Falcons Travel to Illinois State for Quad Meet

Jan. 22, 2010

The Air Force women's gymnastics team opens a busy seven-day span on Sunday, Jan. 24, when it travels to Normal, Ill., for a four-team meet at Illinois State. The Falcons will take on Western Michigan, Wisconsin-La Crosse and host Illinois State during the 1 p.m., meet at Horton Field House. This will be the first of three meets in the coming week for the Falcons.

Meet Notes 03: at Illinois State Quadrangular

MEET INFORMATION
The Illinois State Quadrangular will be streamed live on www.goredbirds.com.

LET'S MEET THE OPPONENTS
Wisconsin-La Crosse is coming off of 183.675-183.075 victory over Wisconsin-Whitewater. Gabby Hooper (vault), Kelsey Matula (balance beam) and Courtney Gonzales (floor exercise) all picked up event titles for the Eagles. Despite three first-place finishes, Illinois State dropped a narrow 190.800-190.500 dual to Southeast Missouri State in their last meet. Tori Sarantakis (vault), Erica Schick (uneven bars) and Melissa Mann (balance beam) picked up event titles in the dual. Western Michigan also suffered a close loss to conference foe Northern Illinois in their last meet, falling 190.600-189.675. Kristine Garbarino won three of the four events and the all-around title, en route to her second straight MAC Gymnast of the Week award.

FALCONS PLACE THIRD AT WINTERFEST
Air Force improved its season-best total to 185.850, while placing third at the Denver Winterfest Classic on Jan. 16. The Falcons took on some of the nation's top teams for the second straight week, facing sixth-ranked Denver (194.650) and No. 18 Penn State (194.150).

THE DYNAMIC "D" DUO
Jenna Dudley and Brittany Dutton paced the Falcons at the Denver Winterfest Classic. Dudley recorded the program's best finish of the night (eighth, floor exercise), while Brittany Dutton paced the Falcons on the uneven bars (10th). The duo tied for a team-leading 12th on the vault, while Dutton also picked up a top-10 spot on the floor (ninth).

STARTING OUT STRONG
Freshman Tara Harris recorded the Falcons' second-best score of the season on the balance beam (9.475) to pace the squad at the Denver Winterfest Classic on Jan. 16. Finishing 10th on that event, Harris was one of three Falcons to finish within the top-10 at that meet.

UP FOR THE CHALLENGE
During its first two meets of the season, Air Force will have faced four nationally ranked teams. During their first meet, the Salbasgeon Suites Invitational, the Falcons faced 10th-ranked Oregon State and No. 13 Illinois (based on the coaches' preseason poll). Air Force then competed against sixth-ranked Denver and 18th-ranked Penn State at the Denver Winterfest Classic (based on the first week's score).

WHAT'S AHEAD FOR THE FALCONS
Air Force opens the home portion of the season on Wednesday, Jan. 27, hosting Alaska-Anchorage in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation action. The Falcons remain at the Academy on Saturday, Jan. 30, when it hosts UC-Davis in another league dual meet.