Feb. 11, 2000

CHAMPAIGNE, Ill. - The University of Illinois women's gymnastics team came in third place out of four schools in Lexington, Kentucky on Friday night. No. 6 Nebraska came in first with 195.150 points, Kentucky came in second with 194.5 points, Illinois came in third with 194.0 points, and James Madison came in fourth with 187.225. This meet was Bob Starkell's first meet as official head coach of Illinois gymnastics.

"This was an excellent meet for us. We scheduled this meet to compete against some tough teams, not expecting to do as well as we did," Starkell said. "We struggled early, but got stronger as the meet went on."

The Illini came in third place in the vault, second place in the bars, third in the beam, and second in the floor. Individually on the vault, the highest ranking Illini was Phaedra Dixon with a 9.725. Michelle Buranich, Carissa Ericson, and Karen Hawley all tied for tenth with a 9.700. On the bars, Phaedra Dixon again was the leading Illini with a 4th-place finish and a 9.800 score. Gena Gruss, Lisa Pellegrinetti, and Gina Wiechmann also placed in the top ten.

Phaedra Dixon led the Illini with a 8th place finish on the balance beam and a 9.700 score. Carmella Fernandez was the only other Illini in the top ten. On the floor exercise, four Illini cracked the top ten, led by both Phaedra Dixon and Carissa Ericson with 9.850 scores and a ranking of 5th place. In the overall, Phaedra Dixon came in third place with a 39.075. Karen Hawley came in 8th place with a 37.825.

The road trip for the Illini continues on February 19th at Iowa.