Illinois women’s gymnastics team is hitting its stride at the right time of the season.

The Illini have picked up momentum after starting the season slow, and finished the Big Ten Championships with a 196.450, which was good for fourth place overall, a win in the afternoon session of the event and the sixth-highest team score in school history.

“I thought the team did a great job,” head coach Kim Landrus said. “We talk a lot about just focusing on their routines and going in and trying to get every tenth possible. They focused on each individual skill, and they came out and did a great job.”

Illinois had been an up-and-down team coming into Big Tens. The Illini had scored above a 196 in three meets this season, but had yet to put together all four events according to Landrus’ goal of going “24-for-24.”

The Illini were able to do just that Saturday when they scored a 49 or above on all four events and set a season high on the day as a team.

“It’s a great accomplishment to be able to hit our season high at Big Tens and to be able to finally hit all four events together at a meet with a 49 on each event,” junior Sarah Fiedler said. “We had a couple bumps in the road, but that didn’t slow down our momentum at the meet. Girls stepped up and we finished the meet really well.”

After winning the Illinois Classic against Illinois-Chicago, Northern Illinois and Illinois State, the Illini feel they are only becoming stronger as the season goes on. That being said, Landrus said she knows the team must continue to improve to get ready for NCAA regionals next weekend.

“To come into Big Tens and hit your season high says a lot about the momentum and how hard they’ve worked all year,” Landrus said. “I think the score is very rewarding, but we have to continue to go in the gym and prepare for regionals.”

The Illini started their day on bars with what Landrus called “a lot of stuck landings.” Illinois scored a 49.025 on the event and were led by Fiedler and senior Alina Weinstein, who scored 9.800 and 9.850, respectively.

From there, Illinois moved to beam, where the team scored a 49.100. The Illini went 6-for-6, highlighted by junior Elizabeth McNabb’s 9.850.

“They had confidence on the beam, and you could see it,” Landrus said. “When you’re confident on the beam, the judges know it, and they were rewarded for it.”

The Illini continued their momentum onto floor where Weinstein, junior Amber See and freshman Giana O’Connor all scored above a 9.900 and helped the team score a 49.325, with Weinstein and See each scoring 9.950.

“On floor, our last three competitors did a phenomenal job,” Landrus said. “They pulled on the judges, they pulled on the crowd, and they pulled on their team and really performed at an extremely high level.”

Illinois finished the meet on vault, where it scored another 49.025. Weinstein added to her 39.450 all-around score with a vault of 9.900.

“I think we did great,” O’Connor said. “We came in with a great attitude and didn’t let little mistakes turn into big ones. We stayed focused and together.”

Nicholas can be reached at [email protected] and @IlliniSportsGuy.