Jan. 31, 2008
Complete Illinois-Denver "Pink Meet" notes in PDF Format 
No. 25 Illinois (1-2) hosts No. 13 Denver (6-1)
Saturday, Feb. 2, 2008 // 7 p.m. // Huff Hall // Champaign, Ill.
Tickets Available at the Door
Adults $5 // UI Staff $4 // Youth $2 // UIUC Students Free
Wear PINK and get in FREE
The Meet
The No. 25 Fighting Illini return home this Saturday, Feb. 2, to host the "Pink Meet" against No. 13 Denver at 7 p.m. at Huff Hall. Anyone wearing pink to the meet to show their support for breast cancer awareness will gain free admission. The Illini suffered a narrow defeat to the Pioneers last season in Denver by a score of 194.750-194.525.
Follow the Action
Live Video and Live Scoring will be available at fightingillini.com. Full routines for both teams will be shown on the video. An Illini All-Access subscription ($6.95/month) is required to view the video.
Thinking Pink
The Illini team, joined by the American Cancer Society and Colleges Against Cancer, will be sponsoring several fun activities throughout the meet against Denver to help raise awareness about cancer. Both squads will be wearing pink leotards, while fans are also encouraged to wear pink. In addition, pink pom-poms will be given out to the first 500 fans, the Illini drumline will perform and former UI Associate Chancellor Barbara Hundley will serve as a guest speaker.
In the Rankings
The Illini are currently ranked No. 25 in the GymInfo rankings, dropping three spots from last week, and are eighth in the South Central Region. After ending the 2007 season at No. 20, Illinois came into this year as the 23rd-ranked team in the nation, marking the highest preseason ranking in Illinois history. It marked the second time that the Illini have been in the nation's top-25 heading into a season, the last being in 1999 when the Illini were ranked 25th to start the season. The Illini have been ranked as high as No. 19 this season (after week one).
About the Pioneers
Denver comes into Saturday's meeting as the 13th-ranked team in the nation. In their last meet, the Pioneers took home a first-place finish in a quad meet at Texas Woman's University with a season-high score of 195.700. Denver is currently 6-1 on the year, after beginning the season with a second place finish (193.200) in the Cancun Classic and a win at home against Washington with a score of 194.900. Leading the way for the Pioneers is junior All-American Jessica Lopez, who has seven individual titles on the year, including two all-around crowns.
Looking Back
Last weekend, the Illini defeated No. 25 Iowa by a score of 193.650-192.975. Illinois posted their top scores of the season on vault and floor with scores of 48.700 and 48.650, respectively. Sophomore Sarah Schmidt won the all-around title with a career-high 39.050, while freshman Allison Buckley won both the vault and floor titles for the second consecutive week. Junior Julie Crall sealed the victory for the Illini with her first place performance on beam with a score of 9.875. In all, the Illini set or tied nine career-highs and 13 season-highs on the night.
Up next: Illini To Host "Chicago Style" Meet at Navy Pier
Illinois will head up to the Windy City next Friday to host the first "Chicago Style" collegiate invitational at Navy Pier. The meet is part of IGI "Chicago Style" Club Gymnastics Meet, which is one of the largest women's gymnastics invitationals in the world. The collegiate meet, which is new to the schedule this year and will feature the Fighting Illini along with No. 8 UCLA, No. 10 Stanford and Washington, will begin at 7 p.m. CT. Check back with fightingillini.com next week or visit www.chicagostylemeet.com for more information.
Crall-ing Back
Junior Julie Crall returned this year after suffering a season-ending Achilles' tear on March 9 of last season. Crall had been a top performer for the Illini in each of her first two seasons earning her Second Team All-Big Ten honors in both her freshman and sophomore campaigns. Last weekend at Iowa, Crall won her second beam title of the year (9.875), with her first coming the week before against Ohio State with a 9.825. She currently ranks 19th in the nation on beam (9.825 average), and has also been competing bars for the Illini, earning a career-high 9.700 at Iowa.
Schmidt Vaults Into All-Around Role
Sophomore Sarah Schmidt took home her first-career all-around title last weekend at Iowa with a career-high score of 39.050. It was Schmidt's first opportunity to perform in the all-around this season. Last year, she didn't perform all-around until the final five meets of the season, but with increased difficulty and success on her vault this season, Schmidt is expected to see plenty of action on all four events the rest of the way.
Fresh Faces
Four talented freshman joined the 2008 Fighting Illini squad, with three of them seeing action early in the season. Allison Buckley has already won five individual titles for the Illini, including two (vault and floor) last weekend at Iowa. Melissa Fernandez has been in the line-up in all three meets on the vault, beam, and floor, while Lashlee Morris has seen action on the beam in the first three competitions. Samantha Perino is yet to see action this season, but is pushing to crack the line-up on both beam and floor.
Big Ten Network To Feature Illinois Gymnastics
The Big Ten Network is televising two regular season Fighting Illini Women's Gymnastics meets this season, plus the Big Ten Championships. The BTN will re-broadcast the Jan. 25 matchup of Illinois at Iowa on Feb. 1 at 9 a.m., Feb. 3 at 5 p.m, and Feb. 5 at 9 a.m. The network will then come to Champaign on Feb. 16 as the Illini take on Michigan State. This meet will air on Feb. 21 at 5 p.m.
