th nationally in the final gymnastics national ranking poll as posted on Troester.com, the gymnastics website used to determine regional and national qualifiers for the NCAA Gymnastics Championship. The ranking is the highest final ranking for a Southeast gymnastics team since the final poll at the end of the 1997 season in which they finished ranked 23rd in the nation.

The ranking matches the Redhawks highest ranking since Head Coach Tom Farden took over the program. Last season the Redhawks were ranked 35th in the February 21 poll. Both rankings represent the program's highest since the March 16, 1999 poll when Southeast was ranked 30th with a Regional Qualifying Score (RQS) of 193.375.

The Redhawks (10-16, 5-2 MIC) are coming off their first NCAA Regional appearance since the 1997 season. They finished with an RQS of 192.350 and was just one of 36 teams to earn a NCAA Regional berth.

Southeast's highest ranking came during the 1997 season when they were ranked as high as No. 16 on March 27 with an RQS of 195.092. They finished in the top-25 in the final polls with a ranking of No. 23.

Fellow Midwest Independent Conference (MIC) rival Illinois-Chicago finished with a final ranking of No. 32 with an RQS of 192.810.

National Champion Georgia finished No. 1 in the poll with a RQS of 197.305, followed by Utah (196.705).

Alabama (196.460), Florida (196.570) and Nebraska (196.035) round-out the top-5.

The Redhawks finished ahead of such high-profile programs such as Maryland, Rutgers, Iowa, Utah State and California.