Meet 5: Illinois at Minnesota  

The Fighting Illini women's gymnastics team travels to Minneapolis, Minnesota this week for a Friday night contest against the No. 18 Minnesota Gophers. Competition begins at 7 pm CT at the Maturi Pavilion. Last Friday, the Illini used numerous career-high performances to top Iowa, 195.325-195.150. 

Illinois Notes 

• 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.

• UI scored season-high team scores on vault (48.975), bars (49.200) and floor (49.125) against Iowa. 

• Freshman Kasey Meeks won her third individual event title of the season on February 2 against Iowa. Meeks matched her career-best score on vault with a 9.850. Meeks was 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. 

• Balthazor earned her second bars title of the season versus Iowa. Rae matched her career-best score of 9.900 to win a share of the title. The 9.900 is the highest score by an Illini this season. 

• Freshman Nicole Biondi won the first event titles of her career against Iowa on February 2. Biondi scored career-high marks on bars (9.900), beam (9.850), floor (9.825) and in the all-around (39.325), winning the bars and all-around titles. 

• Junior Haylee Roe won the first individual event title of her career against Iowa. Roe secured the floor title with a career-best 9.875. Roe also hit a career-best 9.775 on vault in the meet. 

• 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, Hodan has since hit a career-best 9.825 on the apparatus. 

• 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, Givens reset that career-high mark on bars against Iowa with a 9.825. 

• Freshman Kylie Noonan hit a career-high 9.800 on beam against the Nittany Lions. Noonan debuted on floor against the Hawkeyes and scored a 9.850. 

• 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 

Six Illini gymnasts have combined to win 15 individual event titles in the first four meets of the season. Rae Balthazor leads the pack with five titles on four apparatuses. The Boulder, Colorado native debuted on floor and in the all-around competition against Michigan, winning both events. Kasey Meeks won the vault title at two-straight meets resetting her career-high marks in each contest and then won a third most recently against Iowa. In similar fashion, Bridget Hodan has earned two-consecutive beam titles to open 2018. Karen Howell earned the bars and floor titles at Rutgers. Nicole Biondi and Haylee Roe each won the first event titles of their careers in a meet with Iowa. Biondi won the bars and all-around titles. Roe secured the floor title. 

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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