Six seniors will say goodbye to Huff Hall on Saturday as the women’s gymnastics team takes on Ohio State on Senior Day. It will be a day filled with mixed emotions, as the Illini look to close out the season with their fourth-straight victory before they head to Chicago for the State of Illinois Classic.

Seniors Ashley Williams, Lauren Newcomb, Kara Kapernekas, Margaret Dann, Sara Dumich and Jessica Cole will end their run with the Illini tomorrow.

“It’s going to be an exciting event, especially since it’s also a co-ed meet,” said head coach Bob Starkell. “There will be a lot of energy in the gym, but also a lot of emotion for the seniors since it will be their last home meet at Huff. But they also know they have a job at hand, and they have to really put up a strong performance this weekend.”

The team will be looking to finish its Big Ten season on a strong note as it takes on Ohio State. The Buckeyes are coming off a loss against No. 21 Arizona last week in their home finale and are 5-8 overall, 0-3 in the Big Ten.

“Ohio State is young, but they’ve always been tough,” Starkell said. “We’ve always had trouble beating them. Their group is really talented, but again with a young team, you’re never sure about their consistency.”

The women are peaking at the right time as they are coming off their fourth-straight victory last week against Northern Illinois and the Japan All-Stars. The Illini were in cruise control the whole meet, winning all four individual titles.

“We were pretty pleased with the weekend,” Starkell said. “We ran into a little trouble on beam, but overall we had a good meet. The really good sign last week was our high energy level, and the team was pumped up to compete well.”

Co-captain Kapernekas had her best meet of the year, winning titles on floor and beam. Sophomore Cara Pomeroy continued her winning ways with her third-straight title on bars. Fellow sophomore Danye Botterman rounded it out with her first title on vault.

The lineup will be a little different this weekend, with Newcomb back in the all-around after a three-week layoff to rest her sore knees. She will team up with Williams for the first time this season in the all-around.

“It will be my first week back in the all-around,” Newcomb said. “My body is feeling a lot better and is healthy again. I’m looking forward to a strong competition this weekend in front of the home crowd and hopefully finish out the season on a good note.”

It has been a great run for the senior class, who share a whopping 61 event titles between them and have a share in six school event records. They were an integral part of the squad that advanced to regionals last year and look to lead the Illini even further this year.

“We came in as such a large group freshman year, and we’ve grown so close to each other,” Newcomb said. “We’re all from different parts of the country and didn’t really know each other, and now we’re basically sisters. It’s going to be weird with everybody going their own way and splitting up. Alumni meet next year is going to be really fun.”

It will also be an emotional day for the coaching staff.

“As a group of seniors, each one is going to find a lot of rewards in their season and look back and see that they’ve done a lot for this program,” Starkell said. “They are such a close-knit group, and their strong chemistry has attracted recruits to us. It’s gone by so fast for me, and I bet it has for them, too. They’ve all grown both athletically and individually as a person. I feel pretty strong about them kind of graduating and doing well in life, no matter what they attempt.”