No. 21 Illinois women’s gymnastics is coming off an extremely successful weekend, having competed twice and seeing its two highest scores of the season. Illinois scored 196.550 on Feb. 16 against No. 13 Missouri, No. 5 Florida and No. 41 Lindenwood before one-upping itself on Feb. 18 with 196.850 against Minnesota.
Senior Abby Mueller scored a career-high 39.275 in the all-around and tied two of her career highs on the vault in the pair of competitions. However, Mueller said that she is still aiming higher.
“It was really nice to see all of the hard work I’ve been working towards pay off,” Mueller said. “I can still do better.”
Mueller also shared how the team feels after achieving their highest scores of the season, noting that the team as a whole also knows that they can achieve even more.
“We’re really excited about it,” Mueller said. “We know it’s not our max potential, so it encourages us to go into practice and work hard.”
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The Illini’s pair of season-highs resulted in an impressive jump in their ranking. Jumping six places from No. 27 to No. 21, it is clear that the Illini are on the rise. Ultimately, Illinois is focused on improving its National Qualifying Score, which is an average of its second to sixth-best scores. The top 36 programs in NQS qualify for the postseason.
“Our scores are on the rise,” Mueller said. “This is a great time for us to be picking up great scores, it improves our NQS.”
This weekend, the Illini are traveling to University Park, Pennsylvania, where they will take part in the Big Five Meet. No. 11 Michigan, No. 22 Penn State, No. 30 Maryland and No. 31 Iowa will be opposite Illinois on Saturday. The Illini are second in terms of ranking, but the top and bottom are separated by just over a point in terms of average scores (1.200).
Mueller said that the team has been focusing on making themselves stand out as much as possible as they prepare to take on an elite crowd of conference opponents.
“We’ve been focusing this week on really making ourselves stand out from the other teams,” Mueller said. “Making our dances way bigger … sharpening our handstands so that we stand out.”
The top six scores that go into a team’s NQS score have to include three road scores, something that the team is aware of and looking forward to capitalizing on this weekend. Regardless of metrics, Mueller also shared that the team rises to the occasion in hostile territory.
“We are an away team,” Mueller said. “We compete great on the road. I think that’s a really big advantage for us when it comes to NQS.”
Illinois women’s gymnastics will compete at the Big Five Meet in University Park, Pennsylvania, on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
