Final Results (PDF)

CHICAGO – Taylor Westrick won the balance beam for the second consecutive year, but the Southeast Missouri gymnastics team fell short in its attempt to win a second consecutive Midwest Independent Conference championship on Saturday night.

The Redhawks (2-15, 2-7 MIC) tallied a 191.225, their best road score of the season, to finish fifth in the team standings. Illinois State won the team competition with a 194.800, host UIC placed second with a 194.725, Texas Woman's took third with a 194.050 and Centenary finished fourth with a 191.300.

“That was a well deserved score for Taylor, I'm proud of her,” Southeast head coach Kristi Ewasko said. “I'm really excited for her to have a strong chance to represent our program at regionals.

“It's exciting to know we have the full roster coming back for next year. The team can learn from mistakes, but also from the triumphs of this season. I told them tonight to walk away from this feeling good about these things that can be fixed and changed for next year. Something this team learned was to not give up. Halfway through the season, everyone could've quit when team regionals were no longer a possibility, but they stuck together and performed very well at the end of the season.”

Southeast's evening began on bars, where Angela Serafini tallied a stellar 9.800 (fourth place) to lead the Redhawk lineup and Taryn Vanderpool supported that score with a 9.750. Serafini earned second-team All-MIC honors with her finish. However, two consecutive falls to close the event left the Redhawks with a team total of 47.450 on the apparatus. That left Southeast sitting in fourth through one rotation as Illinois State went 48.600 on beam, UIC tallied 48.575 on vault and Centenary scored 48.350 on floor.

After a bye, the Redhawks moved to the balance beam for the third rotation. Southeast got three strong routines to close out its routines. Westrick closed it out with a career-best 9.900 while Vanderpool scored 9.775 (third) and Serafini recorded a 9.750. Westrick's outburst gave her the MIC beam title for the second consecutive year. However, three early falls proved costly as Southeast's team total was 47.450. Vanderpool and Westrick earned first team All-MIC honors with their top-three finishes.

“Angela really came into her own at the end of the season,” Ewasko said. “She did the same thing last year, one thing we'll work with her on is getting her into that groove at the beginning of the season next year that she finished this year on.”


Southeast continued the evening on floor, where it tallied a 48.100. The Redhawks were led by Emma Garrett's 9.750 while Megan Fosnow tallied a 9.725 to pace Southeast.

Garrett and Fosnow led the way for Southeast on vault in the final rotation. Garrett scored a team-high 9.775 to place fourth while Fosnow scored 9.750. The Redhawks as a team scored a 48.225 on the event, their top event score of the evening.

Prior to the meet, 13 Redhawks were placed in the MIC's Scholastic All-Conference team. The Southeast gymnasts receiving the honors were Erin Brady, Megan Fosnow, Emma Garrett, Tamara Gent, Taylor Huey, Emily Mann, Samantha Marrero, Nicole Nickels, Margaret O'Neal Kimberly Pickerl, Angela Serafini, Taryn Vanderpool and Taylor Westrick.

The meet concluded the team portion of Southeast's schedule. The Redhawks will await word on any individuals who qualify for the NCAA Regional Championships on April 7.