Southeast Missouri State gymnastics preview: Redhawks kick off season Friday

The Southeast Missouri State gymnastics team continued to excel athletically and academically last year.

Southeast coach Kristi Ewasko doesn't expect that to change during the 2012 season that begins Friday when the Redhawks host Northern Illinois at 6:30 p.m.

"We have very high hopes," said Ewasko, who enters her third year in charge of the program. "We're excited and ready to get rolling."

The Redhawks return 10 gymnasts from a 2011 squad that won its second Midwest Independent Conference title in program history and captured the national academic championship for the fourth time in the past five years.

Southeast's cumulative 3.91 grade-point average for the 2010-11 academic year tied the highest GPA in the history of the award, matching the mark set by the 2009 Redhawks.

All 17 Southeast gymnasts from last season earned Scholastic All-American status as a result of 3.5 or better GPAs. Nine recorded perfect 4.0 GPAs.

"We're extremely proud of what we've been able to accomplish in the classroom," said Ewasko, whose squad was second in the nation academically the previous year. "The team has worked really hard in the classroom, and we're looking forward to continuing that success."

About the only disappointment from last season was that Southeast fell just short of an NCAA team regional berth for the second straight year under Ewasko. The Redhawks ended the season ranked 39th nationally. The top 36 make the regional field.

"That's definitely our goal this year, getting to regionals," said Ewasko, whose squad compiled a 12-8 overall record while going 9-2 in the MIC. "We've put together some new routines, some harder routines, that hopefully will help us get there."

The 2011 Redhawks had three individual regional qualifiers.

The lone returning athlete among that group is junior Taylor Westrick. She competed in the regional all-around.

"We look for Taylor to have another strong year," Ewasko said.

Westrick leads a youthful 13-member roster that features no seniors and four juniors.

Other returning squad members are juniors Emma Garrett, Margaret O'Neal and Angela Serafini; and sophomores Erin Brady, Megan Fosnow, Tamara Gent, Samantha Marrero, Kimberly Pickerl and Taryn Vanderpool.

"Our four juniors are very solid, and our sophomores have been stepping up," Ewasko said.

Ewasko also has high hopes for freshmen Arielle Bulls, Taylor Huey and Nicole Nickels.

Southeast has another attractive home schedule, highlighted by a visit from perennial power Auburn on March 9.

The Redhawks face perennial power Oklahoma on the road, and they'll also compete against major programs Michigan State, Iowa, Iowa State and BYU.

"We've got a very good schedule," Ewasko said. "We feel that competing against those types of teams will show us where we stand."