Jan. 11, 2008

Results

Tuscaloosa, Ala. - The No. 23 Fighting Illini Women's Gymnastics team fell to No. 6 Alabama at Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Friday night by a score of 196.300-192.775 in front of an incredible 11,143 fans. The Illini began the night strong with three impressive team performances on bars (48.475), vault (48.325), and floor exercise (48.525) before struggling on the balance beam (47.450) in the final rotation.

"Overall, we are relatively pleased with our performances in our first meet," head coach Bob Starkell said. "We were very strong on our first three events, but struggled in our beam rotation. We seemed to be running low on energy heading into our final rotation and made some uncharacteristic mistakes. However, we saw plenty of good things tonight and have a lot to build off of in practice next week."

Sophomore Sarah Schmidt led the Illini to their top event score of the night with a 9.825 on floor exercise, tying her career high, which was good for a fourth place tie. Sophomore Nicole Cowart picked up where she left off last year with a third place all-around finish (38.500), posting impressive scores on bars (9.800), vault (9.700) and floor (9.750). Junior Marijka Botterman hit all three of her routines and led the team with a fourth-place finish on vault with a 9.750, while freshman Allison Buckley looked strong in her vault and floor debuts, posting a 9.725 and 9.775, respectively. Junior Julie Crall was impressive in her first return to action since her Achilles tear with a team-high 9.775 on beam, which also tied for fourth.

"A lot of the girls looked very solid today," Starkell said. "Allison Buckley did a really good job today for us in her first competition with two solid routines on vault and floor. Also, I was very pleased with Marijka Botterman, Nicole Cowart, and Sarah Schmidt's performances in the first meet of the year."

The crowd of over 11,000 brought plenty of excitement to the arena for both teams.

"There was an incredible fan base tonight," Starkell said. "They were very energetic and were applauding for both teams. It might have been a little nerve racking for us, especially our freshman, but it was great to see."

The Illini return to Champaign for their home opener on Saturday, Jan. 19 against No. 20 Ohio State at 7 p.m. It will be a double-dual meet at Huff Hall with the No. 8 Fighting Illini men's team facing No. 7 Minnesota at the same time.

- ILLINI -