Meet 4: Illinois vs. Iowa  

The Fighting Illini women's gymnastics team will host the team's annual Pink Meet on Friday night as the Iowa Hawkeyes come to town for a 7 pm contest. Illinois will honor all cancer survivors and warriors during the meet. Illinois returns to Champaign following a season-best performance at Penn State to secure a 195.750-195.475 victory over the Nittany Lions on Saturday afternoon. 

Illinois Notes 

• Head coach Nadalie Walsh won her first meet in the Orange and Blue on January 13 against Rutgers.
• The Orange and Blue tallied a season-high 195.750 team score at Penn State. 
• Illinois's 195.100 team score is the highest season-opening score by the Illini since 2015.
• The Illini hit season-high team scores on floor (48.900) and beam (49.200) at Penn State. 
• Illinois scored a season-high team score on vault (48.850) facing Michigan. 
• Freshman Kasey Meeks made her Illini debut on vault to lead the Orange and Blue with a mark of 9.825 and win the first individual event title of her career against Rutgers. In the next meet, Meeks reset her career-best to once again lead the Illini and earn the vault title. She is the first Illinois freshman to win an event title in her first two meets since Kelsey Joannides in 2009. 
• Sophomore Rae Balthazor made her floor and all-around debut against the Wolverines on January 19, winning both event titles. 
• Sophomore Karen Howell recorded a career-high 9.850 on beam and matched her career-high mark of 9.875 on bars to earn the event title at Rutgers. Howell also won the floor title with a 9.800. 
• At Rutgers, Balthazor made her beam debut and led the Illini with a 9.875. Balthazor won the second and third event titles of her career on bars (9.875) and beam.  
• Senior Bridget Hodan hit a season-best 9.900 on beam against Michigan to win her second-straight beam title. Hodan debuted on vault at Rutgers and hit a 9.800. 
• At Penn State, junior Haylee Roe notched two season-high marks on floor (9.825) and beam (9.850).
• Senior Jordyn Givens hit a career-high 9.700 on floor and matched her career-best mark on bars with a 9.800 at Penn State. 
• Freshman Nicole Biondi scored career-best marks on floor (9.775), beam (9.850) and in the all-around (39.100) against Penn State. 
• Freshman Kylie Noonan hit a career-high 9.800 on beam against the Nittany Lions. 
• Sophomore Lindsay Dwyer hit a career-high 9.800 on bars at Rutgers. 
• Junior Rachael Donovan scored a career-high 9.825 on bars against RU.

Illini Taking Titles 

Four Illini gymnasts have combined to win 10 individual event titles in the first two meets of the season. Rae Balthazor leads the pack with four titles on four apparatuses. The Boulder, Colorado native debuted on floor and in the all-around competition against Michigan, winning both events. Kasey Meeks has won the vault title at two-straight meets reseting her career-high marks in each contest. In similar fashion, Bridget Hodan has earned two-consecutive beam titles. Karen Howell earned the bars and floor titles at Rutgers. 

New Coaching Staff 

The 2017 offseason saw a new regime take over the Illinois women's gymnastics program. On June 12, 2017, former Utah State Aggies head coach, Nadalie Walsh was named the seventh head coach of the Illini women's gymnastics team. Walsh added Chris Bogantes and Ashley Priess-Johnston to complete her staff in August. Bogantes was an assistant under Walsh at Utah State and Johnston came to Champaign from the Cincinnati Gymnastics Academy. Walsh retained volunteer assistant coach, Maci Sump. Sump enters her third season with the UI program. 

Illini Newcomers 

The Orange and Blue welcomed six freshmen to the Illinois gymnastics team this season. Nicole Biondi, Grace Gough, Kasey Meeks, Kylie Noonan, Tessa Phillips and Jaylen Spence look to make an immediate impact in the Illinois lineup after successful junior careers. 

Illinois to Host 2018 Big Ten Championships 

On March 24, ten Big Ten gymnastics teams will compete at the State Farm Center for the 2018 Big Ten Championship. The meet will be televised live on the BIg Ten Network. The contest consists of two sessions. A quad meet beginning at 2 pm and then a six-team meet at 7 pm. Placement in the first or second session is based on the team's performance at the two B1G Five Meets the preceding Saturday (March 17). Illinois will compete in the Michigan State B1G Five Meet in East Lansing. Ticket information is available on FightingIllini.com

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