Illinois places fourth in NCAA women’s gymnastics Seattle Regional: Takekawa, Townes earn National Championship bids
Junior Mia Takekawa performs her beam routine during the competition against Central Michigan, Boise State, and Northern Illinois on March 4. Takekawa scored 9.950 for bars during the NCAA Regionals on Thursday, and the Illini overall placing fourth.
April 4, 2022
Illinois traveled to Seattle, Washington, to compete in the NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Regional. If Illinois succeeded there, it would gain a bid for the National Championship in Fort Worth, Texas.
Throughout the season, the team strived for perfection and had seen relative success in March, peaking and seeing many of their gymnasts improve and increase their ceilings.
Illinois started on the bars with graduate student Rachel Borden, scoring a 9.850. With junior Arayah Simons scoring a 9.350 early in the rotation, it increased the pressure on the others to maintain solid scores.
The Illini did just that, with senior Mallory Mizuki and junior Olivia O’Donnell scoring a pair of 9.850s while junior Amelia Knight scored a 9.900.
To anchor the rotation, All-American Mia Takekawa scored a 9.950 to bring the total score to 49.400 with Illinois leading the group by 0.100.
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While the lead seems small, any lead could change the game and be important in a sport of tight margins.
In the second rotation, Illinois headed to the beam, Borden once again starting things off for Illinois, scoring a 9.800, followed up by a 9.850 by Mizuki.
Senior Abby Mueller scored a 9.825 followed by three 9.900s by junior Mia Townes, Knight and Takekawa.
Illinois finished the rotation with a score of 49.350, bringing their total to 98.750.
The Illini tackled the floor in the third rotation with sophomore Kaitlyn Ewald scoring a 9.850. Freshman standout Ruthuja Nataraj then scored a 9.875 for Illinois.
Mueller and Takekawa followed that up with a pair of 9.850s and Townes anchored with a 9.875. The overall score in the rotation was 49.300 bringing up Illinois to 148.050.
While none of the scores were necessarily bad, they weren’t able to produce a 9.900 or better score, pushing them farther from the lead and from a ticket to Fort Worth.
In the final rotation, Illinois got to work on the vault, leading off with Takekawa’s 9.850 performance. O’Donnell and junior Lexi Powe scored a 9.800 and 9.825, respectively while Townes slightly changed the momentum, scoring a 9.925.
Nataraj struggled in their attempt, scoring a 9.725 while Simons anchored with a 9.900 to end the Illini’s meet.
Illinois got their second best program score in school history at 197.375, however that was not enough to secure a spot in Texas, with No. 4 Utah taking first and No. 29 Stanford upsetting both No. 13 Oregon State and No. 19 Illinois, placing in fourth in the regional section.
While the team’s season ended in Seattle, two Illini gymnasts earned a shot to compete as individuals at the NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Championships in Fort Worth, Texas.
The last Illini to attend the national competition was Rae Balthazor (‘20) in 2018 on the floor.
Takekawa punched her ticket in the bars while Townes did so in the vault, both will travel to Dickies Arena to compete at the three-day competition from April 14 to 16.
@JonathanAlday7
