CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Fighting Illini women's gymnastics team is on the road to face No. 17 Michigan State and Ohio State in Columbus. Illinois joined the meet after their meet against Michigan scheduled for Feb. 6 was postponed.

The Illini started their season with a victory over then-No. 20 Nebraska. Illinois finished with a team score of 195.475, two points better than Nebraska who finished with a 193.400. They followed with a first-place finish in a tri-meet against Rutgers and then No. 22 Maryland. In their home opener they scored a season best 195.600 but fell to No. 9 Iowa.

The last time out

Illinois women's gymnastics scored a 195.600, their best so far this season but it wasn't enough to beat the Hawkeyes who scored a 196.325.

The Illini started on vault, scoring a 48.850 on the event. Mia Townes highlighted the event, scoring a team best 9.850. The score tied her with Iowa's Jerquavia Henderson for the event title.In their second rotation on bars, two Illini tied a Iowa gymnast for the event title. Senior Nicole Biondi and freshman Kaitlyn Ewald scored 9.850 on the event.On beam the Illini all scored an 9.800 or better. Mia Townes led them off on the event scoring a 9.800. Shaylah Scott and Mia Takekawa both scored 9.850's to finish the event for Illinois.

Illinois finished with the strongest performance of the season on floor. Iowa came in ranked No.1 in the country on floor and Illinois beat them 49.200-49.150. Mia Townes scored a career-high 9.875 and Shaylah Scott closed the meet, scoring a 9.900. Scott's scored earned her a share of the event title with Iowa's Clair Kaji.

In The Rankings

Illinois is ranked No. 20 in the country after their third week of competition. They started the season at No. 22 in the WGCA Preseason Coaches' poll. The Illini were the fourth-highest ranked Big Ten team and one of nine Big Ten teams ranked in the top-36 programs.

Illinois is ranked in the top 15 nationally in two events. They are 11th on beam and 12th on floor. 

Junior Shaylah Scott is T-22nd in the nation on floor, she averages 9.883 on the event this season.

Newcomers 

Five freshmen join Walsh's squad for the 2021 season. Kaitlyn Ewald, Amelia Knight, Allie Morgan, Abbey Mueller and Ashley Resch all look to make an impact in the Illinois lineup after successful junior careers.

2020 in Review  

Illinois 2020 season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Illini finished the shortened season 10-6 overall and 4-5 in Big Ten competition. Four Illini earned All-Big Ten Honors. Mia Takekawa was named First Team All-Big Ten while Karen Howell, Shaylah Scott and Arayah Simons earned Second Team All-Big Ten. 

Illinois scored in the top ten all-time at three meets. Against MSU they finished beam with a score of 49.400, tied for second best in school history. At the Big Five meet in Toledo Illini finished with vault score of 49.200, tied for the seventh best in Illinois history. In their final meet of the season they scored a 49.350 on beam, tied for the second best in program history.

Freshman Mia Takekawa made Illinois gymnastics history, scoring the first 10.0 in program history in a tri-meet on Jan 6.  She was named Big Ten Gymnast and Freshman of the Week (1/7 and 1/15). Takekawa also tied the second highest beam score, scoring a 9.9975 on the event at Kentucky during the last meet of the season.

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