Athletics Communication Fighting Illini Quick Facts
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2018 TABLE OF CONTENTS 2017 Season Review................................2-3 COACHING STAFF Head Coach Nadalie Walsh.............................4 Assistant Coach Chris Bogantes.........................5 Assistant Coach Ashley Priess-Johnston...................6 Volunteer Assistant Coach Maci Sump ....................7 MEET THE FIGHTING ILLINI 2018 Roster, Schedule ................................8 Graduate Student Sarah Lyons .........................9 Senior Jordyn Givens ..................................9 Senior Bridget Hodan ................................10 Senior Mary Jane Horth ...............................11 Junior Rachael Donovan ..............................12 Junior Julia Hutcherson...............................12 FIGHTING ILLINI QUICK FACTS Junior Haylee Roe ...................................13 Sophomore Rae Balthazor ............................13 Location . .Urbana-Champaign, Ill. Letterwinners Returning / Lost �. .11 / 2 Sophomore Lindsay Dwyer.............................14 Founded . 1867 All-Americans Returning / Lost . .0 / 0 Sophomore Karen Howell .............................14 Enrollment �. 44,942 Newcomers. 6 Sophomore Brittany Jones.............................14 Freshman Nicole Biondi ..............................15 Nickname . Fighting Illini First Year of Women’s Gymnastics . 1974 Freshman Grace Gough...............................15 Colors. Orange and Blue Freshman Kasey Meeks...............................15 Conference. Big Ten Head Coach �. Nadalie Walsh, 1st season Freshman Kylie Noonan...............................16 President �. .Timonthy L. Killeen Years at Illinois �. 1st season Freshman Tessa Phillips .............................16 Chancellor . Robert Jones Alma Mater. UW-Oshkosh, ‘00 Freshman Jaylen Spence..............................16 Athletic Director �. Josh Whitman Assistant Coach . .Chris Bogantes, 1st season Home Gym �. Huff Hall Alma Mater. LSU, ‘09 GYMNASTICS FACILITIES Seating Capacity �. 3,800 Assistant Coach Ashley Priess-Johnston, 1st season Huff Hall ..........................................17 2018 Preseason Ranking. .23rd Alma Mater. Alabama, ‘11 Kenney Gym........................................18 2017 Regular Season Record �. 17-5-1 Gymnastics Address. .1700 S. Fourth Street Irwin Academic Center ............................19-20 2017 Big Ten Finish . 2nd (196.825) . Champaign, IL 61820 THE RECORD BOOK 2017 Champaign Regional. 4th (195.825) Big Ten Conference Results | Honors ....................21 2017 Final Rank. .20th 2017 NCAA Champaign Regional Results.................22 Individual, Team Records .............................23 All-Time Results .................................24-26 All-Time Team Records ...............................27 ATHLETICS COMMUNICATION All-Americans, Illini Athletics Hall of Fame................28 National and Regional Honors .........................29 Gymnastics Contact �. Grace Duggan Big Ten Honors .....................................30 E-mail Address. [email protected] Academic Honors . 31-32 Office Phone �. 217-300-1569 Team Honors, Event Title Leaders.......................33 Cell Phone �. 314-267-5912 Sports Information Director �. Kent Brown All-Time Letterwinners ...............................34 Associate Directors . .Derrick Burson, Jenny Dewar, Derek Neal Media Information...................................35 Assistant Directors �. Libby Knight, Brett Moore TV Headshot Roster..................................36 Interns �. .Chad Beyler, Kevin Cole, Grace Duggan New Media/Creative Services �. Adam Marantz, Trevor Deidrich CREDITS: The 2018 Illinois Women’s Gymnastics record book is Office Manager �. .Jen Fisher a publication of the Athletics Communications Office written to Office Phone / Fax . .217-333-1391 / 217-333-5540 assist the media in their coverage of Illinois athletics. The guide Website. .www.fightingillini.com was written and edited by Grace Duggan. Photos by Mark Jones, Twitter �. @IlliniWGym Mark Cowan, Craig Pessman, Cary Frye and Getty Images. Facebook . .IlliniGymnastics Instagram. @IlliniWGym Mailing Address �. Bielfeldt Athletic Administration Building . 1700 South Fourth St., Champaign, IL 61820 2018 ILLINOIS WOMEN’S GYMNASTICS // 1 THE RECORD BOOK 2017 SEASON REVIEW ILLINOIS CONCLUDES 2017 SEASON • Freshman Karen Howell earned the first individual event title of her career against The Fighting Illini women’s gymnastics team concluded the 2017 season after a Penn State with a career-high 9.850 on bars. The freshman also hit career-high fourth-place finish at the NCAA Champaign Regional at the State Farm Center on marks in the all-around (39.000) and on floor (9.800). April 1. The Illini had one of their best seasons in recent years, highlighted by a • Sophomore Rachael Donovan recorded a career-high 9.725 on bars against Penn second-place finish at the Big Ten Championships on March 18. Illinois brought State. home two individual B1G Champions and placed three gymnasts on the All- • Nguyen earned her first career individual event title at Missouri on Jan. 6. Nguyen Championships team. The Orange and Blue ended the season ranked No. 21 in the posted a 9.875 on the balance beam. NACGC/W Road to Nationals Final Rankings, up four spots from last season. With the departure of senior Erin Buchanan, the Illini will return 10 members from the 2017 squad as well as welcome six new members to the Illini family. 2017 HONORS, AWARDS AND RECORDS NCAA CHAMPAIGN REGIONAL RECAP The Fighting Illini women’s gymnastics team finished fourth at the 2017 NCAA Champaign Regional on Saturday, April 1, earning a 195.825 team score. The BIG TEN CHAMPIONS Illini earned two top-5 individual finishes as sophomore Lizzy LeDuc took third on Mary Jane Horth (Bars-9.925) the balance beam with a 9.925 score, and redshirt-junior Mary Jane Horth posted Lizzy LeDuc (Beam-9.925) a 9.875 on bars to finish in fifth overall. The UCLA Bruins and the Oregon State Beavers advanced to the NCAA National Championships out of the Champaign Regional as the Bruins won the meet with a 196.800 team score. ALL-BIG TEN Mary Jane Horth (First Team) HORTH, LEDUC GRAB B1G INDIVIDUAL EVENT CHAMPIONSHIPS Mary Jane Horth and Lizzy LeDuc earned Big Ten Individual Event titles. Horth won Lizzy LeDuc (First Team) the bars title with a 9.925 and LeDuc won the beam title by the same score. The Bridget Hodan (Second Team) two individual conference titles are the most for an Illini team since the 2009 Brielle Nguyen (Second Team) season. Both Horth and LeDuc, as well as, Bridget Hodan were named to the B1G All-Championships team with top-5 finishes in the competition. TEAM RECORDS SET FOUR ILLINI GARNER ALL-BIG TEN HONORS Team: 196.875 (5th) Four members of the Illinois women’s gymnastics team were named to the Big Ten All-Conference teams, the league announced on March 13. Redshirt-senior Mary Beam: 49.375 (3rd) Jane Horth and sophomore Lizzy LeDuc earned First-Team All-Big Ten honors. Junior Beam: 49.350 (5th) Bridget Hodan and sophomore Brielle Nguyen collected Second-Team All-Big Ten Beam: 49.300 (7th) awards. The four honors is the most for an Illinois team since 2014. Beam: 49.275 (2x - 10th) ILLINI EARN B1G ALL-ACADEMIC HONORS Floor: 49.450 (2nd) Eight members of the Illinois women’s gymnastics team garnered Academic All-Big Floor: 49.375 (8th) Ten honors this season. Erin Buchanan, Becca Cuppy, Jordyn Givens, Bridget Hodan, Mary Jane Horth, Lizzy LeDuc, Sarah Lyons and Haylee Roe were named to the Big Ten list. To be eligible for academic all-conference selection, student-athletes must INDIVIDUAL RECORDS SET be letterwinners who are in at least their second academic year at their institution Bars: Mary Jane Horth - 9.950 (T-5th) and carry a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher. Bars: Mary Jane Horth - 9.925 (T-10th) ORANGE AND BLUE NOTABLES Beam: Lizzy LeDuc - 9.950 (T-1st) • The Illini posted a season-best 196.875 at the Big Ten Championships on March Beam: Lizzy LeDuc - 9.925 (T-7th) 18. The team score is tied for the fifth-highest in program history. UI also earned a season-best 49.000 team score on vault and matched a season-high 49.225 team Floor: Lizzy LeDuc - 9.950 (T-3rd) score on bars. • Illinois is ranked 11th in the nation on the balance beam with an RQS of 49.290, TEAM AWARDS 15th on floor with an RQS of 49.230 and 23rd on bars with an RQS of 49.095. • The Orange and Blue hit the program’s second-highest team floor score in Illinois MVP: Bridget Hodan history at the B1G Five Meet with a 49.450. Each of the first four gymnasts matched Most Outstanding: Bridget Hodan or bested their career-high marks. Most Improved: Brielle Nguyen • After only eclipsing the 196.000 mark twice last season, Illinois has reached that Bridget Hodan mark seven times in 2017 and holds an RQS of 196.365. A major improvement Naleway Consistency Award: comes from the bars apparatus. UI contributed two team scores in 2016 over Scholar-Athlete Award: Erin Buchanan 49.000 on bars. This season, Illinois has produced scores above 49.000 on bars six times. • Illinois reset their season-high team scores on bars (49.225), beam (49.375) and floor (49.250) against Michigan State. The beam score is the third-highest score in program history on the apparatus • The Orange and Blue have marked scores of 49.000 or above on the balance beam in all 13 meets this season. Illinois only hit 49.000 in six meets last season, finishing the 2016 campaign with a season average of 49.052. • Freshman Rae Balthazor earned her first individual event title against Michigan State with