April 26, 2007

CAPE GIRARDEAU, MO. (Thursday, April 26, 2007) - The 2007 Redhawks gymnastic's team saw amazing accomplishments under the tutelage of head coach Tom Farden and assistant coach Brogan Jacobsen-Evanson.

The team excelled as they put their names in the all-time record book on bars and brought home the most wins ever by a Southeast gymnastics squad (17). The Redhawks also took home three more Midwest Independent Conference Awards as freshman Rikara Turner (Hastings, Minn./Twin City Twisters) was named MIC Newcomer of the Year, Jacobsen-Evanson was named MIC Co-Assistant Coach of the Year and Farden was named MIC Head Coach of the Year. Farden was also last year's MIC Head Coach of the Year and he has coached the last three-straight MIC Newcomers of the Year.

Another bright spot this season came from the Redhawks reaching their highest national ranking in over a decade, as they spent time ranked 22nd nationally and held fifth place in the south central region. The south central region is one of the toughest in the country as it contained five teams that finished in the top 26 this season.

The Redhawks are very confident about their chances next season and look to their six newcomers for an added boost.

"Each athlete needs one quarter of a tenth improvement for us to make regional next year," said Farden. "If we can do that with our new guys as well, we will be great."

The team was frustrated to not earn a regional berth as a team, but elated to send gymnasts Turner, Sandra Blake (Tri-Cities, Wash./Mid-Columbia), Bryanna Wong (Parkville, Mo./Edge Gymnastics) and Jena Nguyen (Sioux City, S.D./All-American) to regional competition.

"Our consistency was a key factor," Farden said. "Our high-end just wasn't quite good enough to get the team in."

Southeast held first-place in the MIC for the majority of the season before being slightly edged out by pre-season ranked Illinois-Chicago. The Redhawks again finished third at the MIC championships, but were able to increase their team total a full point over last season's.

Eight Redhawks also earned spots on the All-MIC team this season. All-MIC First Team: Sandra Blake (Vault, All-Around) and Jena Nguyen (Floor). All-MIC Second Team: Amber Garlotte (Vault), Rikara Turner (Vault, All-Around), Jacqueline Heath (Bars), Sandra Blake (Bars, Floor), Maureen Grimaldi (Bars, All-Around), Alison Ezell (Floor) and Bryanna Wong (Floor, All-Around).

With athletic part of the season over, the gymnasts now continue their academic season in competing for the academic championships. Farden has been outstanding in recruiting gymnasts that work as hard in the classroom as they do in the gym. Last year the Redhawks ranked fifth nationally with an overall G.P.A. of 3.5436. This year, the ladies had a G.P.A. of 3.71 for the fall semester and are on pace to hit the top three nationally.