CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The No. 22 women's gymnastics team is set to compete in its final home meet against No. 12 Kentucky and Illinois State on March 11 at 2 p.m. at Huff Hall.
This meet is also Senior Day for eight athletes: Rachel Borden, McKenzie Eddy, Mallory Mizuki, Olivia O'Donnell, Arayah Simons, Mia Takekawa, Mia Townes, Julia Waight, and one student manager, Mia Scott.
ABOUT THE MEET
This meet is also the regular-season finale for the Illinois women's gymnastics before heading to Iowa City, Iowa for the Big Ten Championships.
This is also the seventh-straight meet where the Illini face ranked opponents, only being able to overcome one with No. 18 Georgia at the Metroplex Challenge on Feb. 11.
LAST TIME OUT
Illinois is coming off a new season-high team score of 196.875 to place second in a tri meet against No. 16 Ohio State and Kent State.
Ohio State won the meet with a 197.600 with Kent State coming in third with a 196.025.
The Illini started the tri meet on floor with Mia Townes earning a 9.925, tying her career-high. Kadyn Fitzgibbon also had a nice showing, scoring a 9.875. Kaitlyn Ewald, Abby Mueller and Mia Takekawa all earned the same score with a 9.85.
Townes kept her momentum going into vault, securing a 9.90 and earning second place by just a .25 difference. Julia Waight had a strong performance, scoring a 9.825 with Ruthuja Nataraj scoring a 9.775. Makayla Green, Fitzgibbon and Mueller all earned a 9.75 as well.
Moving onto bars, Mallory Mizuki and Olivia O'Donnell had the highest Illinois bars scores and tied for third with a 9.90. Mueller was behind them with a 9.85 and Takekawa secured a 9.825.
Takekawa shined on beam, once again receiving a 10.0 from one judge and a 9.95 from another to tie her season-high 9.975. Mueller scored a 9.875 on the event with Townes securing a 9.85 and Nataraj scoring a 9.80.
Illinois will be back on Saturday, March 11, at 2 p.m. CT with another tri meet against No. 12 Kentucky and Illinois State. It will also be Senior Day for the Illini, celebrating the eight seniors post meet.
BACK-TO-BACK MIA
Senior Mia Takekawa has gotten two near perfect scores on beam -- 9.975 against Michigan State, and Ohio State and Kent State.
A 9.975 comes when one judge gives a gymnast a perfect 10.0 while the other gives them a 9.95.
SCOUTING REPORT - KENTUCKY
The Wildcats are coming off an impressive 197.675-196.450 win over No. 9 Auburn, after losing 197.575-198.150 to No. 3 Florida a week before.
The win helped Kentucky go undefeated at home for the first time since 1984.
The Wildcats also reached their program best vault score 49.550 with sophomore Makenzie Wilson was the meet's top performer earning a season and career best 9.975 average.
Isabella Magnelli had an impressive beam performance with a 9.950 which was the top score of the meet and her fourth first-place finish on the apparatus.
SCOUTING REPORT - ILLINOIS STATE
Illinois State is fresh off a close 195.025-195.000 win over Southeast Missouri State, after losing to the Redhawks in a quad meet where they picked up two wins over Pitt and New Hampshire.
Senior Angelica Labat recorded a season-high score of 39.400 to win the all-around in the SEMO dual meet. Labat was also the top finisher for the Redbirds on bars, finishing second overall with a 9.825. Labat closed out the meet strong and secured the win for the Redbirds with her win on vault with a 9.875 as the anchor for the Redbirds.
