Feb. 22, 2008
ILL at Iowa Notes in PDF Format 
No. 21 Illinois at No. 24 IOWA with No. 19 MICHIGAN STATE
Sunday, Feb. 24, 2008 // 1 p.m. // Carver-Hawkeye Arena // Iowa City, Iowa
The Meet
The Fighting Illini head to Iowa City this Sunday, Feb. 24, as they take on No. 24 Iowa and No. 19 Michigan State at 1 p.m. at Carver Hawkeye Arena. This meet will be the Illini's second trip to Iowa City this season, where they defeated the Hawkeyes by a score of 193.650-192.975 back on Jan. 25. The Illini faced the Spartans just last weekend at Huff Hall, falling by a score of 194.750-194.425.
NIU Cancellation
The Illini were originally scheduled to compete at Northern Illinois this weekend, but due to the tragedy that struck the NIU community back on Feb. 14, all Northern Illinois athletic events were cancelled through Feb. 24 while the campus observed a week of healing.
In the Rankings
The Illini are ranked No. 21 in this week's GymInfo rankings, up five spots from last week, and are seventh in the South Central Region. Illinois ranks 18th in nation on bars (48.380) and 21st on both vault (48.560) and beam (48.160). Freshman Allison Buckley is currently ranked 16th in the nation on floor exercise (9.830), 32nd on vault (9.810) and 21st in the all-around (38.775), while sophomore Nicole Cowart is ranked 28th in the all-around (38.545) and 41st on bars (9.745). The Illini have been ranked as high as No. 19 this season (after week one). This is the first week that all rankings are based on Regional Qualifying Score (RQS) rather than average scores.
Sizing up the Competition
Michigan State comes into this Saturday's meeting as the 19th-ranked team in the nation with an RQS of 193.920 and Iowa is 24th-ranked team with a 193.110 RQS. In last weekend's meet with the Illini, the Spartans were led by Rochelle Robinson and Kelsey Morley, who won event titles on vault and beam, respectively. Iowa tied Ohio State last weekend with a score of 195.400, marking the Hawkeyes best team total since 2005. The Hawkeyes were led by junior Jenifer Simbhudas, who won individual titles on vault (9.825), floor (9.875), and all-around (39.300).
Looking Back
Last weekend, the Illini fell to #22 Michigan State by a score of 194.750-194.425 at Huff Hall. The Illini started the night off strong on vault (48.725) and then took the top-three individual scores on bars (48.500) to maintain a lead after two rotations. Illinois still held a narrow lead following their beam rotation (48.600), but a 48.600 on floor was not enough to hold off the Spartans who had a 49.200 beam score on their final rotation. Freshman Allison Buckley led the Illini with individual titles on floor (9.850) and in the all-around competition (39.150) and sophomore Sarah Schmidt won her first bars title (9.775) of the year after missing the previous two meets due to an ankle injury.
Buckley Off to Blazing Start
Freshman Allison Buckley has wasted no time making a name for herself in the Illini program. The Schaumburg, Ill. native has competed in the all-around competition in every meet this year, capturing ten individual titles and 15 top-3 finishes. Last week against Michigan State, she won the all-around (39.150) and floor (9.850) titles and placed second on vault (9.850). She has won the floor title in four of the last five weeks.
Schmidt Hits the Bars
Sophomore Sarah Schmidt won the bars title last weekend in her first return to action after missing two meets due to an ankle injury. Prior to her injury, Schmidt won the all-around competition with a career-best 39.050 at Iowa. Last week, she was limited to participating only on bars and will gradually make her return in all events.
Crall-ing Back
Junior Julie Crall returned this year after suffering a season-ending Achilles' tear on March 9 of last season. Crall had been a top performer for the Illini in each of her first two seasons earning her second team All-Big Ten honors in both her freshman and sophomore campaigns. She currently has three beam titles this season and was ranked as high as sixth in the nation before suffering a fall at the Chicago Style Meet. Crall has also been competing bars for the Illini, earning a career-high 9.725 in Chicago.
Other Fresh Faces
Three other talented freshman joined the 2008 Fighting Illini squad, with two of them seeing action in the first half of the season. Melissa Fernandez has been a contributor on the vault, beam, and floor, while Lashlee Morris has been in the beam line-up in every meet, and has also seen action on bars and floor. Samantha Perino competed exhibition the last three meets on beam and floor and is pushing to crack the line-up on both.
