Jan. 11, 2007

The Fighting Illini women's gymnastics team will open its 2007 season in Columbia, Mo. against 18th-ranked Missouri on Friday, Jan. 12, at 7 p.m. at Hearnes Center.

Last season the Illini competed against the Missouri Tigers and posted their second-highest scores of the year (195.125) in a narrow loss. The expectations for this year are to challenge the Tigers and improve upon last year's performance.

"Both the staff and team are excited to finally compete," head coach Bob Starkell said. "This meet is a great opportunity for us because Missouri is a strong, well-coached team. We can use them as a measuring stick to see where we are. We are looking to go in and make as few mistakes as possible. Practice is going well, but until we get into competition, we won't know how the girls will react."

Friday's meet will be the second annual Pink Out meet at the University of Missouri. Each team will wear pink leotards in support of breast cancer research and awareness. The first 500 people in the door receive a free pink t-shirt and one dollar from every Pink Out ticket sold will go directly to the Ellis Fischel Breast Cancer Research Program. Live stats for the meet will be available at www.MUTigers.com.

MIXED PAIRS A SUCCESS
On Dec. 8, in front of an enthusiastic crowd of over 1,000 fans, the Illinois men's and women's gymnastics teams opened their seasons with the annual Mixed Pairs Exhibition at Huff Hall. The pair of senior Cara Pomeroy and junior Tyler Yamauchi finished first, carding a combined score of 29.800 to claim the title, while junior Michael Boyer and sophomores Kim Kruk and Nick Stango joined together to claim second with a 29.700. Rounding out the medalists were the teams of freshmen Laura Woolf and Luke Stannard and the pair of sophomores Ursula Orozco and Tyler Williamson tying for third with a score of 29.650.