Columbus, Ohio – Fighting Illini women's gymnastics took second in their tri-meet against No. 17 Michigan State and Ohio State. Illinois scored a season-best 196.075 in the meet, enough to beat Michigan State's 194.500 but not enough to overcome the 196.375 put up by Ohio State.

"We asked the athletes to dig deep this weekend and go after every little thing. We wanted to make sure they enjoy the process instead of making it work and I think they did a great job of that," said head coach Nadalie Walsh. "We had a lot of really strong performances, sometimes you think you might deserve to be scored a little higher but we just have to go back and keep working."

Illinois started the meet on beam where they scored a season-high 49.125 on the event. They were led by senior Kylie Noonan and sophomore Mia Takekawa who won a share in the event title with Ella Hodges from Ohio State. They scored 9.875 on the event.

On floor, the Illini's second strongest event, the team scored a 49.100. Sophomore Mia Townes scored a 9.875 on the event with strong tumbling and showmanship. Three gymnasts scored a 9.850. Illinois held a slight lead after two rotations.

A switch up on vault led to sophomore Julia Waight leading off for Illinois, she scored a career-best 9.750. Sophomore Olivia O'Donnell continued her improvement on the event, scoring a 9.825 and capturing the event title.

The Illini finished the meet on bars. Senior Rachel Borden led off the event, scoring a event high 9.825 for Illinois. Sophomores Arayah Simon and Mia Takekawa scored a pair of 9.800's for the Illini.

UP NEXT

Illinois travels to University Park, PA next Saturday to take on the Nittany Lions at 3pm CT.

FOLLOW THE ILLINI

Stay tuned to FIGHTINGILLINI.com for all the latest information on Fighting Illini Women's Gymnastics. Follow the Orange and Blue on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for complete coverage.