Michigan
Illinois
Wolverines Hit the Road for First Time to Compete Against Fighting Illini
2/19/2021 11:04:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics
» Michigan will compete on the road for the first time this season when it faces Illinois.
» The Wolverines lead the all-time series against the Fighting Illini, 62-10-1.
» Natalie Wojcik has earned balance beam and all-around titles at every meet this season.
THIS WEEK
Sunday, Feb. 21 -- at Illinois (Champaign, Ill.), 11 a.m. CST
TV: Big Ten Network+ | Live Results | Live Video
• Complete Notes (PDF)
• Social Media: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 8-ranked University of Michigan women's gymnastics team (3-0, 2-0 B1G) will travel to Champaign, Ill., to face No. 20 Illinois Sunday (Feb. 21) in its first road meet of the season. The Wolverines and Fighting Illini will compete at 11 a.m. CST in Huff Hall, with the meet set to be streamed on Big Ten Network+.
The Illinois meet is a makeup of the Feb. 6 event that was postponed during Michigan's two-week, department-wide pause in athletic activities. U-M was originally scheduled to host Maryland on Friday (Feb. 19), but that was canceled. The Wolverines still have a regularly scheduled road meeting with the Terrapins set for March 12 to cap the regular season.
Wolverine Bites
• The Wolverines are 3-0 on the season with their most recent victory over Nebraska (Feb. 15) at Crisler Center, scoring a season-best 197.650.
• Junior Natalie Wojcik became just the third Wolverine and the first since 1997 to score a perfect 10.0 on the balance beam with her routine against Nebraska. Wojcik's routine was featured as the No. 1 highlight on ESPN Tuesday (Feb. 16). The beam victory was the third of the season for Wojcik, as she has won the event in all three outings this season.
• Wojcik earned her 11th career Big Ten Gymnast of the Week honor and her second of the season after taking home her third all-around and third beam titles against Nebraska.
• Freshman Carly Bauman made her career debut on the balance beam against Nebraska, leading off the rotation for Michigan and scoring a 9.850, while freshman Naomi Morrison scored a career-best 9.875 on the vault.
• Junior Abby Brenner earned the vault title against Nebraska with a 9.900, and sophomore Gabby Wilson captured the floor title with a 9.925. Brenner was outstanding all day for the Wolverines, earning a 9.900 on the uneven bars and a 9.875 on the floor.
• Michigan will host one of the two Big Five Meets next Saturday (Feb. 27), welcoming Iowa, Michigan State, Penn State and Rutgers to Crisler Center for the event. The other Big Five Meet will be hosted by Maryland on Friday (Feb. 26) and include Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska and Ohio State.
About Illinois
Series vs. Illinois: Michigan leads, 62-10-1
The Wolverines have dominated the series against Illinois and have not lost to the Fighting Illini since the 2018 NCAA Regional. U-M won 51 straight meetings with Illinois prior to 2018 and has not lost a regular-season meeting to the Fighting Illini since the 1986 campaign. The Fighting Illini come into the Sunday meet ranked 20th nationally, while their team average of 49.050 on beam ranks 10th and their 49.140 on floor exercise ranks 11th. Individually, Arayah Simons ranks second on the floor exercise after competing in the event one time and scoring a 9.950, while Nicole Blondi ranks 14th in the all-around after scoring a 39.350 in Illinois' most recent meet at Penn State.
Up Next
• Saturday, Feb. 27 -- Big Five Meet (Crisler Center), 2 p.m.
Players Mentioned
