Chambana Sun

The Fighting Illini gymnastics team faced a challenging meet against the Iowa Hawkeyes, resulting in a 196.200-195.025 defeat. The competition took place in Iowa City, where the Illini started on bars with Makayla Green achieving a score of 9.825, tying for the event title with Iowa's Auriele Tran.

During the vault rotation, Olivia Coppola opened with a season-high 9.825, while Chloe Cho set a new personal best of 9.900 to secure the event title by a narrow margin of 0.050 points.

Freshmen Kennedy Brown and Marly Esteves made significant contributions on floor exercise, scoring 9.725 and 9.925 respectively in their first appearances on this apparatus. Chloe Cho also scored 9.925, sharing the lead with Esteves in this rotation.

In the final rotation on beam, Amelia Knight led Illinois with a score of 9.875 to tie for the event title. Coppola and Cho followed closely behind with scores of 9.850 and 9.825 respectively.

Chloe Cho excelled overall, winning the all-around competition with a total score of 39.375.

Reflecting on the meet, head coach Nadalie Walsh stated: "While the outcome was not what we wanted, we grew today." She praised her team's efforts despite missing key athletes Mareli and Eden and expressed confidence that rest would benefit them moving forward: "This loss will ultimately serve as fuel for next weekend."

The Illini now hold a record of 6-6 overall and are 2-3 in Big Ten matches this season. They will return to Huff Hall to compete against Washington and Illinois State on February 22 for Senior Day at 1 p.m.