March 25, 2007
Complete Results
The 20th-ranked Fighting Illini posted the second highest uneven bars score in school history and senior Cara Pomeroy won two event titles, but overall, Illinois struggled to a third place finish at the State of Illinois Classic Sunday afternoon in Dekalb, Ill. The Orange and Blue posted a team score of 193.725 to finish behind Illinois-Chicago (194.625) and host Northern Illinois (194.125) for the state title. Illinois State (188.500) was a distant fourth.
"Today's performance was sub-par," head coach Bob Starkell said. "We had too many mistakes on beam, and we were a little flat on floor, which was disappointing because we've shown improvement there lately."
Illinois started on floor exercise and struggled to a score of 48.425. Freshman Sarah Schmidt was the top Illini on the event with a 9.800 to tie for fourth place. The Orange and Blue then moved to the vault where they posted a 48.675 and were led by sophomore Lindsey Smith, who posted a 9.800 to tie for fifth place.
The uneven bars were the high point of the day for the Illini, where they took the top four places and posted a score of 49.250, which ranks as the second-highest bars score in school history behind only the 49.475 the team put up at the 2004 South Central Regional Championships. Senior Cara Pomeroy won the bars with season-best 9.950, tying for the second highest individual bars score in school history behind only her own 10.0, also at the 2004 Regional meet. Sophomore Marijka Botterman took second with career-best score of 9.875, freshman Sarah Schmidt was third with a 9.850 and sophomore Kim Kruk completed the 1-4 Illini sweep with a 9.825.
In the final rotation, Pomeroy took home a second title on the balance beam with a 9.775, tying with UIC's Jessie Jaworowicz, and giving her 40 career event titles. However, despite Pomeroy's milestone win, the Illini suffered three falls and struggled to a season-low score of 47.375 on the event to drop to third place. Schmidt placed fifth on beam with a 9.700.
Schmidt was the top Illini all-arounder, taking third place with a career-high 39.000 in just her second career all-around performance.
The top-three gymnasts in each event were named All-State, meaning Pomeroy (bars and beam), Botterman (bars) and Schmidt (bars and all-around) all earned All-State accolades.
The Illini will try to bounce back next Saturday, March 31, when they travel to University Park, Pa. to compete in the Big Ten Championships.
