Illinois Finishes Fourth at South Central Regional Championships

Women's Gymnastics April 9, 2006

Illinois Finishes Fourth at South Central Regional Championships

April 8, 2006

Fayetteville, Ark. - The Fighting Illini women's gymnastics team finished fourth at the NCAA South Central Regional Saturday night in Fayetteville, Ark. with a score of 193.125, equaling the best finish at a regional meet in school history. Illinois has finished fourth on five other occasions, but had not done so since 1987. No. 3 Florida (196.375) took the regional title, while the host No. 18 Arkansas (195.400) edged No. 9 UCLA (195.175) for the second team qualifying spot to the NCAA Championships. Illinois was fourth behind the Bruins, and was followed by Illinois-Chicago (191.125) and Southeast Missouri State (189.050).

Illinois got a career day from freshman Julie Crall, who posted three career-highs, including a 38.950 in the all-around to narrowly miss qualifying for the NCAA Championships. The top two all-around competitors from non-qualifying teams move on to the NCAA Championships, Crall finished fifth overall and fourth amongst non-qualifying teams behind three UCLA gymnasts. If UCLA would have finished in second place instead of Arkansas, Crall would have advanced as the top all-arounder from a non-qualifying team, however, the Bruins came up just .225 short.

"I'm very pleased with how Julie performed tonight," said head coach Bob Starkell of the freshman second team All-Big Ten selection from Cincinnati, Ohio. "Julie has had nagging injuries for most of the year, but she's done whatever she could for the team. She surpassed our expectations tonight, it's just too bad she just missed advancing to NCAAs."

The Illini got the night off to a solid start, hitting all six routines on bars, but scoring was tight in the early going. Cara Pomeroy, the 2004 South Central Regional Uneven Bars Champion with a perfect 10.0, led the way again this year with a 9.800, which was good for eighth place overall. Krystal Melcarek scored 9.725 and Crall a career-high 9.675 for the Illini. Marijka Botterman's 9.575 and Kim Kruk's 9.550 rounded out the scoring as the Illini finished the event with a 48.325 total.

Illinois moved to the beam in the second rotation and struggled to a score of 48.000. Crall and Pomeroy were the bright spots, earning scores of 9.775 and 9.750, respectively. Senior Katie Wild scored a 9.650 and Botterman a 9.550, but a fall by Kruk (8.900) forced the Illini to count Melissa Singer's 9.275.

After a bye, the Illini moved to floor exercise for the fourth rotation, where freshmen Kruk and Crall led the way with 9.725s. Katie Wild (9.675), Melissa Singer (9.575) and Pomeroy (9.500) also counted, giving Illinois and event total of 48.200.

The Orange and Blue closed the night with a bang, posting their top event score of 48.600 on vault. A trio of freshmen led the way with Lindsey Smith (9.800) and Crall (9.775) each notching career-highs and Botterman also scoring a 9.775. Singer earned a 9.650 and Kruk a 9.600 to round out the UI scorers.

"I think we can take a lot of positives from this meet," Starkell said. "We performed better than our last couple of meets, we didn't count any falls and we finished strong. We started very well on bars, scoring was a little tight, but we felt good. On beam we were conservative and had a couple breaks, but we bounced back and finished up well on floor and especially vault." It was the final meet for seniors Katie Wild and Emily Earle, but despite their losses the future looks bright for the Illini. They had one of the youngest teams in the country this year, with freshmen performing 13 of the 24 routines on Saturday, and have three talent athletes coming in next fall.

Starkell hopes that tonight's experience will help the team get motivated for next season.

"Hopefully the freshmen gained some experience and saw what the other teams did today and what it takes to get to the next level. I hope they saw how happy Arkansas was to advance to NCAAs for the first time and are motivated to get to that point next year. The key for them is to be hungry."

2006 NCAA South Central Regional Championships
Hosted by the University of Arkansas

Team Results		Total		Vault		Bars		Beam		Floor

1. Florida		196.375		49.050		49.150		49.025		49.150

3. Arkansas		195.400		48.775		48.950		48.975		48.700

2. UCLA			195.175		49.250		48.600		48.325		49.000	

4. ILLINOIS		193.125		48.600		48.325		48.000		48.200

5. Illinois-Chicago	191.125		48.475		48.025		46.825		47.800

6. SEMO			189.050		48.175		46.925		46.600		47.350

Illinois Results and Event Winners

Vault
1. Tasha Schwikert, UCLA 9.900
--
9t. Lindsey Smith 9.800 CH
13t. Julie Crall 9.775 CH
13t. Marijka Botterman 9.775
27t. Melissa Singer 9.650
31t. Kim Kruk 9.600
35. Emily Earle 9.525

Uneven Bars
1t. Samantha Lutz, FLA 9.900
1t. Kate Richardson, UCLA 9.900
--
8t. Cara Pomeroy 9.800
16t. Krystal Melcarek 9.725
21t. Julie Crall 9.675 CH
24t. Marijka Botterman 9.575
26. Kim Kruk 9.550
28t. Emily Earle 9.425

Balance Beam
1. Kate Richardson, UCLA 9.900
--
10t. Julie Crall 9.775
13t Cara Pomeroy 9.750
18. Katie Wild 9.650
22t. Marijka Botterman 9.550
27. Melissa Singer 9.275
34. Kim Kruk 8.900

Floor Exercise
1t. Kate Richardson, UCLA 9.875
1t. Corey Hartung, FLA 9.875
--
14t Kim Kruk 9.725
14t. Julie Crall 9.725
18t. Katie Wild 9.675
22. Melissa Singer 9.575
27t. Cara Pomeroy 9.500
29t. Marijka Botterman 9.475