University of Illinois
Missouri, UIC
Illinois Hosts Missouri, UIC on Sunday
February 23, 2018 | Women's Gymnastics
Meet 7: Illinois vs. Missouri, UIC
| Date | Sunday, February 25 | 4 pm CT |
| Location | Huff Hall |
| Live Links | Live Scoring | BTN2Go | FloGymnastics |
| 2018 Information | Meet Notes | Record Book |
The Fighting Illini women's gymnastics returns to Huff Hall for a tri-meet with the University of Missouri Tigers and the UIC Flames on Sunday afternoon. Competition will begin at 4 pm. Illinois is coming off a season-high performance in East Lansing, Michigan on February 17, where the Illini hit a 196.350 team score.
Illinois Notes
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The Orange and Blue tallied a season-high 196.350 team score at Michigan State.
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At Michigan State, Illinois scored a season-best 49.300 on beam, good for the program's seventh-highest team score on the apparatus. The Illini also tallied a season-best 49.075 team score on vault.
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Illinois's 195.100 team score is the highest season-opening score by the Illini since 2015.
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Freshman Kasey Meeks won her fourth individual event title of the season on February 17 at MSU. Meeks matched her career-best score on vault with a 9.850. Meeks was the first Illinois freshman to win an event title in her first two meets since Kelsey Joannides in 2009.
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Sophomore Rae Balthazor made her floor and all-around debut against the Wolverines on January 19, winning both event titles.
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Balthazor earned her third bars title of the season versus Michigan State. Rae hit a 9.825 to win a share of the title.
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Freshman Noonan scored a career-best 9.825 on beam against Michigan State. Noonan won the first individual event title of her career on floor with a 9.825.
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Freshman Nicole Biondi won the first event titles of her career against Iowa on February 2. Biondi scored career-high marks on bars (9.900), beam (9.850), floor (9.825) and in the all-around (39.325), winning the bars and all-around titles.
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Junior Haylee Roe won the first individual event title of her career against Iowa. Roe secured the floor title with a career-best 9.875. Roe also hit a career-best 9.775 on vault in the meet.
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Sophomore Karen Howell recorded a career-high 9.850 on beam and matched her career-high mark of 9.875 on bars to earn the event title at Rutgers. Howell also won the floor title with a 9.800.
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At Rutgers, Balthazor made her beam debut and led the Illini with a 9.875. Balthazor won the second and third event titles of her career on bars (9.875) and beam.
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Senior Bridget Hodan hit a career-high 9.925 on beam to win her third beam title of the sesaon. Hodan debuted on vault at Rutgers and hit a 9.800, Hodan has since hit a career-best 9.825 on the apparatus.
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Senior Jordyn Givens hit a career-high 9.700 on floor and matched her career-best mark on bars with a 9.800 at Penn State, Givens reset that career-high mark on bars against Iowa with a 9.825.
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Graduate student Sarah Lyons debuted on bars at Minnesota and hit a 9.850 to lead the Illini on the apparatus.
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Sophomore Lindsay Dwyer hit a career-high 9.800 on bars at Rutgers.
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Junior Rachael Donovan scored a career-high 9.825 on bars against RU.
Illini Retain Victory Plank at Michigan State
The University of Illinois women's gymnastics team defeated the Michigan State Spartans, 196.350-194.550 on February 17 at the Jenison Fieldhouse. Illinois's 196.350 team score is a season-best mark for the Orange and Blue. Five Illini won six individual event titles to help Illinois retain the Victory Plank. Freshman Kasey Meeks won the vault title by matching her career-best mark of 9.825. Sophomore Karen Howell won the bars and floor titles with a 9.825 on each apparatus. Fellow-sophomore Rae Balthazor also earned a share of the bars title. Freshman Kylie Noonan earned her first individual event title on floor and senior Bridget Hodan secured the beam title with a career-best 9.925
New Coaching Staff
The 2017 offseason saw a new regime take over the Illinois women's gymnastics program. On June 12, 2017, former Utah State Aggies head coach, Nadalie Walsh was named the seventh head coach of the Illini women's gymnastics team. Walsh added Chris Bogantes and Ashley Priess-Johnston to complete her staff in August. Bogantes was an assistant under Walsh at Utah State and Johnston came to Champaign from the Cincinnati Gymnastics Academy. Walsh retained volunteer assistant coach, Maci Sump. Sump enters her third season with the UI program.
Illinois to Host 2018 Big Ten Championships
On March 24, ten Big Ten gymnastics teams will compete at the State Farm Center for the 2018 Big Ten Championship. The meet will be televised live on the BIg Ten Network. The contest consists of two sessions. A quad meet beginning at 2 pm and then a six-team meet at 7 pm. Placement in the first or second session is based on the team's performance at the two B1G Five Meets the preceding Saturday (March 17). Illinois will compete in the Michigan State B1G Five Meet in East Lansing. Ticket information is available on FightingIllini.com
