No. 24 Illinois women’s gymnastics took third place against No. 9 Alabama (198.000), No. 17 Minnesota (197.400) and Talladega (191.000) this weekend, totaling 196.075 points. Illinois also took third place in each of the four events while putting up a strong fight in Tuscaloosa. The Illini are now 14-11 overall and 4-5 against conference opponents.
Starting on the beam, graduate Mia Townes, senior Amelia Knight, sophomore Arielle Ward, senior Abby Mueller, senior Kaitlyn Ewald and graduate Mia Takekawa combined for 49.075 points for the Illini. Takekawa was the highest scorer with a 9.900, good for second place in the event.
Up next on the floor, Illinois scored 48.975 due to the combined efforts of Ward, Ewald, Mueller, sophomore Alea Byrne, junior Kadyn Fitzgibbon and Townes. Byrne, Mueller and Townes scored 9.850 on their routines, tied for the role of top-scoring Illini but not finishing in the top three against the field.
The Illini then competed on the vault, which was their lowest-scoring event at 48.900. Despite this, Takekawa, freshman Olivia Coppola, Townes, Byrne, Mueller and Ward all put up impressive performances on their own. Ward stood out in particular with a career-high 9.925 that was tied for second-best on the day.
Lastly, on the bars, the Illini saw their highest-scoring event. Mueller, freshman Destiny Denning, Knight, Ewald, Takekawa and freshman Lyden Saltness earned an impressive 49.125 on the event. Takekawa tied for first place on the bars with a 9.950.
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Mueller participated in the all-around, scoring 39.175 and earning a fifth-place finish.
The Illini have one more meet on their schedule before the postseason, which provides one last chance to boost their National Qualifying Score, a metric that averages a team’s best scores and is used to determine which 36 teams earn a postseason bid. Illinois is soundly in the top 36, but every bit of a climb in the standings can help. Despite the added pressure that the season’s final meet will present, Ward said the goal is no different than any other meet.
“With every meet comes stakes,” Ward said. “ You want to win, and you want to do amazing; you want to increase your NQS.”
Illinois women’s gymnastics will celebrate its senior night on March 17 at 2 p.m. at Huff Hall. No. 24 Illinois will face off against No. 13 Missouri, No. 19 Arizona and SEMO.
