Jan. 29, 2004

Complete Women's Gymnastics Notes in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader

This Week
The Fighting Illini (3-0, 1-0 Big Ten) travel to Columbus, Ohio to take on Ohio State (4-1, 0-0 Big Ten) and Illinois State (0-5) in a triangular meet at St. John Arena. The meet is set for 7 p.m. eastern and will be a double-dual, with the #3 Illini men taking on the top-ranked Buckeyes at the same time.

Scouting the Buckeyes
Ohio State enters the week with a 4-1 mark and a national ranking of #28. Their average of 194.317 is just above Illinois' mark of 194.133. The Buckeyes are coming off an off week, but most recently they scored a 195.600 to take second in a triangular at West Virginia.

The Buckeyes are led by four returning All-Big Ten performers, including first team selections senior Tiffanie Janke and sophomore Jill Weber, as well as second teamers junior Elizabeth Meaney and sophomore Kaylin Schlecht. OSU is coached by Larry Cox, who is in his 25th season with the Buckeyes. OSU leads the all-time series over Illinois 11-6.

Scouting the Redbirds
First-year ISU head coach Kristin Montero, a former gymnast and assistant coach for Illinois, will be facing her alma mater for the first time as an opposing coach. The Redbirds have stuggled to an 0-5 record so far, and are currenlty ranked 55th in the country with an average score of 189.625. They are coming off of a season-high score of 191.75 last weekend, when they fell to Kent State and Ball State in a triangular meet.

No Vault, No Problem for Kapernekas
Despite being hindered by a back injury that prevents here from vaulting, senior co-captain Kara Kapernekas has still found a way to be one of the squad's top gymnasts this season. The U of I's all-around record holder has already won three event titles on the young season. She won both the bars and beam two weeks ago vs. UIC with scores of 9.85 and 9.875 respectively. She then followed that up with another beam win vs. Michigan State last week (9.875) and a third place finish on bars (9.825) as well as a score 9.825 on floor.

Up Next
Illinois will travel to Muncie, Ind. next Friday, Feb. 6 for the Cardinal Classic. The meet is hosted by Ball State University and will also feature Bowling Green in addition to the Fighting Illini. Following that, the Illini will return home for a Valentine's Day showdown with #5 Iowa State at Huff Hall.

Let's Review
The Illini (3-0, 1-0 Big Ten) put up an impressive score of 195.700 to top Big Ten rival Michigan State (195.425) in front of 715 fans at Huff Hall. That total ranks as the fourth highest score in Illinois history and was less than half a point shy of the school record of 196.150 set in 2001.

Cara Pomeroy won the uneven bars with a season-high 9.900 and tied for first on beam with teammate Kara Kapernekas with season-high of 9.875. Danye Botterman tied for the vault title for the third time in three meets with a score of 9.825, and also posted a season-high score of 9.825 on floor. Junior all-arounder Ashley Williams turned in her best performance of the year with a season-high score of 39.200.

Bama Back on Track
After struggling in the first two meets of this season, Alabama native Ashley Williams got back on track with a strong all-around performance vs. MSU on Sunday. Now a junior, the 2002 Big Ten Freshman of the Year tied a career-high with a 9.800 and posted season-high scores of 9.775 on bars and beam and 9.850 on floor en route to a 39.200 all-around tally to finish second.

Botterman, Pomeroy Performing Like Vets
Freshmen Danye Botterman and Cara Pomeroy continued their rookie success last week vs. MSU. Botterman won her third vault title in as many meets with a 9.825 while also setting a season-high of 9.825 on floor. Pomeroy won a pair of titles vs. the Spartans. She took the bars with a dazzling 9.900 and then tied teammate Kara Kapernekas for the beam title with a 9.875. So far in three meets, Botterman and Pomeroy each have three event titles.

Kirzow Not "Screwing" Around
Sophomore Kim Kirzow has gotten her Illini career off to a good start. After missing all of last season because of foot and shoulder injuries that required surgury and the insertion of numerous screws to help the healing process, Kirzow has come back to make an impact on the 2004 Illini. The Eatontown, N.J. native has taken second in each of the last two meets, most recently with a 9.850 vs. MSU on Sunday, and has also been a staple in the UI vault lineup.

Newcomb in New Territory
After competing on vault and floor as a freshman in 2002, and only on vault in 2003, junior Lauren Newcomb has made her presence felt this year as an all-arounder. Against Michigan State last weekend she posted her best all-around score of the season with a 38.950 to take third place.

In The Rankings
The Fighting Illini are ranked 32nd in the latest GymInfo rankings with a season-average score 194.133. The Orange and Blue rank 35th on vault (48.492), 31st on bars (48.367), 29th on beam (48.442) and 26th on floor (48.833). Ohio State is currently ranked 28th in the rankings with an average of 193.317, while Illinois State come in at #55 with an average of 189.625.

Individually, Danye Botterman is tied for 47th on vault (9.842) and Kara Kapernekas is tied for 54th on bars (9.825) nationally. Kim Kirzow is tied for 74th on bars (9.800), Cara Pomeory is tied for 90th on beam (9.792) and Lauren Newmcomb is the nation's 75th ranked all-arounder (38.633) after three competitions.