As the season approaches its midpoint, storylines are beginning to solidify in the Big Ten and beyond. Nebraska and Illinois both sit in the lower half of the conference standings, making this stretch of the season a critical opportunity to gain traction. It may feel early to talk about the Big Ten championship, but in a deeper and more competitive conference than ever, every meet matters.
Nebraska is trending in the right direction after posting a season-high 196.825 last week, with team scores improving each outing. A breakthrough 197 doesn’t feel far off. Nya Kraus led the way with season highs on bars and beam (both 9.925) before closing with a 9.850 on floor, and she’ll once again be a key contributor. Lauren Homecillo is another gymnast to watch; after debuting with a 9.950 on floor last season, she matched a season high of 9.925 last week and has also emerged as a reliable beam worker.
Illinois, meanwhile, is still searching for consistency. Last week’s road win at Washington helped in the standings, but the 194.475 score left room for improvement. Sophomore Chloe Cho has carried much of the load, competing as the team’s lone all-arounder and leading the Illini on all four events. Calm under pressure and strong away from home, she’s a legitimate 10.0 watch on bars. Lyden Saltness adds another high-ceiling option on the event, and a strong bars rotation could be crucial in setting the tone for Illinois the rest of the night.
The meet will be streamed on B1G+, and scores can be found on Virtius. Not a B1G+ subscriber? Sign up today for the monthly pass with the code COLLEGEGYM3 for just $10.99/month (regularly $12.99/month).
Rotation 1: Nebraska VT, Illinois UB
Griffin (NEB): Opening the meet with a solid Yurchenko full, not a ton of height but good body position. Hop back. 9.700
Brown (ILL): Gienger to overshoot, some leg form. Double layout dismount with a hop. 9.650
Peterson (NEB): Nice block on her Yurchenko full, dynamic and clean in the air with a very small hop back on landing. 9.800
Denning (ILL): Toe on, Maloney, Bail – hit handstands and great toepoint throughout. Lets go a touch early on the doubly layout but holds on with a tiny shuffle back. 9.775
Jencks (NEB): Another strong full, similar to Peterson’s with a slightly larger hop. 9.775
Dixon (ILL): Toe on to Maloney, doesn’t get quite enough height to reach the high bar and falls. Restarts the whole sequence and hits it this time, connected to a clean bail. Finishes with a stuck double layout, great recovery there. Unfortunately the 9.650 from Brown will have to count. 9.050
Baechle (NEB): Tucked Yurchenko 1.5, tucks a little early but gets good height off the table. Just a shuffle in place on the landing. 9.850
Gow (ILL): Shaposhnikova and pings off backwards – thinks quickly and does a front tuck to the mat. Good air awareness! Re-does the Shap and hits with leg separation, connected to a bail. Toe on front pike half dismount with some leg form and a small hop. 8.975
Shaver (NEB): Excellent height on her Yurchenko full, she has great open shoulders on her block. That was the best of the fulls so far. Small hop. 9.800
Cho (ILL): If there’s any athlete you want going up after two falls, it’s Cho. Maloney to Pak with excellent, tight form. Van Leeuwen with legs clued together. Finishes with a clean double layout with a stick. That’s exactly what they needed! 9.950
Sikon (NEB): Clean in the air, but some bent arms on the table and a hop back on her Yurchenko full. 9.800
Saltness (ILL): High Ray to start. Has to kip back up a second time before her Pak. Good handstand on the low bar. Blind full to double tuck, gets great height and sticks. 9.650
Ex – Barth (NEB): Yurchenko full, piked down with a hop. 9.600
AFTER ONE: Nebraska 49.025, Illinois 48.075
Nebraska put up a series of clean, consistent vaults to match its season-high event score set in Week 1 – a promising sign of what the Huskers are capable of doing tonight. The Illini had the opposite start, with a season-low total on their strongest event. It will be difficult to close a gap of nearly a point, and Illinois will want to focus on putting together clean performances to finish the night with a solid score for its NQS.
Rotation 2: Illinois VT, Nebraska UB
Coppola (ILL): Yurchenko full, leg separation on the table, lands with low chest and a hop back. 9.675
Burns (NEB): Blind change to piked Jaeger, clean and good height. Slightly short handstand before her bail. Double layout dismount with a step back. 9.725
Clancy (ILL): Yurchenko 1.5, bent knees in the air and a hop forward, but it’s nice to see a 10.0 start for the Illini. 9.825
Griffin (NEB): Maloney to Pak is clean. Good handstand before her van Leeuwen. Stalder front tuck half dismount, lands with her chest down and steps back. 9.650
Joelson (ILL): Handspring front tuck half, very open tuck position. Gets good distance and takes a small hop back. 9.700
Sikon (NEB): Blind change to Jaeger to overshoot, flexed feet throughout. Good handstand. Late blind full to double tuck with a step back. 9.750
Kauffman (ILL): Yurchenko full with very little distance, pikes down and lands with chest low but nearly sticks, just a lifted heel. 9.775
Kraus (NEB): She put up a 9.925 here last week – the Huskers could use a score like that again tonight. Ray to overshoot with great, tight form. Short handstand on the high bar. Full in with a stick! 9.900
Goldstein (ILL): Good block on her full and gets much more distance than Kauffman, hop back on the landing and an arm circle before her salute. 9.625
Peterson (NEB): Toe on, Maloney with some leg separation, to Bail with an arched handstand. Full in dismount with a step back. 9.850
Cho (ILL): Yurchenko full doesn’t get as much distance as Goldstein’s but is very tidy on the table and in the air – and it’s a stick! 9.875
Jencks (NEB): Toe on to Ray to overshoot, great toepoint throughout. Double layout with legs glued together, and another stick. 9.900
AFTER TWO: Nebraska 98.150, 96.925
The gap widens at the halfway point as Nebraska puts up a 49.125 on bars, led by a pair of 9.900s from Kraus and Jencks. The momentum is there for the Huskers to capitalize on as they head into the rest of the meet. Illinois put up a solid vault rotation for a 48.850, consistent with its other scores on that event this season so far. Cho’s 9.875 was the highlight, and she’s going to take home the event titles on both vault and bars tonight.
Rotation 3: Nebraska BB, Illinois FX
Jencks (NEB): Let’s see how Jencks can keep the momentum going in this rotation. BHS LOSO with an arm circle. Front toss with a lean. Switch leap to straddle half, nice body position. Round off to 1.5 dismount with some bent knees, stuck. Solid start. 9.750
Joelson (ILL): Front tuck through to double tuck, great control on the landing. Switch side half to wolf full with excellent height. Double pike, front foot shuffles back a bit. Really nice leadoff for the Illini. 9.775
Gard (NEB): BHS LOSO, soft knees but hit. Solid through jumps to side aerial. Switch leap, switch leap, split jump series is clean. Gainer pike off the end is off-center but stuck. Very long wait before the judges post a score, looks like there was a SV discrepancy – 9.725. Edit: the score was changed again at the end of the rotation to 9.750
Brown (ILL): Whip through to double tuck is super solid. Front full to front layout with some leg separation. Switch side to Popa with good straddle positions. 9.775
Homecillo (NEB): BHS LOSO with a wobble. Beat jump to split jump 3/4 is solid. Round off to 1.5 twist dismount, soft knees and a small hop forward. 9.775
Banks (ILL): Front double twist, out of control on the landing but manages to keep in in bounds. Split full to wolf full to tuck full, loses control and travels pretty far on the jumps. 1.5 to front layout to finish, clean. 9.500
Kraus (NEB): Confident through the BHS LOSO. Hitch kick to switch leap to beat jump, very nice form. Clean cartwheel – I love seeing the basics done so well. Gainer tuck full off the end, lands short and hops back. 9.800
Gow (ILL): They’ll be looking for a big score from her here to replace Banks’s. She made her debut on this event last week for a 9.850. Opens with a Rudi to LOSO with a stumble on the landing. Split leap full to split jump full to wolf full, good body positions but lacking control. Front double twist, very clean and floaty. She has great lines on this event. 9.725
Burns (NEB): BHS LOSO LOSO is solid. Beat jump to straddle jump half, a little slow but clean. Round off to 1.5 twist dismount with a hop forward. 9.725
Cho (ILL): Big full in to start with great control on landing. Switch leap through to switch half to wolf full, great split positions. Her attention to detail really shines here. Front tuck through to double tuck, a little unstable on landing and her front foot comes up. 9.875
Sikon (NEB): BHS LOSO with nice form but a balance check. Cat leap to switch half, lands off-center and falls. Looks like she just didn’t get the half turn around and couldn’t hold on. BHS tuck 1.5 dismount with a stick. That fall was a shame, she’s a lovely beam worker. 9.025
King (ILL): Opens with a double tuck, overcooks it a little and bounces back. Switch side to Popa, good height and body positions but the rotations lacked precision. 1.5 to front layout, great rise on the second salto. 9.675
AFTER THREE: Nebraska 146.925, Illinois 145.750
Nebraska wasn’t able to maintain its streak of 49.000-plus scores after a beam rotation that was solid but lacked a standout routine – Sikon may have been able to deliver that, but an unfortunate fall on her dance series made the Huskers settle for a 48.775. For the Illini, Cho led the charge once again with a 9.875 for a clean and precise routine, but tenths were given away throughout the lineup with little landing errors. The Illini did outscore the Huskers in this rotation, but the margin remains over a point.
Rotation 4: Illinois BB, Nebraska FX
Kauffman (ILL): Front aerial with a bobble breaks her series – repeats the front aerial and connects directly to a LOSO, very solid. Clean through the dance series. BHS 1.5 twist dismount, clean in the air with a step forward. 9.550
Gard (NEB): Opens with a double tuck, loses some control on the landing. Switch ring through to split leap full, hard to see the position on the ring from this angle. Front layout to front full, comes up a little short but holds on. Third pass double pike, chest is a little low but landing is very well-controlled. 9.700
Goldstein (ILL): BHS LOSO, soft knees but solid. Switch leap to split jump 3/4, very nice 180 split positions. Front aerial, lands off-center and falls. Gets up quickly to finish with a clean round off to 1.5 dismount. 9.100
Sikon (NEB): Gets great height on her double tuck and controls the landing well. 1.5 to front full, step to the side. Switch leap to switch half, clean. This one is getting a judges’ conference as well, which seems to be a recurring theme tonight. 9.65 – one judge gave a 10.0 SV and one gave 9.70? That one I’ll have to rewatch.
Coppola (ILL): Side aerial to round-off, unique acro series and she hits it well. Switch leap to split jump to beat jump solid. Good side aerial. Nails a round-off to 1.5 twist dismount with a stick! Way to get things back on track follwing up a fall. 9.825
Kraus (NEB): She could put up a big score here. Double tuck with a bounce back. Split leap full to Popa, great body positions. 1.5 to front layout, clean. Finishes with a double pike with a step forward, a touch underrotated. I have to respect Nebraska for putting up three pass routines. 9.700
Clancy (ILL): We’re seeing two routines at once now to speed things up after the Sikon conference. BHS LOSO is solid, some bent knees. Round off to 1.5 twist dismount with another stick. 9.850
Baechle (NEB): Front double twist, big stumble forward and very nearly goes OOB, just barely holds on with her toes! Good through the leap series. 1.5 to front full, off-direction and does step OOB this time. 9.500
Saltness (ILL): Off on her opening BHS LOSO – that’ll be a counting fall for the Illini. Cat leap to switch side, small bobble. Beat jump to split jump full with a lean. Front gainer full dismount with a shuffle back. 9.125
Jencks (NEB): Jencks will be looking to put up a big score here. Front layout to Rudi, great extension throughout. Good work through the dance series. Clean double tuck to finish, very controlled landing. 9.875
Cho (ILL): She’s going simultaenously with Jencks – a real showdown. BHS LOSO is solid. Switch leap to switch half to beat jump is very nice, great split positions. Sticks a 1.5 dismount to finish. Watching those two great routines side-by-side was a treat. 9.850
Homecillo (NEB): Time to close out this meet for the Huskers! They’re guaranteed the win here, but Homecillo will still want to deliver a hit. Opens with a big double pike, landing could be more controlled. 1.5 to front layout, great rise and control. Finishes with a high double tuck and a clean landing. 9.875
FINAL: Nebraska 195.750, Illinois 193.950
The Huskers weren’t as strong in the seocnd half, but those last two floor routines from Jencks and Homecillo were a great way to cap off the meet with a pair of 9.875s. Tonight’s total unfortunately breaks Nebraska’s streak of scores increasing each week, but it’s clear that the skills are there – they just need a bit of polishing.
For Illinois, this will be a meet to forget. A season-low score and multiple counting falls were not what the Illini were hoping for tonight. It’s worth noting that Alea Byrne was not only absent from lineups, but apparently didn’t travel at all tonight – that might be something to keep an eye on in the coming weeks.
Chloe Cho won every single event title, by the way. She’s the real deal.
VT: Cho (ILL) – 9.875
UB: Cho (ILL) – 9.950
BB: Cho, Clancy (ILL) – 9.850
FX: Jencks, Homecillo (NEB), Cho (ILL) – 9.875
AA: Cho (ILL) – 39.550
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Live blog by Sophie Poirier
