All Americans

Updated May 2018  

Nancy Thies

Uneven Bars - AIAW - 1976

Nancy Thies (Marshall) is without a doubt the most decorated gymnast in Illinois history. Born in Urbana, Thies competed just two seasons for the U of I, winning nine Big Ten titles, seven regional titles and earning All-America status on the uneven bars. She was named Big Ten Gymnast of the Year in 1976 and '77, in addition to being named the U of I Female Athlete of the Year in '77. In 1979, she earned a bachelor's degree from the university in History and Journalism.

Prior to attending Illinois, Thies competed at the 1972 Munich Olympic games and helped the United States to a fourth-place finish, the highest a U.S. team had finished in modern gymnastics history. At those Olympics, Thies became the first person to perform the back somersault on the beam in Olympic competition. During her international career, she won seven medals and two national titles, one on vault and beam.

Following her gymnastics career, Thies worked as a gymnastics commentator for NBC sports for seven years, while also working as a journalist and author. Additionally, she was an active member of the United States Gymnastics Federation (USGF) as both a member for the Executive Committee and Vice-Chairman for Women.

Melissa Fernandez

Balance Beam - 1st Team - 2009
All-Around - 1st Team - 2011
Balance Beam - 1st Team - 2011
Floor - 2nd Team - 2011

Melissa Fernandez accomplished several firsts for the Illini in her final competition at the University of Illinois. The Eudora, Kan., native earned three All-America honors to become Illinois' first-ever multiple All-American at the NCAA Championships, placed fifth in the nation in the all-around to become the first Illini to earn an NCAA trophy in the all-around and reached the podium at event finals by tying for fifth on beam to notch the highest individual finish in school history. She became the first Illini to make the podium twice in her career at event finals and now owns the UI program's most career All-America accolades with four. She was named a second-team Academic All-American and was honored as the UI Dike Eddleman Female Athlete of the Year following her stellar senior season in 2011.

Fernandez also owns the honor of becoming Illinois' first-ever first-team All-American, doing so on beam in 2009. She earned back-to-back first-team All-Big Ten accolades in 2010-11 and was voted team MVP and Most Outstanding.

As a Kinesiology major, she was a four-time Scholastic All-American and three-time Academic All-Big Ten selection along with twice earning the team's Scholar-Athlete award. Fernandez, who graduated in May 2011, was accepted into Cirque du Soleil following her illustrious career at Illinois.

Allison Buckley

Balance Beam - 2nd Team - 2008
Vault - 1st Team - 2010
Floor - 2nd Team - 2011

Allison Buckley cemented her name throughout the UI record book in her final season as an Orange and Blue gymnast. The Schaumburg, Ill., native broke the career event titles record with 62 crowns, eclipsed her then record-setting mark in the allaround with a 39.550 (now owned by Alina Weinstein and Giana O'Connor) and equaled her own score of 9.950 on beam, which is tops in program history. She also earned her third career All-America honor with a second-team accolade on floor, which is the second-most in school history.

Buckley excelled immediately at Illinois, being named the UI Newcomer and Big Ten Freshman of the Year along with garnering the first NCAA All-America accolades by an Illinois gymnast with second-team honors on beam in 2008. She followed that up by winning the regional crown on beam and helping lead the team to its first-ever appearance at the NCAA Championships in 2009. She then nabbed first-team All-America honors and her second regional title in 2010, with both coming on vault.

Buckley ended her career as the only Illinois gymnast to compete at nationals all four years and was a four-time All-Big Ten selection, which included three first-team nods. She also excelled in the classroom as a Kinesiology major, twice being named Academic All-District and picking up three Academic All-Big Ten and Scholastic All-American awards.

Kelsey Joannides

Vault - 2nd Team - 2011

Kelsey Joannides helped lead the Illini to their second ever appearance at the NCAA Championships in 2011, where she earned Second-Team honors on vault for placing among the top eight in the session. Joannides began her Illini career the same way she ended it, a conference champion. Joannides captured a Big Ten vault championship as a freshman in 2009 and then a Big Ten beam championship as a senior in 2012. She became the first two-time Big Ten champion at Illinois since the championships were officially recognized by the Big Ten in 1982-83.

A three-time All-Big Ten selection, Joannides accumulated 33 career titles which stands as the seventh most all-time in program history.

Joannides also excelled in the classroom as she was a three-time Academic All-Big Ten recipient. In addition, Joannides was named Scholastic All-American in 2011.

Sarah Schmidt

Floor - 2nd Team - 2009

Sarah Schmidt reached All-American status on floor in 2009 while the Orange and Blue were competing at their first NCAA Championships.

Schmidt achieved Second-Team honors after finishing sixth in Session II with a 9.850. Earlier that season, Schmidt captured a Big Ten floor championship with a 9.95. In her senior year, Schmidt was the top all-arounder on a non-qualifying team at the NCAA Central Regional. In addition, the Wisconsin native continued her success on floor, winning a title on the event in all six Big Ten dual meets.

Schmidt was a two-time All-Big Ten gymnast, a Big Ten Gymnast of the Week and a two-time Academic All-Big Ten recipient. She finished with 29 career individual titles.

Alina Weinstein

Floor - 2nd Team - 2011
Floor - 1st Team - 2013
Floor - NACGC/W 1st Team - 2013
All-Around - NACGC/W 2nd Team - 2013

Alina Weinstein left Illinois as one of the most decorated gymnasts in Illini history. In her senior year, Weinstein forever etched her name in the Illinois record book, setting new program highs in the vault (10.0), floor exercise (9.975) and the all-around (39.625). She was the second Illini ever to capture a perfect 10.0, accomplishing the feat on vault. Weinstein was the first Illinois gymnast to reach the NCAA floor finals, the first to garner three regional titles at a single meet and the first to win Big Ten Gymnast of the Week three times in a single season. The New Jersey native also earned the newly awarded regular season all-american award, as the NACGC/W bestowed her First-Team All-American on Floor and Second-Team All-American in the all-around. In addition, Weinstein was named a Honda Award finalist which honors the nation's top four gymnasts in the country, and was named NCAA South Central Regional Gymnast of the Year.

The two-time All-Big Ten gymnast captured 26 individual titles in her senior campaign which stands as the second most in a single season.

Furthermore, her 43 career titles landed her in sole possession of third place on the all-time title list, behind Nancy Thies' 58 and Allison Buckley's 62. Finally, the three-time academic All-Big Ten selection ended her career by winning the Big Ten Medal of Honor.

Giana O'Connor

All-Around - 1st Team - 2015
All-Around - NACGC/W 2nd Team - 2015

Mary Jane Horth

Bars - NACGC/W 1st Team - 2015
All-Around - NACGC/W 2nd Team - 2015

Sunny Kato

Bars - NACGC/W 2nd Team - 2015
Beam - NACGC/W 2nd Team - 2015

Rae Balthazor 

Floor - 2nd Team - 2018