University of Illinois
Cardinal Classic
Women's Gymnastics Finishes Fourth At The Cardinal Classic
January 14, 2000 | Women's Gymnastics
Jan. 14, 2000
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- The University of Illinois women's gymnastics team finished fourth out of five teams at the Cardinal Classic hosted by Ball State University in Muncie, Ind., Friday night. The host school, ranked tenth in the country, won the event with a score of 193.475, followed by West Virginia with 190.825 and Illinois-Chicago with 190.425. Illinois struggled on the uneven bars, one of its strongest events, to finish with a score of 188.300, ahead of Wisconsin-Oshkosh with a score of 175.800.
Freshman Karen Hawley was the Illini's top finisher in two events. Hawley placed fourth on the vault with a 9.675 and sixth on beam with a 9.750. Junior Phaedra Dixon, the Illini's top all-arounder on the evening (38.150), finished second on the uneven bars with a score of 9.750.
Junior Gina Wiechmann, the defending Big Ten balance beam champion, had to be scratched due to illness right before the first event of the evening, the uneven bars, and the Illini were unable to insert another athlete in her slot in that event.
"It was unexpected to have one of our top athletes scratched right before the start of the competition," head coach Bob Starkell said. "We basically fell flat on bars and it's difficult to recover from that, but we picked it up in the final three events and that's encouraging based on our start."
The Illini actually improved their scores in three of the four events from last weekend's season-opening win over Illinois-Chicago. The largest increase eas on floor where the Illini scored a 47.525 compared to last week's winning score of 46,850. The team-effort was headed by junior Carissa Ericson who finished second with a score of 9.725.
The next action for Illinois, 2-3 overall, will be next Saturday, January 22, at Penn State.
Cardinal Classic
Muncie, Ind.
January 14, 2000
Total Vault Bars Beam Floor
Ball State 193.475 48.350 48.550 48.175 48.400
West Virginia 190.825 48.150 46.775 48.400 47.500
Illinois-Chicago 190.425 46.575 48.300 48.075 47.475
Illinois 188.300 47.825 45.050 47.900 47.525
Wisconsin-Oshkosh 175.800 44.725 40.200 45.150 45.725
