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Women's Gymnastics
Freshman Cowart Named First Team All-Big Ten
March 30, 2007
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The 2007 Women's Gymnastics All-Conference teams were announced Friday night at the Big Ten Championships banquet at Penn State's Beaver Stadium. Freshman Nicole Cowart (Greenwood, Ind.) earned first team honors, while senior Cara Pomeroy (Ottawa, Ontario) and sophomore Julie Crall (Cincinnati, Ohio) picked up second team accolades. With three athletes selected to the All-Conference squads, it marks the highest total for the Orange and Blue since four were named in 1990, the last time Illinois won the conference team title. "It's very exciting to have three young ladies get All-Big Ten recognition," said Illini head coach Bob Starkell. "I think it shows how consistent our team has performed this year. All three ladies have worked very hard and deserve the accolades." Cowart becomes just the fifth freshman in UI history to be named first team All-Conference, and the first since Ashley Williams in 2002. She competed all-around in all 12 meets this season and heads into tomorrow's championships ranked fourth in the conference in the all-around. Cowart leads the team with 10 individual titles and is the only Illini to win a title in all four events and the all-around this season. Pomeroy, who is the only Illini gymnast to ever record a perfect 10.0 (2004 South Central Regionals on bars), becomes the first Illini ever to earn All-Big Ten status in each of her four seasons. She was a first team selection in 2005 and 2006, and was named to the second team in 2004 and again this season. She heads into this weekend ranked second in the conference and 19th in the nation on the uneven bars, and is coming off a season-high 9.950 last week at the State of Illinois Classic. She's won nine event titles this season and has 40 during her illustrious career. Crall earns second team accolades for the second straight year. The sophomore was having a stellar season before suffering a season-ending achilles tendon tear on March 9. Despite the injury, she still ranks third in the Big Ten on the balance beam and won six event titles on the season. Last season, she was named the University of Illinois Female Newcomer of the Year after nearly qualifying for the NCAA Championships in the all-around. Along with Cowart, Pomeroy and Crall's achievements, sophomore Marijka Botterman (New Lennox, Ill.) was named Illinois' honoree for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award. The student-athletes chosen are individuals who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. In addition, the student-athletes must be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting. Botterman is now a candidate for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award, as the conference office will honor one male and one female student-athlete from each institution at the end of the school year. In addition to the awards, the rotation order was drawn for Saturday's Big Ten Championships. The 21st-ranked Illini will begin the competition on the balance beam and will rotate in the following order: beam, bye, floor, bye, vault and then bars, before finishing on a bye in the seventh and final rotation. "We look forward to starting on beam tomorrow on finishing up on bars," said Starkell of the draw. "Those have been our top two events all season, so we're happy with the draw. The team is energized and ready to go." The 2007 Big Ten Championships will begin at 6 p.m. ET/5 p.m. CT on Saturday at Rec Hall on the campus of Penn State University. Individual awards, including the Gymnast, Freshman and Coach of the Year, will be released after the conclusion of the competition. Live Stats will be available on gopsusports.com and bigten.org. 2007 WOMEN'S GYMNASTICS ALL-BIG TEN TEAMS First Team Second Team Sportsmanship Honorees
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