GymHawks Place Second At Illinois

Jan. 27, 2007

CHAMPAIGN, IL –Iowa placed second at Illinois tonight, scoring 193.350 while Illinois won the meet with a 194.725. Iowa junior Katie Burke tied for first in the all-around competition with Kim Kruk of Illinois with a score of 38.925

On vault, Jenifer Simbhudas placed first, scoring 9.9 while freshman Katie Turcotte tied for second with a 9.825 and Burke tied for sixth with a score of 9.75. Burke also did well on bars, tying for second with a 9.825, while Kara Pinjuv and Ally Zipse tied for fifth (9.675).

On beam, Pinjuv placed third with a 9.8, and Burke tied for fourth with a 9.775. In addition, Simbhudas, Turcotte, and Danielle Legeai placed seventh, eighth and ninth, respectively.

“I feel like we did very well with what we had worked on to improve during the past week, and and throughout the meet we kept doing better. Although we had a slow start on beam, we came back to have a rock solid performance,” said Iowa senior Legeai.

On floor, Legeai had Iowa’s best performance, tying for fourth place with a 9.675, while Turcotte, Pinjuv, and Simbhudas all tied for sixth with a 9.65, and Burke placed 10th with a 9.575.

In the all-around, along with Burke’s first place tie, Pinjuv placed third with a 38.85, Simbhudas scored a 38.525 for fifth place, and Turcotte came in sixth with a score of 38.375.

“I knew that I had to step up my game because I knew the team needed me. I told myself those things, and I did my very best to ensure I competed well. It’s bittersweet though because the team didn’t come out on top, but we know where our mistakes are and how to improve on them,” said Burke.

“We knew that this was going to be tough meet for us. We’re still playing with the lineup and we felt like we were evenly matched with Illinois coming in,” said Iowa Head Coach Larissa Libby. “It was the first time the team really felt and seemed like they understood the pressure to win, because that’s what they decided they wanted to do. The team wanted to walk out of here with a win. Although we didn’t come out with the win, this was a good meet for the team, with good lessons learned. They will be able to really focus on where they want to take this team in the future with the lessons they learned tonight.”

Iowa will host Winona State, UW-Whitewater, and Northern Illinois, Saturday, February 3rd. Competition will take place at the UI Fieldhouse and is set to begin at 7 p.m.

Final Team Scores
Team Vault Bars Beam Floor Total

1. #31 Illinois 48.875 48.275 48.850 48.725 194.725

2. #26 Iowa 48.925 47.650 48.575 48.200 193.350

Individual Results:

Vault (winner plus Iowa)

1. Jenifer Simbhudas (Iowa) 9.900

2t. Katie Turcotte (Iowa) 9.825

6t. Katie Burke (Iowa) 9.750

9t. Rachel LaCasse (Iowa) 9.725

9t. Kara Pinjuv (Iowa) 9.725

12. Nikki Page (Iowa) 9.625

Uneven Bars (winner plus Iowa)

1. Kim Kruk (Illinois) 9.875

2. Katie Burke (Iowa) 9.825

5t. Kara Pijnuv (Iowa) 9.675

5t. Ally Zipse (Iowa) 9.675

9t. Jenifer Simbhudas (Iowa) 9.250

11. Katie Turcotte (Iowa) 9.225

12. Beth Dilick (Iowa) 9.075

Balance Beam (winner plus Iowa)

1. Cara Pomeroy (Illinois) 9.900

3. Kara Pinjuv (Iowa) 9.800

4t. Katie Burke (Iowa) 9.775

7. Jenifer Simbhudas (Iowa) 9.725

8. Katie Turcotte (Iowa) 9.675

9. Danielle Legeai (Iowa) 9.600

11. Brandi Loffer (Iowa) 9.125

Floor Exercise (winner plus Iowa)

1. Julie Crall (Illinois) 9.850

4t. Danielle Legeai (Iowa) 9.675

6t. Katie Turcotte (Iowa) 9.650

6t. Kara Pinjuv (Iowa) 9.650

6t. Jenifer Simbhudas (Iowa) 9.650

10. Katie Burke (Iowa) 9.575

11. Ally Zipse (Iowa) 9.550

All-Around (winner plus Iowa)

1t. Katie Burke (Iowa) 38.925

3. Kara Pinjuv (Iowa) 38.850

5. Jenifer Simbhudas (Iowa) 38.525

6. Katie Turcotte (Iowa) 38.375