Southeast Missouri State gymnastics team closes strong to win four-team meet

The Southeast Missouri State gymnastics team entered the final rotation of its quad meet at Texas Woman's University trailing the host by just two-tenths of a point.

The Redhawks posted a season-high total in the vault to close out the meet and take the top spot with a total score of 191.900

Texas Woman's was second with 191.600 while Centenary was third (190.525) and Air Force fourth (190.500).

"This team continues to show more fight in each meet," Southeast coach Kristi Ewasko said in a press release. " We talk about controlling what we can control, and after falls on beam and floor, I told the girls they were only down by two-tenths of a point. They needed to fight and that's exactly what they did. I'm disappointed with the mistakes, but I couldn't be more proud of the effort by this team. We truly fought for the win today."

Southeast began the meet on the uneven bars and scored 48.525, which put them in the lead early. Junior Lauren Israel scored a season-best 9.825 in the event to lead the Redhawks.

Southeast recorded a score of 47.300 on balance beam in the second rotation, with freshman McKinzie Jones leading the way with a 9.725. TWU's second event was bars, and the Pioneers' 48.150 propelled them to a 96.475-95.825 lead over the Redhawks.

Jones scored a 9.825 on floor in Southeast's third rotation, which was good for first in the event. The Redhawks scored 47.875 in the event to bring their running total to 143.700, while the Pioneers scored a 47.425 on beam to maintain a lead with 143.900 overall.

Southeast scored 48.200 on vault to close out the meet while TWU finished up with a 47.700 on floor.

Sophomore Alexis Brawner had a season-high 9.800 on vault to lead Southeast.

The Redhawks host Wisconsin-Whitewater for a dual meet Friday.

The meet begins at 6:30 p.m. at Houck Field House.