Southeast gymnasts place second at three-team Iowa meet

The Southeast Missouri State gymnastics team had a strong showing Friday night in Iowa City, Iowa.

Southeast placed second in a triangular meet, finishing behind powerhouse LSU but ahead of host Iowa.

LSU won handily with a score of 194.175, followed by the Redhawks with 191.675 and Iowa with 191.375.

LSU ended last season ranked sixth nationally, while Iowa was 22nd and Southeast 30th.

"We were elated to beat Iowa. It's a huge win for us," said Southeast coach Tom Farden, whose squad opened the season Sunday with a victory at Illinois State. "We're just happy we collected two road wins. We knew this stretch would be tough before we come home."

Senior Sandra Blake was the Redhawks' top finisher in an event as she placed third on bars with 9.775.

Junior Kelley Krengiel tied for fourth on bars with a career-best 9.75.

Junior Rikara Turner was fifth in all-around (38.5), while Blake finished sixth (38.0).

Turner tied for sixth on beam (9.6).

Southeast returns to action Jan. 17 with its first home meet, against Illinois-Chicago at 2 p.m.