Illinois women’s gymnastics team finishes its season at regionals
Illinois’ Sarah Lyons celebrates after her performance on the uneven bars during the NCAA Regional at the State Farm Center on Saturday. The Illini placed fourth as a team with a score of 195.875. It was a close competition, with Illinois battling with Oregon on the vault for third place.
April 2, 2017
The Illinois women’s gymnastics team ended its season with a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Regional on Saturday.
UCLA took first with 196.800 points, while Oregon State claimed second with 196.150.
Despite Illinois’ performance, sophomore Lizzy LeDuc finished third on the balance beam, and junior Mary Jane Horth placed in fifth on the uneven bars.
“Our fans are everything to us,” head coach Kim Landrus said. “To host the NCAA Regional in Champaign, the entire event staff did a phenomenal job. There are so many alumni in town. It is so meaningful. As I said the other day, (the players) will remember this for a long time.”
The Illini began the meet on their first bye.
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While Illinois was on bye, UCLA started off the meet on bars with 49.425 points, putting the team ahead. Olympic silver medalist Madison Kocian scored a 9.950, Peng-peng Lee nailed a 9.925 and former Olympian Kyla Ross took home a 9.900.
The Illini had a slow start in the second rotation with 49.000 but made up for the mistakes later on in the meet.
On the uneven bars, senior Sarah Lyons gave the Illini their first points with a 9.800. Horth scored a 9.875 while freshman Karen Howell brought in a 9.825. LeDuc finished the rotation with a 9.350.
The Illini had better luck on the balance beam with LeDuc leading them with 9.925 points, just .025 shy from matching her career-high. Junior Bridget Hodan and sophomore Haylee Roe followed close behind after nailing their runs with 9.850s. Sophomore Brielle Nguyen and Howell scored 9.850 and 9.775, respectively.
“We started off on bars and managed to add more momentum on beam,” Landrus said. “We had some great performances. They gave everything they could, and I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
The team carried on to another bye along with Iowa.
With 98.250, Illinois trailed UCLA by .200 points, putting the team in second place after the third rotation with Oregon State following at 98.100.
During the fifth rotation, the Illini competed in the floor exercise.
Roe tallied a 9.800 to start off for the Illini, and Buchanan earned the same score. Nguyen followed suit with a 9.825 while LeDuc received a 9.775.
The competition came down to the final rotation — vault. The Illini were tied for third place with Oregon State.
LeDuc landed a 9.800 on vault. Junior Jordyn Givens stuck a career-best of 9.750, and Lyons managed a 9.700.
“They went out there and they had fun, which is what I wanted to make sure they did today,” Landrus said. “They weren’t happy about how they did because they are competitors and they wanted to advance, but I absolutely think they had a blast tonight.”
