Illinois women’s gymnastics came out on top against Ball State for their regional competition 195.825-195.775. After their narrow win today, Illinois will be advancing to the second round of regionals where they will face No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 16 North Carolina State and No. 17 Ohio State on April 4.
It was a close match-up for Illinois against Ball State since both teams won two out of the four events, and the scores were in close range of each other throughout the day. Starting on the vault, Illinois was able to earn 48.875 points with the efforts of graduates Mia Takekawa and Mia Townes, senior Abby Mueller, sophomores Alea Byrne and Arielle Ward and freshman Olivia Coppola. Both Townes and Ward had the third-highest score for the event, with 9.800. In the end, it was Ball State that won the event with a score of 49.100 and had both first and second-place finishers.
Up next, the Illini redeemed themselves on the bars by winning the event and earning the top three scores. Freshmen Destiny Denning and Lyden Saltness, seniors Amelia Knight and Kaitlyn Ewald, along with Mueller and Takekawa, earned the Illini their highest event score of the night with 49.050 points. Muller tied for third place with a score of 9.800, Knight took the second place with a 9.850, and lastly, Takekawa took the first place finish with an impressive 9.900.
Halfway through the meet, Illinois held onto a 0.025-point lead with a running total of 97.925. The Cardinals put up a fight against the Illini on the beam, and in the end, the Illini fell short by 0.075 points, earning 48.900 points overall. Despite this, Townes, Knight, Byrne, Mueller, Ewald and Takekawa put on great performances. With scores of 9.800, Ewald and Townes had the second-highest scores, and Knight scored 9.850 and was able to tie for first place.
With one event left and an extremely narrow 0.025-point lead, Illinois knew it needed to put it all out on the floor for the win, and that is exactly what it did. With the talents of junior Kaydn Fitzgibbon, senior Allie Morgan, Byrne, Mueller, Townes and Ward, Illinois was able to earn another 49.000 points to guarantee the win. Both Ward and Morgan had the third highest scores with 9.775, Byrne and Mueller had the second highest scores with 9.800, and Townes took the first place spot with a 9.850. Mueller also went on to earn third place in the all-around scoring with a score of 39.100.
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Illinois women’s gymnastics will be competing in the second round of the NCAA Regionals against No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 16 North Carolina State and No. 17 Ohio State on April 4 at 6 p.m. CT in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
