March 29, 2007
Big Ten Notes (PDF)
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The 21st-ranked Fighting Illini women's gymnastics team (9-8, 3-1) heads to State College, Pa. to compete in the Big Ten Championships this Saturday, March 31, at 6 p.m. ET/5 p.m. CT. Last weekend the Illini finished a disappointing third in the State of Illinois Classic with a score of 193.725. They fell to Illinois-Chicago (194.625) and Northern Illinois (194.125), but were able to gain the victory over Illinois State (188.500). They will hope to rebound this weekend in their final tune-up before the NCAA Regionals.
Coverage of the Big Ten Championships
Live Stats will be available at gopsusports.com and BigTen.org. A recap and results will be available at fightingillini.com
Championship Preview
The #21 Fighting Illini enter the Big Ten Championships as the fifth ranked team in a tight field that features six of the seven teams ranked between #12 and #23. Host and 12th-ranked Penn State, along with #13 Michigan are the favorites heading into the weekend. Michigan State, ranked 19th, and Ohio State, ranked 20th, are just ahead of Illinois in the rankings, but the Fighting Illini beat both teams in head-to-head competition earlier this season. No. 23 Minnesota snapped Michigan's streak of seven straight conference titles last season, but has struggled a bit this season, while Iowa enters the meet ranked 32nd. Minnesota (three victories) and Michigan (13 victories) have been the only two teams to win the Big Ten title since 1990, when Illinois won its first and only Big Ten gymnastics crown.
The Best in the Conference
Vault: Michigan State's Rochelle Robinson leads the conference on vault with an event RQS of 9.905. Nicole Cowart heads the Illini with a 9.835 RQS, which currently ranks seventh in the conference.
Bars: Becky Bernard of Michigan tops all Big Ten gymnasts on bars with an event RQS of 9.905. Illinois senior Cara Pomeroy follows close behind with a 9.885, which puts her in a second place tie with Kristen Coleman of Michigan State.
Beam: Kristen Coleman of Michigan State leads the conference on beam with an event RQS of 9.885. Illini sophomore Julie Crall is the top Illini representative on this event with a 9.845, ranking her at No. 3 in the conference, but due to injury she will be unable to compete. Senior Cara Pomeroy, at No. 10, is the next performer for the Orange and Blue with a 9.810.
Floor: Brandi Personett leads all Big Ten gymnasts on floor with an RQS of 9.900. UI freshmen Sarah Scmidt and Nicole Cowart, each with a 9.805 season RQS, are tied for the top Illini performers on floor at No. 16.
All-Around: Kristen Coleman, with an event RQS of 39.420, is the top all-around performer in the Big Ten. Nicole Cowart, who places fourth in the conference with an RQS of 39.095, paves the way for the Illini all-arounders.
Coach Starkell on the Big Ten Meet
"The team is excited and prepared for our trip to State College. There is no doubt that we have a team that is capable of contending for a conference title. With so many underclassman accounting for so many routines, the group will have to be extremely focused because his is easily one of the more exciting competitions that we will participate in. Our true goal is to try and not have any major mistakes. If this happens, it will it put us in a good position."
IllinI Big Ten Championship History
The Illini are attempting to improve on last season's subpar performance at the Big Ten Championships, where they finished seventh with a score of 192.500. Over the years, the Illini have claimed one Big Ten title after brining home the 1990 crown with a score of 188.750. This puts them in the same group as Michigan, Ohio State and Minnesota in being the only four programs to win the conference championship. Since than win, however, Illinois has struggled, finishing no higher than fourth in the last 16 years.
Throughout the 25-year history of the meet, the Illini have won seven individual titles, which the last coming in 1999 when Gina Wiechmann tied for the balance beam title.
Six Gymnasts Named Academic All-Big Ten
Six Illinois gymnasts were named to the 2006-07 Academic All-Big Ten team earlier this week. Marijka Botterman, Julie Crall, Kim Kruk, Michelle McGrady, Cara Pomeroy and Lindsey Smith were all honored for having at least a 3.0 cumulative grade-point average and earning a varsity letter in gymnastics.
Illini Reach Highest RQS Ranking Ever
Illinois dropped one spot in the GymInfo rankings for the second straight week and now holds claim to the 21st spot in the nation with a Regional Qualifying Score of 195.090. Two weeks ago when Illinois climbed to the 19th spot, it marked the the highest national ranking the Illini have ever attained based on RQS. The Illini were ranked 33rd after the first week of competition, but moved up gradually the first 10 weeks of the season. The Illini rank sixth in a loaded South Central Region, just behind #18 Missouri 195.660. Seventh-ranked Nebraska is the top team in the region.
Individual Rankings
Individually, the Illini have a number of gymnasts who rank among the nation's elite. Nicole Cowart ranks in the top 100 nationally on three events - all-around (37th), vault (68th) and beam (94th). Julie Crall ranks 36th on beam and Maijka Botterman is No. 63 in all-around as well as No. 94 on vault. Senior Cara Pomeroy checks in at 78th nationally on balance beam and 19th on bars, up 81 spots from two weeks ago. Sophomore Kim Kruk is 93rd on all-around, while freshman Sarah Schmidt comes in on bars at #70.
Pomeroy Leads Way at State Meet
Though the Illini struggled last week in Dekalb at the State of Illinois Classic, Cara Pomeroy brought her A-game as she won event titles in both bars and beam. On bars, she set a new season and team high with a 9.950, and on the balance beam her score of 9.775 tied with UIC's Jessie Jaworowicz for the meet's top performance. As a team, the Illini posted the second highest uneven bars score in school history (49.250), but struggled on the other three events to finish third in the four-team field with a score of 193.725.
Illinois Leaving Mark on Record Books
This season Illinois has broken one school record and posted several scores that rank in the UI all-time top-10 lists. The Fighting Illini set the vault school record with a 49.125 vs. UIC on March 17 after tying the old record of 49.100 earlier in the season vs. Iowa State and UIC. Overall, the Orange and Blue have posted four of the top-7 vault scores in school history this season. They've also put up three of the top-5 uneven bars scores, including a 49.250 at the State of Illinois Classic last week, which ranks second on the all-time list. In terms of overall team score, the Illini have racked up three of the top-10 all-time scores, including a 195.975 (March 9) and a 195.925 (Feb. 25), which rank third and fourth on the list, respectively. For an updated list of the UI all-time top-10 lists, see page 8 of this notes packet.
Pomeroy Returns to Form
Cara Pomeroy, the team's top gymnast over the past three years, struggled early in the season on the uneven bars, her top event, but has rebounded to hit her routine in six of the last seven meets, including a season-high 9.950 to win the bars last week at the State of Illinois Classic. That score equals the second-highest bars score in school history, behind only her own 10.0 at the 2004 South Central Regional Championships. Her return to form on bars has helped her jump from 100th to 19th in the national rankings over the last two weeks, and she enters this weekend's Big Ten Championships tied for second in the conference with an event RQS of 9.885. Pomeroy has now won the uneven bars in six of her last seven meets, and has also won three beam titles on the season, giving her nine individual titles this season and 40 for her illustrious career. Pomeroy is a three-time All-Big Ten selection, earning first team honors each of the past two years.
Suki's Smooth
Freshman Nicole Cowart, who goes by the nickname Suki, has shown no signs of inexperience in her first season with the Orange and Blue. Competing all-around in every meet this season, Cowart leads the team with 10 event titles thus far, including three all-around crowns. Two weeks ago vs. UIC, she won the vault and floor. She posted seven straight all-around scores of 39.000 or better until the UIC meet on March 17, and heads into Big Tens ranked fourth in the all-around with an RQS of 39.095. In the meet at Denver on March 11, she posted a season-high of 39.200 in the all-around. She's the only Illini to win at least one event title on all four individual events and in the all-around this season, and is ranked in the top-100 nationally on two events and the all-around.
Schmidt Shines As Well
Cowart isn't the only freshman making noise this season for the Orange and Blue. Fellow frosh Sarah Schmidt has been spectacular as well, racking up four event titles and 19 top-three finishes on the season. With several teammates struggling through injuries as of late, Schmidt's stepped and competed all-around in two of the last three meets, taking third both times, including last week of the State of Illinois Classic with a career-high 39.000. She had the best meet of her young career on Feb. 17 against Michigan State, tying her career-high on all-three events, bars (9.800), beam (9.75), floor (9.825), while winning her first career event title on floor. Since then she's set a new career-high on bars, with a 9.875 against Iowa State and NIU on Feb. 25, and was a double-winner (bars and floor) at Illinois State on March 4.
Youth Being Served
Not only does this season have the making of a great one, but the future also looks bright for the Orange and Blue. Only two of 24 routines (Pomeroy on bars and beam) are by seniors, and until sophomore Julie Crall went down with an achilles injury on March 9, 20 of the 24 routines were by freshmen and sophomores. Sophomores Marijka Botterman (AA), Kim Kruk (AA), Julie Crall (VT, BB, FX) and Lindsey Smith (VT, FX), along with freshmen Nicole Cowart (AA) and Sarah Schmidt (UB, BB, FX) accounted for 83 percent of the UI line-up for most of the season. Now with Crall out for the remainder of the year, juniors Krystal Melcarek and Michelle McGrady, and freshman Sarah Schmidt have stepped in on extra events.
Tough Schedule
Head coach Bob Starkell and his staff made it a point to upgrade Illinois' competition this season, and that was certainly the case as the Illini faced nine ranked foes in the regular season. The young Illini responded by topping three higher-ranked foes on the year, #16 Auburn, #19 Ohio State and #18 Michigan State. Thus far, Illinois is 3-6 against ranked opponents.
Injury Report
Sophomore standout Julie Crall suffered a season ending achilles tendon tear while warming up before the final rotation against the Auburn Tigers on March 9. She had surgery two weeks ago and is expected to make a full recovery for next season, but her loss will certainly impact the Illini for the remainder of this year. Even prior to Julie Crall's season-ending injury, the Illini were not at full strength this season. Senior tri-captain Melissa Singer and freshman Lori Hamilton have missed entire 2006-07 campaign recovering from injuries. Senior Danye Botterman, meanwhile, has missed nearly all of her final season. She returned to the vault line-up at Michigan State (2/17) after missing the first five meets, and then cracked the line-up again on March 17 for her final performance at Huff Hall. In addition, sophomore Kim Kruk has been hampered as of late, keeping her from competing in the all-around in three of the last five meets.
Keep up with the Orange and Blue at fightingillini.com
Gymnastics fans can get the latest on the Illini at fightingillini.com, the official website of Illinois athletics. Archived video is available on the website, and be sure to check out what life is like outside the gym for the Fighting Illini by reading "Illini Ink", the weekly blog that is written by a different UI gymnast each week. Also, photo galleries are added to the site on a weekly basis in addition to meet previes, recaps and statistics.
Up Next
Illinois has clinched a fourth-straight regional bid and will most likely head to Tucson, Ariz., for the South Central Regional on April 14. However, official regional assisgnments won't be announced until Sunday, April 1, after the completion of the conference championships.
