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CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – A conference title defense is on the line as the Southeast Missouri gymnastics team travels to Chicago aiming to capture its second consecutive Midwest Independent Conference Championship on Saturday. The conference meet pits Southeast against host UIC, Illinois State, Texas Woman's and Centenary. First rotation will begin at 7:30 p.m. CT.

Last Time Out — Southeast put together another strong performance, cracking 194 as a team for the third time in four weeks against Texas Woman's last Friday. Southeast notched a come from behind, 194.200-193.700 dual victory to improve to a 2-3 in the MIC and hand TWU its first league loss of the year. Taryn Vanderpool won the all-around for the second time this season, recording a career-high 38.825. The sophomore also claimed the individual title on bars with a career-best 9.875. Taylor Westrick also captured an individual title on the beam. Westrick recorded a 9.825 on the event, her seventh consecutive beam score of 9.800 or better. Angela Serafini also had her finest meet of the year, scoring 9.800 on both bars and beam to finish second in both events.

UIC at a Glance — The Flames have been the top team in the MIC this season with its 11-6 dual record and a 5-0 mark against MIC teams. More importantly, the Flames are in prime position for an NCAA Regional bid with their Regional Qualifying Score of 194.865. Andrea Skala is the MIC's top-ranked all-around competitor with an RQS of 38.915. UIC has at least one gymnast ranked in the conference's top three in every event and Cynthia Lemieux-Guillemette leads the league on bars (9.840 RQS).

Texas Woman's at a Glance — The Pioneers are sitting just outside the top-36 cutoff for an NCAA Regional spot with its 42nd-ranked RQS of 193.990. TWU has scored above 194 on three occasions this season, including a season-best of 195.125 against Southeast on March 3. Rashonda Cannie is the Pioneer's all-arounder and she ranks second in the MIC with an RQS of 38.775. TWU boasts the top vault and floor competitors in Kayla Jones (9.845 vault RQS) and Spencer Jones (9.825 floor RQS), respectively.

Illinois State at a Glance — The Redbirds enter the MIC Championships with an 8-10 dual record and a 1-5 mark against MIC teams. ISU tallied its second best score of the season last week, a 194.350 at the State of Illinois Classic. Kim Genereux was tabbed the MIC's Gymnast of the Week after tallying a 38.850 in the all-around last weekend. In terms of RQS, Samantha King is the Redbirds' top all-arounder with a score of 38.495.

Centenary at a Glance — The Ladies are 4-14 in dual competition and 1-4 against MIC teams. CC has posted its two best scores of the year in its past two meets, a 193.200 in a tri-meet with Illinois State and UIC and a 192.825 against Kentucky last week. Jessica Lieblich is the Ladies' all-around competitor and she has a season-high of 38.750.

Season Series — Southeast went 0-1 against UIC and 1-1 against both Texas Woman's and Illinois State. Saturday will be its first meeting of the year with Centenary (Southeast leads all-time series 30-4).

News and Notes:

'Taylor'-Made Gymnast — Taylor Westrick has rounded into her NCAA Regional qualifying form of a year ago in the past month. After posting only one score above 9.700 in the first three meets of the year, the junior has eclipsed that mark 15 times in her last seven outings. She has been particularly strong on the balance beam, scoring 9.800 or higher in seven consecutive meets and tying her career-best with a 9.875 in a dual victory over Illinois State on Feb. 24. Westrick currently leads the MIC and ranks 59th in the country on beam (9.825 RQS) and is one-hundredth of a point out of the nation‚s top 50.

Bring in the Specialist — Junior Emma Garrett has been dynamite for Southeast this season, posting nine top-three finishes for the year. In 20 routines this season, Garrett has posted 17 scores of 9.700 or higher, the most among all Southeast gymnasts this season. Her 39 career routines of such scores ranks second among all active Redhawks. Garrett earned her first career MIC Specialist of the Week award on Feb. 15, after she tallied a 9.825 on floor and a 9.700 on vault in the Perfect 10 Challenge.

All-Around Success — Megan Fosnow appears to be hitting her stride for the Redhawks in the all-around. The Franklin, Wis., native recorded her top all-around score of the season against No. 16 Auburn on March 9, finishing with a career-best 39.125. Fosnow has cracked at least 38.300 in four of the last six meets in the all-around competition and earned two MIC Gymnast of the Week awards, the first of her career, in that span.

Working Back In — An early season injury slowed Taryn Vanderpool's soophomore campaign, but she has managed to make an impact since her return a few weeks ago. In the last four weeks, Vanderpool has scored 9.700 or higher seven times and posted a career-high all-around score of 38.825 against Texas Woman's last Friday. This coming after she missed three meets due to injury early in the year.

Serafini Breaks Out — Junior Angela Serafini has helped balance out the Redhawks' bars and beam lineups the last two weeks. The Glencoe, Mo., native has recorded three scores of 9.800 or better in the past two meets after not scoring above 9.700 in any meet prior. After tallying a season-best 9.825 on beam against Auburn on March 9, Serafini had her best meet to date with a pair of second-place finishes on bars and beam (9.800 in each). The outburst netted Serafini the first MIC Specialist of the Week award in her career this week.