Illinois (5-14, 1-8) failed to advance to Regionals as a team for the first time since 2003, finishing the regular season ranked No. 42 and just outside the 36-team qualifying bubble.
First-year head coach Josh Nilson has admitted to bumps in the road this season, but believes this had to happen for future success to occur.
“I spent most of the year just calming the waters and building structure and systems,” Nilson said. “I think we can build on that. You can’t build a skyscraper unless your foundation is strong, and the foundation is strong now.”
However, the Illini won’t be without representation in the postseason. Sophomore Chloe Cho has advanced in the all-around, freshman Summer Clancy on the balance beam, sophomore Eden King on the floor and junior Lyden Saltness on the uneven bars.
They will all compete in the first semifinal of the Lexington, Kentucky, regional, one of the four host sites for the 2026 postseason. King will compete in the first rotation, Saltness in the third and Clancy in the final one, with Cho performing the whole meet.
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In order to advance to the NCAA Championship, the gymnast must have the highest score on an event from a non-qualifying team. If the top-seeded teams from the Lexington regional, No. 1-seeded Oklahoma (23-1-1) and No. 2-seeded Missouri (14-9), qualified, any athlete not on these rosters can have their scores qualify them as an individual, even if their teams qualified to regionals as a team.
Achieving higher scores will be difficult, though, as four judges will be on the floor in comparison to the regular season, which only features two. It’ll require three judges instead of two to reward any perfect tens, and larger judging splits can occur now.
Keys for Cho
Cho had an NQS of 9.940 on the uneven bars and an NQS of 39.520 in the all-around, garnering First and Second Team WCGA All-American honors. She also won 25 event titles, third-most in a single season for the Illini.
Despite scratching vault at the Big Ten Championships due to a nagging ankle sting, Cho is expected to compete as planned.
Her biggest competitors will be highly touted SEC stars: Kentucky’s (2-17-1) Delaynee Rodriguez and Arkansas’s (7-13-1) Olympic alternate Joscelyn Roberson. Rodriguez and Cho are tied at No. 10 in the nation with matching NQS while Roberson is a bit of an unknown factor. She only competed in the all-around three times this season, the most recent being at the SEC Championships, where she scored a 39.575.
Cho will start on the uneven bars, her best event, so she needs to be on from the moment she steps out into the arena. After that, it’s all about building momentum and maintaining that goldfish mentality if things don’t always go according to plan.
Keys for Clancy
Clancy had an NQS of 9.830 and really established herself in this lineup, becoming known as a consistent, unrattled competitor. She reached the 9.8+ mark in eight of her 11 appearances and was unfazed after two falls preceded her in the Big Ten Championship.
Her biggest competitor to qualify is the Maryland Terrapins’ (19-6) Madeline Komorski, who has a season best of 9.950 on the beam. If Roberson were not to qualify as an all-arounder, she would also be a favorite on balance beam, as she finished the regular season ranked No. 6.
Reflecting on this season, Clancy says she removed the pressure off of herself to do the best she could. Regionals is just the cherry on top for a young star.
“Honestly, I didn’t want to put too many expectations out, and all I wanted to do was my best and contribute to the team the best I could,” Clancy said.
Keys for King
Qualifying for postseason is a full circle moment for King, who just before the season started rolled her ankle on the floor and was unsure if she’d compete at all. To now be advancing as an individual on the floor is something she could’ve never expected.
She’s been very consistent on floor, scoring a 9.900 in her last three meets. She has a high double salto and difficult combination work, alongside some great charisma for a routine that she believes fits her perfectly.
“I love performing it, and I think I’ve gotten a lot better at just trusting myself and not getting as nervous before floor,” King said.
However, it’s likely she’ll face more competition than any other Illini to move on to nationals, as the Razorbacks are ranked No. 11 in the country in the event.
Keys for Saltness
Saltness is coming off a hard fall from the conference championship, where she was too far to regrasp the bar and only scored a 9.125. However, she has extremely high scoring potential, with a season’s best of 9.925.
She’s going to have to wait almost the whole day to have her chance to compete and will need to stay in her bubble. However, if she hits, she’s one of the top bar workers in this regional.
She needs to not let the error from last week negate her ability to be aggressive. If she wants to qualify, she has to balance the lofty elements and strong cast handstands to ensure a contentious performance.
The Lexington Regional can be streamed with an ESPN+ subscription, beginning Friday at noon CDT.
@Boddysofia
