After heading north for a meeting with No. 10 Michigan State, No. 25 Illinois women’s gymnastics heads back home with a close loss. The Illini held their own against the Spartans but ultimately lost 197.475-196.275. Friday night’s meet moved the Illini to an overall season record of 6-4 and a conference record of 1-3.
Despite the loss, the Illini saw many high scores as they competed against the Spartans and they even saw a win on the bars, 49.225-49.200. Both graduate Mia Takekawa and freshman Lyden Saltness tied for second place on the bars with scores of 9.875.
On the vault, the Illini did not make the podium and lost the event as a team 49.350-48.675, but junior Kadyn Fitzgibbon was the highest scorer for Illinois with a score of 9.775. Junior Ruthuja Nataraj and freshman Olivia Coppola followed closely behind Fitzgibbon with scores of 9.750.
Takekawa secured an event win on the beam with her best season score (9.950). Despite Takekawa nearly reaching a perfect score, Illinois lost the event as a team (49.400-49.150). Michigan State will be hosting the 2024 Big Ten championship later at the end of March, making Illinois’ experiences in East Lansing all the more valuable. Takekawa, who is in the middle of her fifth year with the Illini, shared the plus side of being able to feel the environment before having to be there for one of their biggest meets of the season.
“It’s always nice to be able to be in the environment that we’re going to be competing in for a big meet like that,” Takekawa said. “Just being able to know what the atmosphere there feels like, what the equipment feels like.”
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On the floor, graduate Mia Townes came in second place with an impressive score of 9.925, just 0.025 points shy of first place. Townes shed light on the team’s confidence and how they know their potential. The Illini are capable of pulling off impressive wins, and Townes said that just because things can get shaky, it doesn’t mean the team can’t win in the future.
“That just underlying factor that we are fully capable, we are a full potential team to win Big Tens,” Townes said. “Even though it looked a little shaky last week, doesn’t mean that it’s not in our foreseeable future.”
Illinois women’s gymnastics will compete at the 2024 GymQuarters Invitational in St. Louis on Friday at 6 p.m., taking on No. 12 Missouri, No. 6 Florida and Lindenwood.
