The No. 16 Illinois gymnastics team grabbed the Victory Plank rivalry trophySB for the second year in a row Friday night as it narrowly beat MSU, 195.352-194.150, at Jenison Field House.
The unranked Spartans held their ground against Illinois, losing only by 1.202 points, but MSU junior Alina Cartwright snagged the all-around first place, scoring her personal best of 39.275 points.
“I’m proud of the team — Illinois is 16th in the country and we gave them a scare,” MSU gymnastics head coach Kathie Klages said after the match.
The meet at Jenison Field House attracted many MSU and Illinois fans, crowding the entire lower bleachers to cheer on both teams’ first meet of the year.
The Spartan gymnasts joined in on the fun while competing by mimicking each other’s floor routines to motivate their performing teammates.
“The fist-pumping is a lot of fun,” Cartwright said. “My sister put it in and it’s the best part for me.”
The Spartans started strong with high vault scores, but pulled back when sophomore Kate Filosi’s hands slipped off the bars and she fell, straining her neck.SB
“We had a scary fall on bars and that’s hard to recover from, but we did,” Klages said.
Cartwright said it is hard to console someone on a fall because every girl is different.
Some get frustrated and do not want to be bothered, but know they have to build on their mistakes, she said, adding that resiliency will be critical this year.
“I just let them know no one’s perfect,” Cartwright said. They have to have confidence training and then everything will take its course.”
Klages said she is proud of her athletes, who have been working on skills during the summer.
The coach still expects much more from her team, however.
“Cartwright went home this summer and worked hard while she was there,” Klages said. “She did an outstanding job, but there’s a lot more in there.”
Senior Dani LevySB had shoulder surgery this summer, making for a tough journey back to this meet and an exciting return to match action
She has been working with MSU athletic trainers to recover, nursing it with rehab, strength and flexibility exercises.
“She stepped up tonight,” Klages said. “Her shoulder’s still very sore.
“It was supposed to take four months to recover, but it took more like seven.”
Illinois head coach Kim LandrusSB said this first meet will be used as a building block and foundation for the year.
“We started on bars then went from there. We were a little rattled in the beginning,” Landrus said.
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Landrus said the team has “a million routines and have to be mentally prepared” and that the only thing that changes is the scenario.
After Friday’s triumphant meet for Cartwright, she hopes to get 10’s and 9.9’s in all events.
“I think I’m close,” she said. ” My goal is to place in any event in the Big Ten and in nationals.”
Cartwright and her teammates want to show everyone how good they are, because people did not expect too much from them.
“We’re better than people think, and we want to surprise them,” she said.
