ATHENS, Ga. – The Fighting Illini women's gymnastics team will make their 17th straight regional appearance this weekend and the 32nd appearance in program history. They will compete in the evening session of the second round of the NCAA Regionals in Athens on Friday, April 2 at 6 pm CT. They will be competing for a spot in the regional final, set for Saturday, April 3 at 6 pm CT. Both rounds will be televised on ESPN 3.
Illinois will go up against No. 1 seed Florida, Central Michigan and the winner of meet between NC State and Western Michigan. The two highest scoring teams will move onto the regional final. Illinois could possibly be up against Denver, Oregon State, Minnesota or host school Georgia.
Illinois will begin the meet on bars where they ranked 17th in the country.
Records Are Made to Be Broken
Illinois set two new program records on March 13 against No. 7 Minnesota.
They reached a 197.575 team score beating the previous school record of 197.350 set in 2015. They used a program best 49.525 on beam as well as top-10 program scores on vault, bars and floor.
On vault, they scored a season best 49.200, tied for seventh-best in program. They followed scoring a 49.425 on bars, tied for fifth-best. They hit the same score on floor, also tied for fifth-best all-time.
With her 39.525 in the all-around, Nicole Biondi is now tied for the ninth-best individual all-around in program history. Amelia Knight made her debut on bars and scored a 9.95, tied for sixth-best all time. Mia Townes added her name the record books, scoring a 9.925 on vault and Shaylah Scoot hit her best career-beam score, 9.950 and is tied for second all-time.
Illini Take Third at Big Tens
Illinois finished tied for third with a score of 196.625 at the Big Ten Championships.
They scored a season-best 39.350 on vault. The score is the fifth best in program history. Lexi Powe and Mia Takekawa both scored career-high on the event. Takekawa put up a 9.900 and Powe a 9.875. Mia Townes also scored a 9.900 with her vault.
They started the session on beam, scoring a 48.925 on the event. The went to floor next scoring a 49.350. Kaitlyn Ewald lead the event with 9.80. Three Illini scored 9.850, including Abby Mueller who tied her career-high. Shaylah Scott anchored the event with a 9.925.
They finished the night on bars, scoring a 49.050. Four gymnasts scored a 9.800 and Olivia O'Donnell scored a team-best 9.850
Four Illini Named to All-Big Ten Second Team
Nicole Biondi, Shaylah Scott, Mia Takekawa and Mia Townes were honored by the Big Ten. Mallory Mizuki was named the Illinois Big Ten Sportsmanship Award recipient.
Biondi, Scott and Takekawa earned their second All-Big honor and Townes earned her first accolade.
Illini Garner B1G All-Academic Honors
13 Illini were named to the Winter Academic All-Big Ten team. Nicole Biondi, Rachel Borden, Kasey Meeks, Kylie Noonan, Olivia O'Donnell, Tessa Phillips, Lexi Powe, Shaylah Scott, Arayah Simons, Jaylen Spence, Mia Takekawa, Mia Townes and Julia Waight were named to the list. To be eligible for the academic all-conference selection, student-athletes must be letter winners who are in at least their second academic year at their institution and carry a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher.
Illinois In The Rankings
Illinois heads into regionals as the No. 16 seed. The Illini made a five-spot jump after hitting their program-best score on March 13. They started the season at No. 22 in the WCGA 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 20 nationally in three events. Their best event is beam, where they are ranked No. 14. Illinois at 17th on bars and 19th on floor. Over the season Illinois has made significant improvement on vault. They hit their season best 49.300 at Big Tens and are ranked 24th.
Individually, Mia Takekawa is ranked 21st on beam. She has hit a score of 9.90 or better on the event five times this season and has an NQS of 9.919.
