The Illinois women’s gymnastics team started its season off with the Orange and Blue exhibition at Huff Hall this weekend.

Many Illini fans came out on the snowy Sunday to watch the women’s and men’s teams have a friendly competition against each other. Both were combined, and the Orange team defeated the Blue team 13-12.

“It was exciting for (the gymnasts) to get out in front of their fans,” head coach Kim Landrus said. “We saw a lot of great hit routines.”

The Blue team started out in first after the first rotation with four points against the Orange’s two points.

Senior Sarah Lyons earned the first win for the women’s side of the Blue team with her vault performance. Sophomore Lizzy LeDuc followed with her performance on the uneven bars. Haylee Roe finished the first rotation with another win for the Blue after her balance beam performance.

“LeDuc was such a ham on the floor,” Landrus said. “I also have to give kudos to Karen Howell. On both bars and floor she did a phenomenal job.”

Team Blue kept the lead in the second rotation, adding three more points to its score, but the Orange team was not far behind after gaining five points

In the second rotation, freshman Brittany Jones earned more points for the Blue team on the vault, and junior Bridget Hodan helped the team after nailing her floor exercise. The Orange team began to catch up with a win by Lindsay Dwyer on the uneven bars.

The third rotation began with a score of 9-9, which Landrus said was unexpected.

Senior Erin Buchanan won the balance beam and sophomore Brielle Nguyen recorded a near-perfect floor exercise routine, to receive points for the Orange team.

In the third rotation, freshman Rae Balthazor won the vault for the Orange while Hodan earned more points for the Blue during her balance beam routine. LeDuc won the floor exercise for the Blue, and Lyons also earned more points for Team Blue.

“I thought my performance went well,” LeDuc said. “I’m very excited about how it started off, just having the support of the fans really helped us. Orange and Blue is always a fun meet.”

By the end of the meet, the teams were tied at 12.

And the tie-breaker was in the hands of the men. Sophomore Alex Diab earned the tie-breaking point for the Orange team.

“I think that one thing we need to work on is the details,” said LeDuc. “Right now, we’re getting our routines done, but we obviously need to be perfect while doing them. At least that’s the goal. Working on the handstands and working on the sticks is what we are going to go back into the gym and do a lot more.”

[email protected]

@daniijaae