Feb. 14, 2010

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CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - In the end, it proved to be a sweet Valentine's Day at Huff Hall for the No. 20 Illinois women's gymnastics team, as they won the first-ever "Victory Plank" trophy with a come-from-behind victory over the No. 22 Michigan State Spartans, 195.600-195.500. Heading into the final floor routine of the meet, senior Sarah Schmidt needed to score over a 9.825 to give the Illini the win, and the All-American delivered in the clutch. The Hartland, Wis., native matched her season high with a 9.925 to win the floor crown and give the Illini the meet title by a tenth of a point.

"Sarah knew she needed a pretty good score, and she came through an impressive performance," head coach Bob Starkell said. "She didn't crunch the numbers to know how good of a score she needed, but she knew she could do it, and this was a great showing from her."

Illinois had its back against the wall going into the final rotation, as they trailed by two-tenths of a point (146.575-146.375) and needed a near flawless routine from everyone on floor to overcome the deficit. After a fall during the first floor routine, the Illini had no room for error over the final five performances.

Junior Melissa Fernandez began the charge by tying her career high with a 9.800, and senior Nicole Cowart followed it up with a 9.825. After a 9.775 from sophomore Kelsey Joannides, the Illini had climbed within .025 of the Spartans with two routines remaining for each squad. Michigan State's Kelsey Morley notched a 9.850 on beam, which put the pressure on junior Allison Buckley.

Buckley kept the Illini alive with a season-high 9.900, but Nicole Curler posted another 9.850 for Michigan State, which wrapped up the Spartans' beam routine and set the stage for Schmidt's heroics. The senior's outstanding routine sealed the victory and notched Illinois' top score (49.225) on floor this season.

"We needed everyone to come through after the first fall on floor, and our girls handled it well," Starkell said. "Melissa's routine became the biggest spot for us because everything counts after that fall. Then, Nicole and Kelsey gave us solid routines, and both Allison and Sarah did a really good job to finish up on floor."

Buckley won the all-around with a 39.200, which gave her 34 career event titles and moved her into a tie for fourth place with Heather Singalewitch on the UI all-time list. Cowart wasn't far behind, finishing as the runner-up with a 39.100.

"Allison is very competitive and believes she can do even better," Starkell said. "We are looking for her to continue to get stronger in the upcoming meets."

Illinois continued its trend of starting the meet out right on vault by posting a 49.100, which tied the ninth-best score in school history. After the Illini struggled on bars at the Chicago Style Invite, they bounced back with a solid 49.125, which ranks as the second-best mark on the season. The Illini actually led by over a point and a half after the first two rotations, but after a rough outing on balance beam, they fell behind and were forced to finish strong.

"We performed well overall, but still have room for improvement," Starkell said. "Vault was very impressive today, and we were getting a little bit cleaner on our events."

The Orange and Blue boasted four of the top five vault performances, paced by Fernandez and freshman Jaclyn Kantecki, who tied for the event crown with season highs of 9.850. Joannides matched her season high with a 9.825, which was good for a third-place tie with Buckley and Michigan State's Rochelle Robinson, and Schmidt added a 9.750.

On uneven bars, Fernandez recorded a career-high 9.900 to tie Schmidt for the event title. A pair of freshman, Kantecki and Alina Weinstein, were solid contributors on the event, as each posted a career high of 9.775 to tie Cowart for fifth on the event.

On balance beam, Joannides (9.800) and Cowart (9.775), who placed third and fourth, respectively, led the Illini. Buckley posted a 9.750, Perino added a 9.625, and Schmidt's 9.200 rounded out the scoring.

The Illini and Spartans, who were both sporting pink leotards for the third annual "Think Pink" meet, added a little extra incentive to this Big Ten dual by putting the "Victory Plank" trophy up for grabs for the first time. This traveling trophy, which was created by boosters from Michigan State, was awarded to Illinois, who will keep the accolade until the rivalry is renewed next year when the Illini travel to East Lansing.

"This is a brand new trophy, which is an impressive award," Starkell said. "I always referred to the beam as the plank, and the coach from Michigan State remembered that and used the idea to create a rivalry trophy like they do for football. She had a booster make it with a classic-looking balance beam on top, like they competed on in the 1970s when it was just made of wood."

Up Next: Illinois heads to Minneapolis, Minn., for a Big Ten dual with the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Saturday, Feb. 20 at 6 p.m.