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Weinstein Wins All-Around But #14 Illini Fall to #19 Michigan
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Junior Alina Weinstein posted a career-best performance and won the all-around with a 39.400.
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Jan. 27, 2012
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Junior Alina Weinstein turned in the best meet of her career to win the all-around title, but it wasn't enough as No. 14 Illinois fell 194.225-193.700 to No. 19 Michigan following a tough finish on beam. The Plainsboro, N.J., native earned her second career all-around title with a 39.400, which ties the ninth-best mark in school history. Weinstein also took the top spot on bars with a 9.875, shared first-place honors on beam with a 9.825 and tied for third on vault (9.825) and floor (9.875) with career-high scores.
"It was nice to go out there and do what I do in the gym everyday," Weinstein said. "I was able to hit all my sets, and this was the first time I felt like I went out there and did my job on every event. As a team, we are a very good beam squad, so I don't know what happened today, but I'm sure we will bounce back from that as we move forward."
After recording season-high scores on the first three events of the night, the Illini carried a 146.675-145.850 lead into the final rotation at the Crisler Center. But the Orange and Blue, who entered the contest ranked in the top-10 nationally on beam, uncharacteristically struggled on the event to close out the meet, recording falls on the first three routines. The Illini finished strong on the final three routines and scored a 47.050 to come up short of knocking off the five-time defending Big Ten champions.
"We started off with a fall on bars, but the next five performers came back and did some of the best bar routines they have ever done," Landrus said. "We carried that momentum to vault and floor performed well on both those events to be in a position to win the meet. Unfortunately, we had a mental letdown on beam which really cost us the meet."
Senior Kelsey Joannides grabbed the runner-up spot in the all-around with a season-best 39.300 after hitting all four routines and finishing in the top five on each event. The Frederick, Md., native tied for first on beam with a 9.825, came in a tie for third on vault with a 9.825 and finished tied for fifth on bars (9.800) and floor (9.850).
"Alina and Kelsey had great all-around performances, but unfortunately they were overshadowed by our struggles on beam," Landrus said. "Ever since we recruited Alina, we knew she was a bundle full of talent and she continues to grow as an athlete. It was nice to see her come out today and do what she knows how to do with an all-around performance. I give her, Sarah and Kelsey a lot of credit for staying mentally tough and finishing strong on beam for us."
Illinois, which dropped a dual meet for the first time since 2010, started the night off strong on bars with a 48.950, including four scores of 9.800 or better. Weinstein's 9.875 led the way while Joannides, junior Jaclyn Kantecki and sophomore Sarah Fiedler each notched a 9.800. Senior Hannah Welker tallied a 9.675 to round out the scoring on the event.
After moving to vault, the Illini totaled a 48.600, paced by the pair of 9.825s from Joannides and Weinstein. On floor exercise, Illinois earned its highest score on any event of the season with a 49.100. Sophomore Amber See picked up top honors on floor for the third meet in a row after matching a season high with a 9.900. Weinstein's 9.875 was second on the team followed by a 9.850 from Joannides, a 9.775 from junior Elise Gill and a 9.700 from Fiedler, which equaled a career high.
Up Next: Illinois returns to Huff Hall for a showdown with No. 11 Ohio State on Saturday, Feb. 4 at 3 p.m. The meet will be aired live by the Big Ten Network.
