CORALVILLE, Iowa – No. 24 women’s gymnastics will compete in the Big Ten Championships at 11 a.m. on March 18.
ABOUT THE MEET
The Illini are slated to compete in the morning session for the second-straight year.
Illinois is joined by Rutgers, Minnesota, Penn State, Maryland and Nebraska while Ohio State, Michigan State, Michigan, Iowa are in the evening session.
The Orange and Blue are looking to bounce back from last season where they placed eighth in the postseason meet.
LAST TIME OUT
The Wildcats took first place in the meet with a 197.800 with Illinois State taking third with a 193.850.
The Illini started the tri meet off on vault with Mia Townes grabbing the top spot with a 9.85 while three other Illini – Makayla Green, Ruthuja Nataraj and Julia Waight, all scored a 9.80. In an exhibition spot, Mia Takekawa secured a 9.825.
Onto bars, Kaitlyn Ewald tied her season-high with a 9.875, with Ameila Knight securing the same score the first time in the lineup. Mallory Mizuki scored a 9.825 with fellow senior Rachel Borden scoring a 9.80.
Takekawa continued her success on beam, securing a 9.925 with Mizuki grabbing a 9.875. Both Abby Mueller and Townes collected the same score, tallying a 9.85.
Takekawa started the electric performance off on floor, scoring a 9.875, with Waight and Nataraj securing a 9.90. Fitzgibbon went on to shatter her career-high with a 9.925, with Townes closing it out with the same score.
Broken record after broken record
Almost two weeks after shattering their beam record, the No. 22 Illini broke their floor record with a 49.525 mark in a 196.800 finish against No. 12 Kentucky and Illinois State Saturday afternoon in Huff Hall on Senior Day.
The previous floor record was a 49.500, made by the 2009 team at the Big Ten Championships.
history
The Illini have not won the Big Ten Championship since 1990, where the team secured a 188.750. However, the team does have 17 total individual champions, including Mia Takekawa who shared the beam title last season.
In the 2022 Big Ten Championships, the Illini secured a 49.200 on vault, a 48.250 on bars, a 49.150, and a 49.225 on floor.