2011-12 Year in Review

Women's Gymnastics

12-9-2 // 5th Place Big Ten Championships // Highlight Video

In her first full season as head coach of the Illini women’s gymnastics team, Kim Landrus finished the year ranked No. 18 in the nation after going 12-9-2, finishing in the top-25 for the seventh year in a row. Illinois achieved a fifth place finish at the Big Ten Championships in Iowa City and then finished third in the NCAA Champaign Regional.

For the fifth year in a row, Illinois was represented at the NCAA National Championships, as junior Alina Weinstein competed at nationals to wrap up the year for the Illini. Weinstein was the 10th individual NCAA National qualifier in program history. After scoring a 9.000 on the uneven bars, Weinstein closed out the competition strong with three consecutive 9.850’s and finished in the top-14 on vault, beam and floor. Weinstein missed second-team All-America honors on floor by just .025.

Weinstein advanced to the national meet by winning the all-around at the NCAA Champaign Regional with a career-high 39.450, making her just the second all-around regional champion in school history. She also tied for first on beam at the regional, becoming just the second Illini ever to win multiple regional titles, as she shares that honor with Nancy Thies, who won a combined seven crowns from 1976-77. Weinstein hit all four routines on vault (9.850), bars (9.825), beam (9.900) and floor (9.875) to equal the fifth best all-around score in school history.

Illinois, which hosted an NCAA Regional at the Assembly Hall for the first time in school history, secured their fifth straight top-three regional finish. The Illini scored a 195.725 and placed behind No. 2 Oklahoma (197.025) and No. 11 Stanford (196.675), while besting Denver (194.875), No. 24 Kentucky (194.750) and UIC (194.150). Thus, Illinois came up one spot short of advancing to Nationals for the second straight year.

The Illini secured a fifth place finish at the Big Ten Championships and finished second in the afternoon session with their second best score of the season, a 195.850, which was just .025 behind Michigan for the top spot. Individually, senior Kelsey Joannides shined in her final conference meet, winning her second career Big Ten Title by tying for first on beam with a 9.900. Joannides, who won the Big Ten Title on vault as a freshman, earned the 13th individual crown in school history and became the first two-time Big Ten champion at Illinois since the championships were officially recognized by the Big Ten in 1982-83. Furthermore, Joannides shined throughout the entire competition, posting a career high in the all-around with a 39.400 to tie for third overall. For her performance, Joannides was named to the inaugural Big Ten All-Championship Team.

Both Kelsey Joannides and Alina Weinstein finished the season ranked in the top-25 amongst all-arounders in the nation. Joannides finished ranked 20th and recorded 10 scores over 39. Weinstein, who finished ranked 24th, posted two of the top-10 scores in school history. Both girls recorded a team high of five all-around titles on the year.

Amber See, who wrapped up the year tied for 22nd on the floor, won the event crown six times. See did not finish outside the top four during the regular season and notched a score of 9.850 or higher at 11 meets. See also made history on the vault during the 2012 season, when she tied the second best score in school history with a 9.925.

Three Illini earned All-Big Ten honors, as Joannides was named to the first team, and Weinstein and See garnered second-team honors.

In terms of post-season team awards, Joannides also picked up Team MVP honors. Alina Weinstein was named Most Outstanding while Elizabeth McNabb was named Most Improved. Both Joannides and Weinstein split the Most Consistent beam award with Amber See earning the Scholar-Athlete Award.