Coming off of an impressive regional showing that resulted in a spot at nationals, the No. 11 Illinois women’s gymnastics team had reached its peak and was ready for the NCAA Championships on Thursday in Lincoln, Neb.

However, early this week about one-third of the team was sick with the flu, leading to many gymnasts missing practices.

“We are just lucky that the flu hit after regionals and early in the week,” head coach Bob Starkell said.

“We hope everybody has enough time to recover so that they can compete at their best.”

Despite five gymnasts being out because of the flu, the Illini have been focused on staying consistent.

“We don’t want to throw in any new stuff,” Starkell said. “If we just keep doing what we’ve been doing, that’s our best shot at success.”

The Illini will begin on the bars at 7 p.m., competing against No. 2 Utah, No. 3 Alabama, No. 6 Oregon State, No. 7 UCLA and No. 10 Arkansas. In the 12-team field, the Illini are seeded 11th.

The top three teams from each of Thursday’s two preliminary sessions will advance to the Super Six team finals Friday.

The all-around champion will be crowned on the first day of competition, while individual event champions are scheduled for Saturday. The top four individuals on each event from each of Thursday’s two sessions will compete in the individual event finals.

“If we perform at the same level of the past three weekends, and if some teams have a so-so night, then we have a shot for the finals,” Starkell said.

With this being Starkell’s first time sending a team to nationals, he is a little overwhelmed by the process.

“This is new territory, and there’s a lot of planning to be done,” Starkell said. “We don’t know what days we’ll get past and what girls will compete, and I have different plans — plan A if we make it, plan B if we don’t — and there are so many different options and things that happen.”

For the four seniors, it will be the last meet of their careers. Senior Marijka Botterman wants her time at Illinois to “go off on a good note.”

Junior Nicole Cowart, along with sophomore Allison Buckley, competed as an individual at nationals last year.

“The advice I have for everyone else is, being surrounded by so many great gymnastics and having so many fans, you just need to not be overwhelmed and not be nervous,” Cowart said.

The Illini are excited to be competing against the country’s best.

“We’re just trying to be competitive, we’re not going to go there and get all nervous. We just want to go and do our best,” Botterman said.