Southeast Missouri at Oklahoma / Texas Woman's

Meet Notes
 
Date: Friday, Jan. 23
Start Time: 7 p.m. CT
Location: Norman, Okla.
Arena: Lloyd Noble Center
Coaches: Kristi Ewasko, Southeast Missouri; K.J. Kindler, Oklahoma; Lisa Bowerman, Texas Woman's
 
Media Coverage
TV: FOX College Sports Central (nationally), FOX Sports Oklahoma Plus (regionally) 
Live Stats: SoonerSports.com
Twitter Updates: @SEMOGymnastics / @GoSoutheast
  
Televised Live: Friday's meet will be televised live nationally on FOX College Sports Central and regionally on FOX Sports Oklahoma Plus. FOX Sports College Central is a channel typically offered on a sports package or tier. Bill Doleman and Kelly Garrison-Funderburk will have the call.

About Southeast: The Redhawks have scored 193.275 vs. Illinois State (Jan. 11) and 193.300 at Iowa State (Jan. 18) during the first two meets of the 2015 season.

Defending MIC Champs: Southeast claimed the 2014 Midwest Independent Conference Championship with a season-best 195.275 on March 22, 2014. It was the fourth MIC championship in the history of Redhawks gymnastics and third since 2009. Southeast finished with a 49.250 on bars, 49.000 on floor exercise, 48.950 on vault and 48.075 on beam to claim the title. Lauren Israel scored a season-high 9.900 on bars that day, which tied for the third-best bars score in program history.

Dominating Season Opener: Southeast won all four rotations of last Sunday's dual meet as the Redhawks defeated Illinois State 193.275-186.650 at Houck Field House. Ashley Thomas claimed the all-around title for Southeast by posting a 38.925 total score.
 
Back-to-Back MIC Gymnasts of the Week: Redhawks athletes have been named MIC Gymnast of the Week following the first two meets. Sophomores Ashley Thomas (Jan. 14) and Alyssa Tucker (Jan. 21) have both received the weekly honors. Both honors were the first in the careers of Thomas and Tucker.

Thomas claimed her first career all-around title in the season opener vs. Illinois State on Jan. 11. She finished with a career-best total of 38.925 and scored at least 9.700 on all four events and tied teammate Erin Brady for the floor exercise title with a 9.800, the highest individual scores of the meet. 

Tucker set a career-high with a 39.025 all-around total to finish fourth overall at No. 23 Iowa State in a tri-meet that also included No. 8 Oregon State. She posted season-highs with a 9.825 on beam and 9.775 on bars and floor. She currently ranks 35th nationally in the all-around with an average of 38.938.

Third-Best Team GPA in Division I: As a team, the Redhawks posted a 3.696 cumulative grade point average during the 2013-14 academic year, which ranked third nationally. Southeast continued its run of academic excellence, which includes eight straight years of top-three national finishes and Academic National Championships in five of those years. Chloe Marshall recorded a perfect 4.0 GPA and each member of the team was named a Southeast Scholar-Athlete.
 
Tucker Advances to NCAA Regional: Alyssa Tucker advanced to the NCAA Regional held at the University of Arkansas on April 5, 2014, where she placed seventh with a 38.575 total in the all-around.
 
All-Conference Performers: Following last year's MIC championship, eight Redhawks earned All-Midwest Independent Conference recognition, including seven first-team selections. Returnees Chelsi Hamilton, Lauren Israel, Ashley Thomas, Alyssa Tucker and Bailey Walker all were named All-MIC. Tucker earned MIC Freshman of the Year honors.
 
Shire Brown Named MIC Assistant Coach of the Year: Assistant coach Sarah Shire Brown was voted Midwest Independent Conference Assistant Coach of the Year following the MIC Championships. Shire Brown coaches balance beam and serves as the program's recruiting and social media coordinator in addition to being involved in all other facets of the program. She has implemented and maintained team-specific social media pages, which includes over 1,500 likes on Facebook and hundreds of followers on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
 
Bogantes Joins Coaching Staff: Assistant coach Chris Bogantes joined the Redhawks program in July. He previously was an assistant coach at Ball State and Texas Woman's and was the team manager and club team head coach at LSU, where he graduated in 2009. Bogantes also has extensive experience coaching club gymnastics and has worked with three USA National Team members.
 
Up Next: Southeast will host Missouri and Lindenwood in a tri-meet at Houck Field House in Cape Girardeau on Friday, Jan. 30 at 6:30 p.m. The event will be available via free webcast on the OVC Digital Network.