Illinois women’s gymnastics ready for its season to begin

By Danielle Williams, Contributing writer
December 2, 2016

The Illinois women’s gymnastics team is looking to turn in another successful season.

The Illini did not qualify to the Big Ten Championships last season, but they had many individuals recognized with awards at the end of the year.

Graduated gymnasts Giana O’Connor, Sunny Kato and Heather Foley earned NACGC, First-team All-Big Ten and All-American status for two different events. Sophomore Lizzy LeDuc qualified for the NCAA Championships, and senior Erin Buchanan earned two titles at the Big Five Meet in Columbus, Ohio.

“You’re always sad to see a group of seniors graduate but it happens; it’s a cycle,” head coach Kim Landrus said. “You find great gratitude in watching them go on and do great things in life. You look for others to step up and fill their role, and hopefully the legacy they left has shown all of the women currently on the team what being an Illini means.”

This season’s team has a mix of veterans and underclassmen.

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The upperclassmen consist of juniors Becca Cuppy, Jordyn Givens and Bridget Hodan and seniors Erin Buchanan, Mary-Jane Horth and Sarah Lyons.

Landrus said that the seniors had a very good preseason and are prepared to start the season.

“(Buchanan) is ready to go on three or four events,” Landrus said. “Just looking to them as well as (Horth) for leadership is key. The sophomores have some experience, but they need those veterans who have done it before. They need the juniors and seniors to show them the way and set their expectations where they need to be; so that when they get on the competition floor it’s kind of autopilot.”

The nine underclassmen consist of freshmen Rae Balthazor, Lindsay Dwyer, Karen Howell and Brittany Jones and sophomores Rachael Donovan, Julia Hutcherson, Brielle Nguyen, Haylee Roe and LeDuc.

“I’m looking forward to seeing what this team can achieve,” Horth said. “I can’t wait to see how the freshmen and sophomores contribute to the team this year because they have a lot to offer.”

LeDuc said she is excited to see where this season takes the team after last year’s performance.

LeDuc started off last year on the Big Ten to Watch List and ended her season with a 9.950 score on the floor, earning her a title for the event at the Salt Lake City Regional and a qualification to Nationals. She became the first freshman to qualify for NCAA Nationals since Allison Buckley in 2008.

“I’m just going to try and start off where I finished last year at Nationals,” LeDuc said. “We’ve been working hard. Just getting our routines and perfecting them, I think that’s what we’ll be focusing on. It’s always a harder time because you get nervous in the beginning, but I think that we’re ready and excited for this season.”

The team has 11 regular season meets and will be hosting NCAA Regionals this year at the newly renovated State Farm Center.

The Illini’s first meet will be the Orange and Blue Exhibition this Sunday at Huff Hall.

“Individually, our goals for the season is to focus on the little details and improve at each meet,” Horth said. “We want to be competitive in the Big Tens and get that first or second spot. Just taking it one meet at a time and improving our consistency we’ll accomplish a lot.”

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