Nadalie Walsh’s team has suffered a variety of season-ending and minor injuries this year, some just in the past few weeks; despite that, Illinois tallied a 195.525 to come in third at Saturday night’s Elevate the Stage session. The Illini will compete in the evening session of the conference championship.
“I just love how my team is stepping up, and there’s always somebody that’s just ready to go, even if they weren’t ready a week ago,” Walsh said.
She has people in lineups who haven’t been training the events they’re competing on all year. Walsh noted that freshman Shaylah Scott has only been vaulting for two weeks. She scored a 9.700 in her first collegiate competition vault on Saturday.
Rachel Borden is another new face in lineups. She was the team manager until two weeks ago, when Walsh added her to the roster. She exhibitioned beam versus Iowa just one day after joining the team and competed for the first time at Elevate.
“It was one of the most exciting weeks of my life,” Borden said of being added to the roster. She called competing for the first time—on podium no less—”very scary,” but noted that it was amazing that Walsh believed in her enough to add her to the lineup so quickly.
That belief is part of Walsh’s philosophy. “With my belief in them, they believe in themselves,” she said. Through the ups and downs of injuries, Walsh has focused on staying calm herself, and projecting that calm to the team.
Sixth-year Mary Jane Otto’s leadership has helped. “It’s mean the world to the program,” Walsh said of her return for a sixth year. She noted that Otto’s commitment to the team and level of excellence is being passed down to younger members of the squad.
Otto has noticed that too. “They’re really taking the reins and owning their leadership as the seniors and captains and juniors, so I’m super proud of them,” she said. She stressed that she’s incredibly thankful to get one last year of gymnastics, and she has enjoyed watching the program grow and evolve under Walsh and her staff.
Beyond her leadership behind the scenes, Otto’s gymnastics leads the way for the team, especially on bars. She has an upgraded set for her sixth year after adding a Pak salto to her repertoire. She credits assistant coach Chris Bogantes with helping her think creatively about her routine construction and working on details and consistency.
Otto also recently returned to competing floor, marking her return to the all around for the first time since 2017. She said her body is “surviving, but we take it day-by-day.”
Floor has traditionally been a weaker event for the Illini, but Walsh’s choreography has breathed new life into the event for the team. For her, choreography is about helping her gymnasts learn to feel comfortable showcasing their personality and solidifying their identities. It’s about “conquering some of the stuff that they used to carry before they got to me—like maybe they were insecure, well I want to smash that.”
Walsh is smashing other insecurities too. About the new look for the team’s leotards. “From the very beginning I wanted them to embrace orange because that’s who we are,” she said.
Illinois, which goes by the Orange and Blue, had worn largely blue leotards for well over a decade. Walsh said she believes you can only have so much pride in your school if you’re afraid of one of its colors. At first, she said her team was hesitant. This year, they tell her they love the orange leotards and have even started cheers about the color.
“That’s who we are, we’re the Fighting Illini and those are our colors,” she said.
Going into the final weeks of season, Walsh’s squad is going to be focusing on getting in numbers. Since some gymnasts are so new to lineups, they’re lagging behind in time in the gym on those events. Walsh added, “Some of our girls are at the beginning of their season, but the team is at the end, so it’s merging the two of those together.”
The team isn’t putting too much pressure on itself though. Otto said the focus is on continuing to build and having fun. “It hasn’t been our absolute best year yet, but we’re just excited to just keep moving forward.”
Article by Emily Minehart
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